Wed, 07 Jul 2004

Leaders: Born or Made?
posted by Chip Witt

When I was in B-school pursuing my MBA, one of my professors asked us all a haunting question. "Are leaders born, or are they made"? Before anyone could formulate a response to the question, the professor stated that, given our participation in the program, it was obvious we believed that leaders were made...not just born. Otherwise, most of us were wasting our time in the course of study to which we had dedicated a two-year chunk of our lives. I've carried this question with me for years now, and it is only now that I have come up with my own answer...partly because the professor's conclusion was somewhat vexing to me, but mostly because I needed to make certain of my beliefs prior to taking responsibility for a graduate-level business course this coming Fall.

To begin to formulate my own conclusion on the nature of leadership, I referred back to one of my favorite sayings, given to me by one of my former personal training clients, a retired Lt. Col. from the Army Rangers. He said, "Managers manage things, leaders lead people". Going back through my coverage of Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf's views on leadership in "Rule 13, and Rule 14: Leadership at its Core", published to this weblog on April 19, 2003, I found a similar viewpoint from another well-respected military leader. Management, as an art, or as a science is possible to teach. Things such as common or best practices can be documented, and followed as a procedural check-list, making it possible to train-up a manager. This, however, doesn't touch on the original question regarding the origin of leaders.

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