Are leaders born or can anyone become a leader?
That is the big question! Some say that leaders are born and that there is a natural selection. The distinction between two groups; the leaders and the followers. Nevertheless, one cannot exist without the other. Both aspects are equally important.
Anyone with the necessary tools can become a leader. Yeah there are some who are naturally gifted and have the charisma of dealing with people, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that those that don’t have it are exempt from the art of leadership.
The greatest or most vital part of leaders and their authority are their FOLLOWERS. I believe that the best leader actually had to be once in their life time in the shoes of his or her followers to truly capture the essence of what the particular group wants and needs to accomplish. Anyone has the potential to become a great leader and that is why there is NO SET FORMULA to become a successful and outstanding leader. Of course there are the born leaders that have it all going, but even if an individual has no sign of leadership, he or she can become the greatest leader. That is the beauty of Leadership!
Many ask themselves, “To try or not try?” or in my opinion “To be or not to be?”
NO ONE should be discouraged to try to become a leader if they want to. I believe that one can learn through endless ways to become a successful leader that has an audience. Tools, such as classes, desperate times, group identity, speech training and not to forget personal experiences, can push anyone towards leadership.
I want to reiterate that especially personal experiences can push anyone who is passionate about a topic towards leadership! I personally was the shyest girl in High School and if anyone told me that I would have been the Senior Class President giving a speech at graduation, I would have called you crazy. However, I was a follower and saw that the leadership of my class was not reflecting upon our needs, I took the matter to my own hands. Leadership didn’t come to me, but I came towards Leadership. I believe that I am a leader and a good follower as well.
The Motto is: “Follow, Lead or Get Out of the Way!”
Do you agree or disagree? Are leaders only born or can anyone with necessary tools become a leader? Are leaders who sometimes follow better leaders than others?
Give your input! Love to discuss!
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:04 am
I totally agree! I think anyone has the potential to become a leader but some people are born with qualities that are more conducive to being a leader. I also think leaders have to follow sometimes. There is nothing like a leader that is able to decipher when it is appropriate to lead or to follow. Being able to be effective in both of those roles help produce and develop better leaders!
October 3rd, 2012 at 12:37 pm
I love your picture of the ducks! I definitly agree with your statement on leadership. There are some people who we find that are naturally gifted at leading others. This could be because of their personality, or the experiences they’ve had that led them to lead. I also think that leadership requires initiative. When you wrote about seeing the needs of your class and taking the initiative to stisfy those needs, you were acting as a leader!
October 3rd, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Thank you guys! Also, a question to ask is “what leader is better in you opinion? The one who is naturally gifted and leads immediately or a follower becoming a leader?” Just putting this out there to see what you think!
October 3rd, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Going off the question you just asked, I think one of the best leaders were the followers. I say this because they would know how each situation would affect the followers. They could easily relate to what needs to be done and the best way to accomplish the task. There is nothing wrong with being a naturally born leader. I just feel like being a follower than a leader is better.
October 9th, 2012 at 5:59 am
What I find particularly interesting about your journey to leadership is that you found yourself there because there was a change you saw that needed to be made and you were passionate enough about it to get involved in making that change. That is a very different motivation than coming to leadership because you were excited about the “glory” or about having others call you a leader. Roger’s blog post this week talked about people in positions of leadership being judged. I think it’s easier to deal with that judgment when your motivations to be in the position of leadership are about making a positive change for the common good rather than gathering accolades for yourself.