Question

Because leadership can be a critical component of team cohesion and success, this week we explore leadership theories and the role of the external environment. The nature-nurture debate on leadership remains ongoing. Based on your research and personal experience, please explain whether you believe leaders are born or made. Explain your stance.

Answer 1

As per my personal experience i beleive leaders are born as well as leaders are made. Leadership is a set of skills which needs to be refined with time to be a leader.

The arguement has continued forever whether leaders are born or made, however the point to note is that people can be born with ability to lead, but to become leaders they have to learn from experiences and nurture their skills with time.

Its an art that needs a lot of dedication and hard work. The nature-nurture debate shows that, some people can naturally have few skills and abilities that a leader should have, but to actually become a leader they need to complete their skill set and refine the skills they had naturally to be effective. One may have the ability to lead but not the skills and experience to be a leader.

Upbringing also plays a major role in deciding whether a person would become a leader or a follower. The skills in a person can be easily developed during his childhood, while he grows older the same skills are refined with practical experiences of life.

We all have seen people like Nelson mandela and Mahatama Gandhi become great Leaders through dedication, hard work and experience whereas when we talk about Born Leaders we rarely find examples for that.

Thus i beleive People are not " born leaders", rather they are just born with leadership qualities, and their experiences and learnings in life would decide whether they could become successful leaders or not.