Preview

The Greatest Leaders of Today and Yesterday are Both Born & Made

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
664 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Greatest Leaders of Today and Yesterday are Both Born & Made
Abstract
A leader is someone who guides and inspires others in a way which brings out the potential lying dormant inside of them. To inspire, one must stir emotions, drive and intellect in others to motivate them to act on your vision (Pace, 2006) Great leaders are born with certain characteristics, which give them an advantage over others; however, they are not born a great leader. Such an individual utilize and mature their born traits, over time as they experience life’s challenges. These experiences yield knowledge and this knowledge is used to guide and improve the lives of others. Great leaders not only reflect on what they have learned for themselves, but also they are eager to learn and impart new ideas and information into others. Therefore, great leaders are not born; they develop knowledge and wisdom through experience.

Leaders are both born and made. People are born with certain qualities and characteristics which help them to be more geared toward leadership. Such features as confidence, drove, empathy, ambition, determination all improves person’s ability to lead. Many strong leaders are very sociable individuals, and they are very curious also. Nevertheless, there is much to improve in order to become a great leader in the business arena or any other arena (Financial Management, 2001).

Some individuals can easily understand and retain information, which can be a trait in which they are born with; however, without the reality of life’s experiences, born traits have no conduit to flourish (PR, N, 2012) even though they give the person an advantage over others. Now, there is an understanding, in addition to born features, experience plays an enormous role in the development of a strong leader.

According to study, leaders who have born features which enhance their abilities are better thinkers due to their determination to seek experiences which will help them develop in particular areas (PR, N, 2012). These life experiences must be



References: Gilmore, D. C. (2006). Review of 'Leadership development in balance: MADE/born '. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 9(1), 59-62. doi:10.1207/s15503461tpmj0901_6 Good leaders are made, not born. (2001). Financial Management (14719185), 6. Pace, J. (2006). The Workplace: Interpersonal Strengths and Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. PR, N. (2012, June 5). Are Strategic Leaders Born or Made?. PR Newswire US.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The following section focuses on the various personal characteristics generally thought to be possessed by those who have been considered to be good leaders. Now it doesn’t mean that a good Leader will possess all of these traits, in fact, far from it. A good leader will exhibit varying degrees of these traits, some to…

    • 17190 Words
    • 69 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    BUS 520

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Scott, S. (2010). Born leaders? How your genes influence your approach to leadership. Retrieved from Http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzMxNjY0OF9fQU41?sid=93df4c58-0677-4c10-97d4-4e26353c5e66@sessionmgr111&vid=3&format=EB&lpid=lp_121&rid=0…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Like the Great Man theory, Trait theory of leadership assume that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership. Trait theories often identify certain characteristics or personality types shared by leaders. Traits are considered to be naturally part of a person’s character from the time they are born. From this standpoint, leadership trait theory assumes that people are born as leaders or not as leaders. Since certain traits are associated with leadership, if…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    However, as long as individuals keep on learning new skills and behaviours, development will continue (Bornstein, 1989). An individual’s background, environment and early upbringing are not the only factors in successful effective leadership development; although those elements are strong enablers, with many demonstrated correlations, they are not everything needed to be a leader . Gladwell (2008) underlined the crucial importance of training and practice through his analysis of notable leaders such as Bill Gates or the Beatles, and concluded that it requires 10 000 hours of work to become an expert in any field; and this can be achieved by anyone with the initiative to do so. Although practice may yield more results in skill development and mastery if performed at a young age during the “sensitive period” of learning, it does not however mean that it will instigate zero form of leadership development if practicing occurs later in lifetime (Avolio and Vogelgesang…

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rodney King Leadership Style

    • 3943 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Leaders are people who are role models to others, always focused towards their goals, strongly motivated and has the ability to develop the willpower, strength and perseverance to achieve his/her target. There many characteristics that dictates if a person is qualified to be a leader or an example for others. A good leader must have character, communication and listening skills. For example by a strong character a leader will not fall apart when he faces a failure but will take this failure as a stepping stone and move on to the next step in life. Interaction between the leader and his followers will increase the bond they share so that opinions and ideas can be shared throughout the group to enhance their cause or a project. A good leader must listen to his followers as to allow them to build a commitment and better to the group because their ideas and suggestions are being listened to. This also allows the leader to improve his job by knowing his followers and accepting criticism. A leader…

