Leaders..... Are they Born or Made ?

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

- John Quincy Adams

6th President of the United Sates

I am sure many of you would have come across this question at least once in a life time when you talk about leadership, and some strongly argue and believe that leadership is born within and some argue that it could be learnt and developed as any other characteristics, this debate would have been going on and on for years,yet the answer for this has always been a mystery !

As i spoke about Maxwell's leadership theories on my previous post, i would like to share the 13th Law of Maxwell, its the Law of Reproduction, of which he states "It takes a leader to raise up a leader."

Maxwell has done an informal poll in his seminars to find out what prompted people to become leaders. He found that 10% became leaders because of a natural gifting, 5% because of a crisis, and 85% were influenced into leadership by another leader. It usually takes a leader to raise up a leader. Not every leader raises up other leaders. Sometimes they don't recognise the value of it, sometimes they are so busy with their followers that don't have time, and sometimes the problem is their insecurity. Leaders need to create an "eagle environment" where the leader casts a vision, offers incentives, encourages creativity, allows risks, and provides accountability for potential leaders.

So in this poll you could see its only a 10% of the people are being naturally gifted to be leaders, and others are being made as leaders due to other influences. Though his theories have been widely accepted among most people who are great leaders and are developing their selves's as leaders still there is a group who opposes it.

For me, I think it would be very easy to navigate the debate to a focal point where if we could clearly define what you define leadership as.

If we say leadership is having an ability and desire to influence people, based on that debate, i will stand into a point where Leaders are born with the leadership qualities. where that desire to lead is with you from the time you were born, and shown in your actions where you would use that inherent ability to influence your younger brothers/ sisters or sometimes even your parents to get things the things which you want them to be done.

If leadership means being courageous, and willing to speak out for the betterment of the people around you, then i would hold on to the point which Leaders can be made, they do not have to be born as such, i have seen many people who consider them selves's as strong introverts and followers become very successful leaders when faced/crisis with an issue they are more passionate about.

lets think that leadership means being driven, having an instinct or a typical intelligence, creative, and motivated. then i would say it has both influence on it, where some traits are born within you and been hidden inside you, and the rest you develop it by looking at examples, education, trainings and your experience in your life and community.

Which means anyone can be a leader

We all have areas of our lives where we have talent and propensity for success. If this is also an area you feel passionate about, you may exude qualities that are absent from other areas of your life. So while you may not be a natural born leader in the strictest sense, you can certainly overcome many obstacles and develop a desire and ability to lead when you are inspired to do so.

Lets look at this example,

You are a part of a Non-Profit organization, which supports to eradicate a disease which has cost many life's in your area, in order to buy the required medication for this the organization is planing of a large scale fundraiser, but the group lacks the direction necessary to execute it successfully, without a leader in place, without a leader for this group, the event will be a big failure, You may not be comfortable talking in front of others, making decisions for a group and managing others, but you feel so strongly about the need for the fundraiser that you are willing to overcome these challenges. With the support of several volunteers who are experienced in various areas (marketing, event planning, community outreach, etc.), and your knowledge of the group and the background of the fundraiser, you successfully manage the group and event. Do you think its possible, i would say yes, its absolutely possible.

Beside from the fact having a passion which translates into action, there are many ways you could develop your own skills in leader hip.

• Improve your communicating ability, be willing to listen to others
• Be willing to take risks.
• Network and look for opportunity to expand your contacts.
• Learn to trust people and make people trust you by being an example for what you say and do.
• Encourage the people around you to develop their own leadership skills
• Think positive and be committed to reaching your goals
• Always be willing to ask and learn.
• Know your strengths and weakness, and seek advise on how you can over come your weakness
• Share your vision with others to inspire them
• Work and live with respect for your self and others

What do you think, Are leaders born or are they made ?

Maxwell's Laws of Leadership !

Hello Leaders,


"A leader is a dealer in Hope" - Napoleon Bonaparte







On my last blog i spoke about a conversation which i had with a friend of mine on leadership, and i was very excited about various comments which i received from the people who read it, so this time i thought of taking some time to talk about Maxwells laws of leadership.

Maxwell talks about leadership on an organizational perspective, but still some of his golden rules are common to leaders from all walks of life, thus i have picked a number of rules which i think would be common for every leader, i always welcome critics and comments on my blog, where it will help me to improve my ability to present to others.

