Learn to be a Leader 1

LEARN TO BE A LEADER

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Abstract

The concept of leadership has attracted attention from several spheres due to its

significance and relevance in day to day life. Many theorists, authors, and researchers have held

divergent views on leadership. The incessant debate on whether leaders are born or made has

been most notable. This study has involved the review of literature of other researchers who hold

various views on the leadership concept, to gather a more profound understanding of the issue.

However, the aim of this paper is to prove that leadership skills are learned.

Beyond the review of the literature, the study also focuses on the research methodology

that will be used to test a statistical relationship between leadership skills and the learning

process. The scientific aspect of measuring the variables helps us go beyond unsubstantiated

claims by providing the evidence of the relationship. It also compares the suitability of the two

dominant positions of whether leaders are born or made.

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Introduction

Leadership is the aspect of influencing a group of people to carry out a certain activity.

Leadership plays a central role in our daily lives, and it is found in family units, schools,

businesses, and country administration, among others. Most aspects of our lives contain an

element of leadership, which creates a sense of direction and purpose. The quality of leadership

in a certain area or activity determines its success or failure. Many challenges that people have

been able to overcome in the past were resolved through good leadership. Similarly, the

prosperity and success enjoyed by people is also a consequence of good leadership. This

emphasizes the significance of the leadership role.

The journey of leadership is not a straight path; it is often challenging and filled with

hurdles that leaders have to overcome. What differentiates effective and ineffective leaders are

the qualities, skills, and abilities they possess (Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006, p. 77). This

observation leaves us with one fundamental problem of establishing how individuals come to

acquire such qualities, skills, and abilities. Are leaders born possessing those or are these skills

acquired? This is the central focus of this research, which proposes that individuals can learn to

be leaders through a training and mentorship process to acquire the skills and abilities required

for the challenging and turbulent leadership role.

Literature review

Traditional approaches towards leadership skills often favor the position that it is a trait in

a person’s genetics and thus it is inherited. However, a sizeable number of modern approaches

have vacated from this position and proposed that leadership skills are acquired through learning

from when a person is born.

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Mumford (2000, p. 20) proposes that effective leadership requires knowledge and skills.

He notes that those can only be provided in educational training and working experience. This

perspective matches the views of this proposal. The personal attributes of an individual affect

their effectiveness in a leadership role. Such characteristics include motivation, ability and

personality. These are essential leadership skills that can be learned (Cunha and Heckman, 2007,

p. 10). Intelligence is one of the cognitive skills required for effective leadership. Educational

training helps in developing cognitive skills that leaders require. Trained abilities such as oral

and written communication are provided in the educational training for leaders. Leaders can

develop these and more skills when trained (Mumford, 2000, p. 21).

Mumford (2000, p. 21) associates motivation with effective leadership. He states that

motivation implies the willingness of an individual to enter into situations that can help him/her

develop skills. He outlines the motivation into three characteristics. The first one is the

willingness to solve challenging and difficult problems in an organization. The second

characteristic is the willingness to influence others and dominate. Leaders must be able to stand

out of the rest. The third feature is the full commitment to provide services for the better of an

organization (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000, p. 15).

Kirkpatrick & Locke (1996, p. 96) describes personality as the third attribute of

leadership. Personality determines whether one can develop the necessary skills to be an

effective leader. Several personality traits are connected to leadership. These include the

tolerance, curiosity, risk-taking, ambiguity, openness, confidence and independence (Kirkpatrick

& Locke, 1996, p. 96). All the cognitive abilities help in social judgment, knowledge, and

problem-solving which are essential in any leadership.

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Lord and Hall (2005, p. 591) came up with a theory that defines leadership development.

The theory states that leadership skills are developed from learning and expertise. When the skill

is acquired, information processing is enhanced, and this affects the judgment of an individual.

Hall and Lord state that skills grow in three levels starting from the most basic one. That is

novice level, intermediate and, finally, expert level (2005, p. 597). They correspond to the ability

of information processing. The stages have a direct relationship with the capability of an

individual to process information and come up with the most appropriate kind. This implies that

a person in expertise level can come up with more appropriate ways of dealing with a problem,

compared to a person at the novice level. The leadership skills require training and experience,

action, and individual traits. These skills are developed by the deeper cognitive structures that are

learned from leadership training programs and experience (Lord and Hall, 2005).

Pulakos, Donovan, and Arad (2000, p. 612) describe the eight skills required for

leadership. These skills are enhanced through the training programs. The eight skills are:

problem-solving, learning technologies and procedure, stress handling, managing crisis,

interpersonal adaptability, intercultural competence, dealing with uncertainties and physical

adaptability (Pulakos, Arad, Donovan and Plamondon, 2000, p. 612). The eight leadership skills

are acquired through training and experience.

Kozlowski (2006, p. 79) defines adaptive expert as the ability to recognize trends in task

priorities and the need for modification of the actions and strategies. Cognitive thinking and

ability to switch perspectives are the core features of problem-solving. These skills put the leader

in a position that he/she can think of many ways of dealing with an issue at hand while avoiding

the outdated and obsolete strategies. Kozlowski identifies some concepts that correlate to the

cognitive frame switching (2006, p. 81). These concepts are cross-cultural switching, divergent
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thinking, and perspective taking. The cross-cultural concept enables the leader to identify the

responses from the environment and then develop the most appropriate way of dealing with a

crisis. Perspective taking allows the leader to understand the views of others. The skill is

essential in negotiations and decision-making in a team. Divergent thinking involves the logical

analysis of a problem and coming up with a better way of understanding the problem. These

cognitive skills are acquired through a learning process that requires training and mentorship

(Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006, p. 104).

