Kashbox Coach Note: Leadership Development
The debate over whether leaders are born or made has been waged for many years. The question centers around how various leadership qualities are acquired. Perhaps a more pressing question for hopeful leaders is whether they can be learned if they don’t inherently have the needed core skills.
While not endorsed unanimously, the answers are based on several observed realities. Of the many skills required to lead well, it’s hard to imagine anyone being born with them all; they are too intricate and diverse for one personality. Most experts agree that many leadership attributes require experience to possess.
Dr. Ronald Riggio sums it up well in his 2009 Psychology Today article, Leaders: Born or Made? He points out that research reveals all leaders have qualities that are both inborn and developed. In other words, it takes a certain type of person to fit the leadership mold, and that person must learn leadership development skills in addition to any that come naturally. Data reveals that leaders are split, with approximately one-third being “born” and two-thirds being “made.” This means that one-third rely most heavily on the skills they are born with, while two-thirds rely most heavily on the skills they develop.
In her 2014 Harvard Business Review article, Asking Whether Leaders Are Born or Made Is the Wrong Question, Dr. Connson Chou Locke explains that inborn skills, mostly revealed in a leader’s personality, lend themselves to a leader’s emergence. These qualities make people eligible for leadership and place their names in leadership discussions. On the other hand, developed leadership skills are mostly revealed in a leader’s decisions, facilitating their career’s effectiveness. Which category do you fall into?
Assessing your skills can benefit you as a leader in several ways. Which were you born with, or put another way, which is a part of your personality? How did these play a part in your transition into leadership? Which skills did you develop, either by experience or dedicated training? How have these enhanced your effectiveness as a leader?
Leading With 4 Innate Abilities
If you were born with core leadership qualities, people have long noticed how you seem right for the leadership role. Your character lends itself to many of the behaviors expected of good leaders.
1. Extraversion:
People who are naturally outgoing draw followers. Boldness and assertiveness are greater qualities sought for leadership because of the role’s demands.
2. Intelligence:
People with high logical and creative intelligence have a distinct advantage in the complex, fast-paced business world. Good social intelligence, or people skills, is an extra bonus since many leadership challenges require effectively dealing with people.
3. Handling stress:
If you are naturally even-keeled and have a high threshold for stress, your leadership will weather storms that other leaders can’t survive. This affords leaders high levels of trust from their people.
4. Decisiveness:
A leader who draws sound conclusions from natural confidence and insight is decisive. This natural quality is vital for running an organization with timely and effective direction.
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Leading With 4 Learned Abilities
Many key leadership skills are learned or developed through experience, training, or executive coaching. This is promising for many leaders who want to improve beyond their natural abilities and skill set.
1. Problem-solving:
Gathering information and logically processing viable solutions is primarily learned through experience. A crisis-oriented environment often sharpens this skill the fastest.
2. People Skills:
Some relational skills, such as an interest in people, can be natural. However, many leaders struggle with emotional intelligence, which includes reading people, actively listening, and showing empathy. Until leaders learn and master these relational skills, more fail than succeed.
3. Business Communication:
Communication in writing and formal speaking is typically a learned skill. Communication is complex, and many aspects must be considered to properly convey ideas or requests and effectively influence people.
4. Self-assessment:
This is perhaps a leader’s most difficult yet vital achievement, and it rarely comes naturally. It is normally developed through specific leadership development coaching or training. The most effective leaders learn to become self-aware and identify strengths and weaknesses. They know their passions, motives, and values. They understand and maintain trustworthiness. Effective leaders sharpen themselves with these evaluations.
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Leadership Development: Taking Stock of Your Abilities
A leader’s prospects for success depend heavily on how well they use their natural talents and the skills they’ve developed. Well-rounded leaders who effectively use both inborn and learned skills have the greatest success. Very few leaders can rely on only inborn or developed skills to lead others successfully.
Assessing your skills can help you focus on your strengths and areas for improvement. An objective evaluation of your skills can either enhance your candidacy for a leadership role or further fuel the leadership role in which you’re currently engaged.
Devise a self-development plan with a colleague or leadership development coach. Get feedback from trusted co-leaders: seek honest impressions on areas where you excel and where you can improve.
So, are you a born leader?
If it is asking whether someone will emerge as a leader among a group of peers, then those types of leaders are born. But if it is asking whether someone will perform effectively in a leadership position, then that is dependent on the context, the type of job, and the person’s ability to develop leadership skills. ~ Connson Chou Locke
As a leader, your prospects for success depend heavily on how well you use your natural talents and the skills you’ve developed. Take the time to develop as many leadership skills as you can.
Creator of the KASHBOX: Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, Habits
Helping You Realize Your Potential
I help people discover their potential, expand and develop the skills and attitudes necessary to achieve a higher degree of personal and professional success and create a plan that enables them to balance the profit motives of their business with the personal motives of their lives.
