Are the leaders are born or made?

Leaders are born not made:

Great Man theory and Trait theories believe that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership.

To suggest that leaders do not enter the world with an extraordinary endowment is to imply that people enter the world with equal abilities, with equal talents (Carlyle, 1840).

There are certain inborn characteristics that predispose people to be and become leaders. There is a significant difference between “learning a skill” and mastering one, in the same way, that others are born with amazing musical gifts or athletic talents. They will excel naturally in these areas but others would be like a fish out of water and may struggle to get to the same point.

Born (natural) Leaders are different to made (artificial leaders). All remarkable leaders have great history behind them. They were leaders from the onset of their journey.

If leaders were solely born what is the point of the rest of us studying leadership or management?

Leaders are made not born:

Behavioral Theories believe that people can become leaders through the process of teaching, learning, and observation. Leadership is a set of skills that can be learned by training, perception, practice, and experience over time. Leadership learning is a lifetime activity. Good leaders seek out development opportunities that will help them learn new skills.

Can enroll for a programme on management and leadership makes someone a leader upon completion? Can Charisma, Influence, Integrity and the ability to Inspire be taught? Will the granting of a certificate and a few letters after one’s name make them a leader?

Which theory is right?

Well, they are both right and both wrong. In reality, leaders are born but great leaders are made. Leadership is a set of skills and like all skills, people have an ability on a scale ranging from poor performance at one end and exceptional at the other end of the scale. We all are born with skills that fall somewhere on this ability scale and we can with lots of hard work to improve our skills so that we go higher on the performance scale and could achieve perfection. This is why I believe that leaders are born but by developing and training their leadership skills a good leader can be made into a great leader.

References.

Olson, D (2009). 'Are great leaders born, or are they made?', Frontiers Of Health Services Management, 26, 2,  27-30.

Hyacinth, B (2014). The Edge of Leadership: A Leader's Handbook for Success.

Swaroop, K.R. & Prasad, N.G.A. (2013), ‘Are leaders born or made?’, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review, 2, 8, 35-40.

Notaro, M (2013), 'How Leaders Are Made', Leadership Excellence, 30, 9, 26-27.