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 ?