The Law of Lid

• Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person's level of effectiveness
• The lower your ability to lead, the lower the lid on your potential

The Law of Influence

• The power to influence lies in the ability to get people to participate
• If no one is following, you are not a leader.
• Managing is part of being a leader, just because you can manage something well does not mean you can lead.

The Law of Process

• This law shows that what matters most is what you do over the long haul.
• It requires a lifetime of perseverance and dedication to become a good leader.
• If you want to see how someone becomes a champion look at their daily routine.

The Law of Navigation

• “Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course.”
• Good navigators count the cost before making commitments for themselves and others.

The Law of Solid Ground

• Good character builds trust, it’s the foundation of leadership.
• To build trust a leader must show three qualities: competence, connection and character.

The Law of Respect

• People naturally follow leaders who are stronger than themselves.
• If people do not have trust in you as a leader, they will not respect you nor want to follow you.

The Law of Intuition

• Leadership intuition separates the greatest leaders from the ones who are merely good.
• Leaders see everything with leadership bias, and as a result they instinctively know what to do.
• Everyone is capable of developing a degree of leadership intuition. No one starts at the same place.

3 Major Intuition Levels

• Those who naturally see it.
• Those who are nurtured to see it.
• Those who will never see it.

The Law of Magnetism

• Who you are is who you will attract, thus the saying “Birds of a feather flock together.”
• You will probably find that you and the people who follow you share common ground in several of these key areas:
  
• Attitude
• Generation
• Background
• Values
• Life experience
• Leadership ability

The Law of Connection

• True leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.
• The stronger the relationship and connection between individuals, the more likely the follower will want to help the leader.
• Six keys to connection :

1. Personal authenticity
2. Relationship
3. Approachability
4. Mutual respect
5. Belief in people
6. Meaning and depth

The Law of the Inner Circle

• A leader’s potential is determined by those closest to him.
• Look for the greatness in the group and form alliances with the stronger members.
• Five types of people you should bring to your inner circle are:

• Potential value: Those who raise up themselves
• Positive value: Those who raise morale
• Personal value: Those who raise up the leader
• Production value: Those who raise up others
• Proven value: Those who raise up people who raise up other
  people

The Law of Empowerment

• Only secure leaders give power to others.
• If a leader is able to give power away, the organization will become more powerful.
• Only empowered people can reach their full potential. Maxwell said, “I believe the greatest things happen only when you give others the credit. That’s the Law of Empowerment in action.”

The Law of Reproduction

• It takes a leader to help others become leaders.
• Leaders who develop other leaders are able to:

• See the big picture

  Attract potential leaders

  Create an “eagle” environment

The Law of Buy-In

• People follow worthy leaders who promote worthwhile causes.
• The leader and the vision always go together. The two can not be separated.
• A leader must get his/her people to buy into them first if the vision has any chance of becoming a reality.

The Law of Victory

• Leaders find a way for the team to win.
• 3 Components to achieve victory:

• Unity of Vision

  Diversity of Skills

  Leader that is dedicated to victory and to raising players to their
  potential

The Law of the Big MO

• Developing momentum = creating forward progress
• Concentrate on what you can do, not what you can’t
• Celebrate victories no matter how small
• “If you can’t take some heat, get out of the kitchen.”

The Law of Sacrifice

• You have to give up to go up
• The true nature of leadership is sacrifice
• “When you become a leader, you lose the right to think about yourself.”
  --Gerald Brooks

The Law of Timing

• When to lead is just as important as what to do and where to go
• Only the right action at the right time will bring success

The Law of Explosive Growth

• The ability to develop the RIGHT leaders
• leaders math vs. followers math
• Leaders who develop leaders vs. leaders who develop followers (First Break All the Rules)

The Law of Legacy

• A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession
• A team of good leaders is needed in order to succeed
• Develop your successor
• Know when to walk away

These are the some of the basic laws which Maxwell stated on leadership which would fit any sort of leader, either it is an organizational, professional, institutional, or community based leaders, one my favourite laws on the above laws would be The law of sacrifice, which says "you have to give up to go up", because this pretty much tags up with one of the quotes which was said by Chuck Ferguson, Leaders Do certain things, even though they don't like to do it, and its also about expanding your comfort zone, because the moment you give up something and accept another thing, you are making a move to step out side of what you are, and opens you to more opportunities which you could gain for the best of the team.

I will be looking forward present my next blog about one of the common argument which many has about leadership ... whether its born with you or it could be grown up with you, let me wrap up this blog by sharing videos which i usually watch when i need to be energized, this is from the Mouths of Great Leaders