Research Methodology

The central focus of the paper is to demonstrate how the process of learning and

mentorship helps to develop leadership skills in individuals. Basing on the scope of the thesis,

the research design will incorporate both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The starting point

in breaking down the methodology is to determine the hypothesis of study.

The hypothesis for this study is that learning of crucial leadership skills will create strong

leaders. Therefore, the key focus will be to test whether the relationship between learning

leadership skills and good leadership is statistically probable rather than merely attributable to

chance. This is the primary question the research targets to answer by the end. It will also seek to

answer some of the alternative views that leadership skills are inherited (Chase, 2010, p. 77).

Therefore, the research will also test this alternative view to gain more clarity on the topic. This

will help the study develop an objective opinion on the thesis.

The dependent variable in the study is leadership skills. The skills will be measured using

a scale of 1 to 10. The values will be measured through the use of an Eysenck Personality

Questionnaire (1985). This will assist the research to identify the variation in leadership skills

when the various independent variables are manipulated.

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A multivariate model will be used to measure the association between the independent

variables and dependent variable. The variables will include learning and mentorship. Each

independent variable will be measured separately to test causality with respect to the dependent

variable. Statistical models will be applied to prove the existence, strength, and direction of such

relationships. These models include regression analysis, which measures and identifies the

existence of a mathematical relationship. Correlation analysis is another key model that will be

used to measure the strength and direction of connection between the dependent and independent

variables. Statistical software, such as SPSS, will be used for this exercise (Neuman 2002,

p.124).

Various approaches will be employed to collect the data essential to proceed with the

study. The data required includes the use of both primary and secondary sources. Collection of

primary data will involve observation, interviews, and questionnaires. The targeted participants

for the study include leaders at various positions, mentors, teachers, curriculum developers and

psychologists. Secondary sources include case studies, biographies and autobiographies of

multiple leaders, peer-reviewed research papers, among others.

The research will pay attention to ethical issues to ensure it meets the standards of a

typical dissertation. This is in cognizance that people will take place in the process and therefore

their rights must be respected. Privacy of each participant will be respected. Standard sampling

techniques will be used to ensure that there is no bias. Secondary sources of information will also

be acknowledged as per the set standards (Neuman 2002, p. 165).

Timescales

The scheduled time for the dissertation covers six months. The various components of

research are arranged in order of their priority. The activities involved are detailed in the Gantt
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chart below as well as their expected timelines. This schedule will help bring orderliness and

organization in the entire process.

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Table 1: Gantt chart

w1 w2 w3 w4 w5 w6 w7 w8 w9 w10 w11 w12 w13 w14 w15 w16 w17 w18 w19 w20 w21 w22 w23 w24 w25 w26

Preparations
Selection of topic
Formulation of thesis statement
Planning on methodology
Literature review
Drafting of research proposal
Presentation of proposal for approval
Data collection process
Conducting of interviews
Issuing of questionnaires
Collating of information gathered
Finalizing the dissertation
Statistical analysis of collected data
Compiling of research findings
Presentation of the dissertation
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Findings and Conclusions

From the review of literature, the direction of the study affirms the position of the thesis.

From the research, cognitive abilities are acquired when an individual is growing up through

learning and mentorship. Therefore, people who have the role of nurturing children and young

who aspire to be leaders in future should be cognizant that this role lies directly on their

shoulders. Leadership skills are acquired, nurtured and developed at the early stages of life,

majority of which is comprised of schooling years. For instance, self-confidence is an essential

skill required by a leader. The education process is used to harness this skill in students through

aspects like goal setting and self-evaluation. Self-confidence is one of the key foundations of

great leadership.

The challenging state of the world we live in today shows us that we need more and more

good leaders moving forward. For instance, businesses are facing quite a challenging market

having to cope with severe competition and stagnating world economies. This current state of

affairs signals to us that a lot still needs to be done to nurture future business leaders. Besides

that, national and international leadership has also experienced a fair share of difficulties. There

have been growing tensions between countries which are on the brink of a diplomatic crisis.

Extremist terrorist attacks have further exacerbated the crisis. These aspects call for exemplary

leadership to ensure that peace and stability are maintained. This further reinforces our position

that there is a dire need to focus on training leadership skills to potential future leaders.
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References

Chase, M.A., 2010. Should coaches believe in innate ability? The importance of leadership

mindset. Quest, 62(3), pp.296-307.

Cunha, F. and Heckman, J., 2007. The technology of skill formation (No. w12840). National

Bureau of Economic Research.

Hernez-Broome, G. and Hughes, R.L., 2004. Leadership development: Past, present, and

future. People and Strategy, 27(1), p.24.

Kirkpatrick, S.A. and Locke, E.A., 1996. Direct and indirect effects of three core charismatic

leadership components on performance and attitudes. Journal of applied

psychology, 81(1), p.36.

Kozlowski, S.W. and Ilgen, D.R., 2006. Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and

teams. Psychological science in the public interest, 7(3), pp.77-124.

Kumar, S. and Phrommathed, P., 2005. Research Methodology (pp. 43-50). Springer US.

Lord, R.G. and Hall, R.J., 2005. Identity, deep structure and the development of leadership

skill. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(4), pp.591-615.

Mumford, M.D., Zaccaro, S.J., Harding, F.D., Jacobs, T.O. and Fleishman, E.A., 2000.

Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems. The

Leadership Quarterly, 11(1), pp.11-35.

Neuman, L.W., 2002. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Pulakos, E.D., Arad, S., Donovan, M.A. and Plamondon, K.E., 2000. Adaptability in the

workplace: development of a taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of applied

psychology, 85(4), p.612.