14 November 2019
Are Leaders Born Or Made
The only difference between you and a recognised leader is knowing that you have the right potential, courage, and drive to take a step forward to reach your desired goal. However, before jumping to unlock your capabilities, it is essential to first clear the misconception that leaders are born.
LEADERS ARE BORN AND NOT MADE
The false impression of born leaders originates from the past conceptual frameworks that prove leaders are born with innate wiring, which sets them apart from most of the ordinary human beings, who are not “God Gifted”. One of these schools of thought emerges from the Trait Theory.
The trait theory is built on the premise that leaders are born and not made, making leadership quality an intrinsic intelligence rather than something that can be taught or learned. The theory consequently helps to predict an effective leader based on his/her traits (Di Giulio, n.d.). Underscoring the approach of trait theory to determine a successful leader, scholars outlined leadership characteristics after observing different perspectives.
These characteristics are 2 categorised into three groups: physiological attributes, demographical factors, and intelligence level:
1. Physiological attributes comprise factors such as appearance, the height of the leader and weight.
2. Demographic factors include the level of educational background, age of the leader and family background of the leader.
3. Finally, intelligence encompasses being content with your decisions (i.e., decisiveness), trusting your judgment and knowledge of the leader.
These characteristics are compared to the characteristics of a potential leader to test his/her ability to lead effectively.
The Trait Theory is similar to the Great Man Theory, which also advocates that leaders are born with the right abilities and traits, which cannot be learned, such as; intellect, social skills, confidant, etc. Accordingly, an ideal leader under the Great Man Theory is someone courageous, mythic and immune to take up responsibility when the situation arises. Surprisingly, this theory was known with the Great ‘Man’ term, as at that time leadership was only reserved for males, specifically those within the military leadership.
However, we cannot completely disregard the trait theory. Modern trait theorists believe that distal and proximal attributes of an individual contribute to leader emergence, effectiveness, and promotion as shown in the following framework:
Model of Leader Attributes and Leader Performance. Source- Zaccaro et al., (2004)..jpg
SO HOW ARE LEADERS BORN? BY BEING MADE!
In the modern era, whereby these characteristics are classified as soft skills, are easy to learn and acquired through psychological and business practices. The modern businesses and globalisation of markets, as well as cultures, do not support the idea of a charismatic leader having a certain age or gender. For example, a person cannot be born muscular; we all have to work towards it.
As the saying of John F. Kennedy goes,
“Leadership and Learning are indispensable to each other”
Similarly, the Behavioural Theory promotes the fact that anyone can be a leader, through the process of TEACHING, LEARNING and OBSERVING (CFI, 2019). Thus, the set of skills that an effective leader entails can be attained through training, perceiving, practising and experiencing the role over time.
DEVELOPING LEADERS
Yes, this does mean that you can opt for promotion, for which you have spent nights thinking about, but are unable to get it because you think you might not be the right fit for it.
Here are some qualities, which can be attained to unlock the true leader inside you:
Self – Assessment. Self-reflection and self-assessment are the most crucial practices in the initial stages of leadership development. An effective leader should be self-aware of his/her shortcomings and strengths. Knowing areas of weakness does not make a person weak, but on the contrary, it enables and trains your mind to delegate tasks to others in the team so the common goal can be achieved efficiently. Instead of clinging on to the false belief of knowing and being able to do everything, leaders recognise what they lack in and hire people who will complement their skills, rather than supplementing them. Also, at other times, it allows you to work on your weaknesses to improve your leadership skills. Be more self-aware by asking yourself after every task completion, ‘what did I lack in?’ ‘What could have been done to execute the plan a better way?’ ‘What do I dislike doing in most of the tasks?’
Before everything, be a follower. Before leading everyone, it is important to be in the shoes of your teammates once. Being a follower before taking up the responsibility to lead a team enables a leader to empathise and genuinely care for his/her subordinates. Since at one point in time, you realise that you were at the same place as them, and the only thing that brought you here was the right kind of guidance and adjustments. Similarly, effective leadership does not come overnight but develops from facing harsh realities and working under other leaders. This helps you to be well-prepared for the challenges which come with the power of being a leader.
Keeping this in mind, it is important for leaders, to be effective, to frame their roles since a part of their journey could be full of errors, which needs necessary corrective measures and adjustments, in not just their perception or way of functioning, but also in communication and even in their self-identification.
THE VERDICT
The skill of leadership is no science, but an art, which is perfected over some time through continuous learning. Michael Jordon defines true leaders in his own words i.e. “Earn Your Leadership Everyday”.
Leadership is a lifetime pursuit, and along with personal and professional development, there is always a room for improvement, to learn new skills, new ways to strengthen your management, and new techniques which can help you practice your leadership skills.
Actions to apply as a team leader:
If you are planning to opt for the position of a project manager or are already a team leader in your professional career, consider applying the following tasks in-time:
Break the Ice among your Team Members
It is not possible for team members to work effectively and with ease together if they do not share the same comfort level. Being the team leader, you have to initiate this with many activities through which team members can start interacting with each other and start knowing one another on a professional level. To make team members comfortable, there is a need to build personal connections by breaking the ice in the meeting initiation phase. For this, a good team leader needs to have a friendly and approachable persona as well.
Encourage and Appreciate any Response at all
Following the activities, which helps to make team members comfortable with one another, your next step should be to encourage interactive two-way communications. However, this should be done while considering that all members of a team cannot open up as quickly. Consequently, there is always a need for continuous encouragement, and motivation to speak up and present new ideas. Even if they have their pros and cons. Thus, you need to ensure that communication is open to everyone, which will allow you to listen to their ideas and act on them accordingly.
Upgrade your team leading skills with CONQA seminar
We have worked hard to outline hundreds of behaviours and management activities, which are tried and tested into a format of a one-day seminar, which can be attended by a team leader/manager to sharpen his/her skills. These activities are well-practised and easily applicable.