ARE LEADERS BORN OR MADE?

It is an age- old question: Are leaders a special breed, born into this world with some certain
leadership traits, or can these leadership skills be acquired through education, experience and
mentorship? The debate on this question has been going on for years. There are several
examples of some notable figures that came naturally to leadership, while others developed
their leadership skills through education and experience. To understand leadership, this paper
takes into consideration both the factors i.e. the genetic components as well as the
environmental influences.

Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of others towards the accomplishment
of goals in a given situation.

According to Louis Allen,” A leader is one who guides and directs other people. He gives the
efforts of his followers a direction and purpose by influencing their behaviour.”

According to Harry Truman,” A leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do
what they don’t want to do and like it.”

According to Koontz and O’Donnel,” Leadership is the ability to exert inter-personal

influence by means of communication towards the achievement of goal.”

LEADERS ARE BORN:

Trait theory believes that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better
suited to leadership.-*

The Trait Approach emphasizes the personal attributes of leaders. Advances in trait research
led to a change of focus from abstract personality traits to specific attributes that can be
related directly to behaviours required for effective leadership in a particular situation. This
more directed approach revealed that some traits increase the likelihood of success as a
leader, even though none of the traits guarantee success. The relative importance of different
traits for leader effectiveness appears to depend in part on the leadership situation.

Individual traits that appear to be related to leadership success include high energy level,
stress tolerance, integrity, emotional maturity, and self confidence.

A related line of research addresses leader skills, as opposed to the possession of personality
traits, in the belief that it requires skill to implement the traits in leadership roles. Three basic
categories of skills have been proposed: technical, conceptual and interpersonal. Technical
skills include knowledge of work operations, procedures and equipment, and knowledge of
markets, clients and competitors. Conceptual skills include the ability to analyze complex
events and perceive trends, recognize changes, and identify problems. Interpersonal skills
include understanding of interpersonal and group processes, the ability to maintain corporate
relationships with people, and persuasive ability.
The trait approach was dominant in the early days of leadership research, then fell out of
favour for a long time, and only recently has regained some credibility through the advances
in personality assessment. Despite the progress, the utility of the trait approach for
understanding leadership is limited by the elusive nature of traits.

There are certain inborn characteristics that predispose people to be and become leaders.
There is a significant difference between learning a skill and mastering one, in the same way
that others are born with amazing musical gifts or athletic talents. They will excel naturally in
these areas but others would be like a fish out of water.

In a study, published online in Leadership Quarterly, Dr Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and his

colleagues identified that a specific DNA sequence is associated with the tendency for
individuals to occupy a leadership position. Using a large twin sample, the international
research team, which included academics from Harvard, NYU, and the University of
California, estimated that a quarter of the observed variation in leadership behaviour between
individuals can be explained by genes passed down from their parents.

LEADERS ARE MADE:

The behavioural approach emphasise what leaders actually do on the job and the
relationship of this behaviour to leader effectiveness. Major lines of behaviour research
include the classification of leadership behaviours and taxonomies and identification of
behaviours related to criteria of leadership effectiveness.

Early research conducted during tht 1950s at Ohio State University sought to identify
relevant aspects of leadership behaviour and measure these behaviours with a questionnaire
completed by subordinates of leaders.

The results revealed that subordinates perceived the behaviour of their leader primarily in
terms of two independent categories; one is dealing with task oriented behaviours and the
other dealing with people oriented behaviours. The questionnaire that resulted from this
research, called the leader behaviour description questionnaire, is a hallmark in the history of
leadership research.

The two-factor taxonomy of task-oriented and people-oriented behaviour provide a good

starting point for conceptualization of leadership behaviours but the two dimensions
eventually proved too abstract to provide a basis for understanding how leaders handle the
specific role requirements confronting them.

The behaviour research also suffers from a tendency to look for simple answers to complex
questions. Most research on leadership effectiveness has focused on behaviours individually
rather than on examining how effective leaders use patterns of specific behaviours.
THE VERDICT:

Leadership is an art rather than a science. It is a set of innate traits, refined and perfected over
time with education, training and experience.

There is also an aspect of being in the right place in the right time. You may be a leader but
also a matter of whether or not you are in the position within which your talents can shine
forth.

If the fear of leading overrides the willingness to take on the responsibilities then one is a
follower. Not everyone can be a leader just like not everyone can become a good actor. Some
people will never have that aspect in them while others have the latent ability and thus can be
taught how to lead. All the books, classes’ education and training cannot turn a follower into
a leader.

To be a leader in a structured environment, one needs some formal training. Most people can
learn to manage well, start a business, lead a project team since good management is based on
rules - rules that can be learned and mastered.

Leadership is often a Choice. A leader is a person who comes forward to take the challenge.
If a leader rises up from the multitude, then that person was already a leader to begin with.
Should someone have all the best training, nurturing and opportunities, but would rather be
hidden in the crowd, an unwilling participant...not a leader.

Leadership styles vary with maturity, followers and situations.