#27 - Leadership Skills - Can it be taught?
Tuesday, June 16th 2009 @ 12:00 PM
Neville Johnny presents an interesting view on this. So what would you say if you were asked this question at a job interview!!??
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Are leaders born....
I assume it’s to do with natural instinct. All of us are presented with the same opportunities on a day to day basis but only a few people pick up the clues and make it big. Is it the fact that in any given group, only a few excel to the echelon of power and and rest of us grow gradually! Leader abilities are found within the born personalities! Lets explore this further.
What about a person's knowledge - the education you have been given is also given to tens of thousands of people. So if all of them are doing the same thing, then how come only a few people step forward as a leader?
What about the person's experience and decision making skills - It’s the thought process and the instincts you have and how to see things differently. Yes, we can help people in making better decisions, but the critical and best decisions can not be taught.
We see this in children - Take a look at children in a playground. One will come forward with the idea of what game to play or activity to do and the others will follow. Life requires leadership, someone must make the decisions and others in turn will follow.
Can leadership be taught...
It is the journey that matters - Though we are born with certain leadership personality traits that are developed or reinforced over time, skills are self-taught through observation, "deliberate practice," continous and ongoing learning and development.
Life events decides this - it depends on the circumstances, situations and mindset that makes you a great leader. Not everyone gets triggered by incidents but the chances are that some of them will. Therefore, there is always a strong possibility to nurture this suppressed talent amongst individuals.
Self development is the key here - Early conditioning will play a part as well as the individual's personal and professional development in life. People not readily identifiable as leaders can in fact be developed into leaders when they are taught the strength of influencing and inspiring.
So what is the answer :-)
The answer is both -- leaders are born and they are created. Some people have a desire to be a leader and situations force others to become a leader."Leadership is in the eyes of other people; it is they who proclaim you as a leader."