    • 3943 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    nature vs nurture

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When someone achieves greatness thanks to an innovation or other breakthrough, it is usually agreed that the individual has a high level of intelligence. Often, when exploring the background of the individual, the influences of nature versus nurture are questioned.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Kotter Leadership Style

    • 4809 Words
    • 20 Pages

    has become increasingly captivated by the idea of leadership. People continue to ask themselves and others what makes good leaders. As individuals, they seek more information on how to become effective leaders. As a…

    • 4809 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership and Theories

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Have you ever heard someone described as "born to lead?" According to this point of view, great leaders are simply born with the necessary internal characteristics such as charisma, confidence, intelligence, and social skills that make them natural-born leaders.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    How leaders come to be has been attributed to genetics and personal discipline. Either of these theories can be defended with examples or analysis. Regardless of the origin, specific qualities are required to maintain and develop leadership. Using examples from my professional experiences, this paper will describe the essential rules and principles of leadership and the strengths and weaknesses that must be developed to become a great leader.…

    • 1297 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership interview

    • 980 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As the traits theory of leadership, most of our leaders agreed that leaders are born with leadership characteristics. They also agreed that there are certain characteristics that can be strengthened and developed by the leaders through their childhood years, beliefs, the environment in which they surround themselves, the ability of how they learn, and most importantly how they react when being provided with feedback. Leaders can enhance and learn certain characteristics through advice, observation of others, and their own experiences. Everyone is born with certain characteristics that will develop into strengths and weaknesses. A good leader will identify these characteristics and apply then into their leadership capacity.…

    • 980 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Paper Link

    • 3225 Words
    • 11 Pages

    According to Avolio (1999) some people are born to move and shake the world. Their blessings: high energy, exceptional intelligence, extreme persistence, self confidence and a yearning to influence others. He also stated that after 50 years of collecting data on the topic, most psychologists believe that leadership qualities are innate or genetic and thus impossible to learn. However research has proven that leadership skills can be developed and mastered. For example, our parents can instill us with the tools and drive to lead and set challenging goals for us to accomplish but we could also develop good leadership skills from attending any educational institution.…

    • 3225 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Leadership in Sports

    • 2158 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The debate between is a leader born or made has opened up a lot of questions to what the attributes of a good leader are. Agreeing that a leader is influential and needs to inspire through organizing change makes us ponder weather traits of a leader are in their personalities or a skill you can acquire over time.…

    • 2158 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    What Makes A Leader

    • 6596 Words
    • 30 Pages

    Such anecdotes support the widespread belief that identifying individuals with the "right stuff" to be leaders…

    • 6596 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Leadership and Management

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Effective leaders are not necessarily born but rather sculptured from the images that are experienced through various leaders that the individual may have worked with. They are sculptured through the trials and tribulations of managing or working with people in a variety of settings. Most good leaders have had bad experiences with individuals with power in their past and are looking to make a change to better improve their organization. Effective leaders are excellent communicators and are able to speak clearly to the individuals within the groups or organizations they lead. Effective leaders are often working with their fellow workers carefully listening and helping their workers in order to have success in their future for their business. Leaders offer their workers the opportunities to override their mistakes by triumphantly overcoming them. Leaders have solid vision and unshakeable persistence in achieving a goal. Leaders have to juggle their busy schedules by not only doing their work but ensuring that their workers are successfully completing their tasks as well. A leader empowers their workers to seek change and develop many alterative routes to decisions. A strong leader is brave and is able to make decisions without hesitation and maintains integrity at all times. A strong leader overall has these important characteristics which Marines like to call JJ DID TIE BUCKLE, Judgment, Justice, De…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    But my research shows conclusively that effectiveness as a leader depends less on some innate trait you are born with, and much more on specific principles that anyone can follow.”…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics