Leadership—nature or nurture?
by Miki SaxonIn response to the changes post Casey Ross commented, “I agree, Miki. I’ve cut back on the blogs I read b/c I feel like I read the same things on each one of them. Boring! I like the topics you’ve listed. Mix it up. A possible topic…are people born leaders or can people be taught to be leaders?”
Does it really matter?
People say that leaders must have charisma and that you either have it or you don’t, but I’ve known people who changed so basically that they went from none to lots, while the number of people who lost their charisma, usually through their own lousy choices, is legion.
I think anyone can learn leadership skills, but learning isn’t doing.
Paul hit it on the head yesterday when he said, “…leadership is for instances.” I’ll bet that none of the soldiers who, after their official leaders were put out of commission, led their teams to safety because someone had to do it, ever thought about it in terms of leadership, they did what had to be done, but in that moment they were leaders.
I think that leaders come from both nurture and nature. Nurture-wise, people can be raised to believe that they are leaders—of course, you can brainwash any child into believing anything with enough effort. Nature-wise, it takes a strong desire coupled with a passionate belief that one knows better than anyone else how something should be done/thought/taught/whatever.
But even with all that combined, the adjective “leader” is still one conferred by outsiders, no matter if the conferee agrees or not, desires it or not.
What I’m saying here is that so-called leadership skills are useful, if only for leading one’s self, as are most skills that help us live more personally valid lives.
I think spending one’s time and energy trying to become a leader is a waste of effort. That same time and energy would be better spent becoming the best at [you fill in the blank] and if, in the course of doing that you are termed a leader, great, but don’t make that your goal.
Look again at the best definition of leadership (my opinion) ever written:
As for the best leaders,
the people do not notice their existence.
The next best,
the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear;
and the next, the people hate…
When the best leader’s work is done,
the people say, “We did it ourselves!”
To lead the people, walk behind them.
– Lao Tzu
Notice that it’s not what the leader thinks that matters it’s what he does, but it’s what the people involved think of that person that produces the label.
So, instead of discussing leadership to death
- do your best in every situation;
- show lots of initiative;
- do more than is required of you;
- offer (don’t force) assistance to those around you;
- be the person you would want to follow;
- learn so-called leadership skills just because you enjoy learning them; and
- remember Lao Tzu.
Doing all these may not make you a leader, but they will make you happy because you’ll feel good about yourself—what more can anyone ask?
Your comments-priceless
Don’t miss a post! Subscribe via RSS or EMAIL
Subscribe to MAPping Company Success 
September 19th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Thanks for following up Miki! I don’t think it matters either. Leadership is influence, and I think all of us influence others intentionally and, probably most often, unintentionally. Yeah, please stop discussing leadership to death. Just go live. Be who you are wired to be.
September 19th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I do think there’s a “nature” part to people who turn out to be successful leaders, at least there are things that seem pretty much set for most people by their mid-twenties. My research and experience tell me that you’re more likely to be a successful leader if: you enjoy helping others succeed; you are willing to confront people about their behavior/performance; and you are willing to make a decision. If you show up with those, we can teach you just about any tool you need, but if you don’t the tools won’t help much.
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Not to argue, but the first point assumes that leaders are always “good”, which history solidly refutes; the second point is a managerial function, since many leaders don’t interact in that way with their followers; I’ll give you the third point if you’ll change “willing” to “able,” since being willing to do something and being able to do it are two very different things.
That said, the right MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy)™ definitely needs to be present, but even MAP can be changed if a person’s desire is strong enough.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Great Post – thanks for sharing leadership definition from Lao Tzu.
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 pm
[...] is a great (and simplest) definition of leadership from Lao Tzu (hat tip to post Leadership : Nature or Nurture at Leadership Turn blog.) As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:01 am
[...] answer to a September question of whether leaders are born or can they be taught I responded, “Does it [...]
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
[...] Lao Tzu provided my all-time favorite summing-up of leadership, it’s Goethe who is the basis for my [...]
June 1st, 2009 at 4:50 am
I really want to work on my leadership skills and this might really help. Thank you for posting this.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:11 am
Hi Dilan, I’m glad it was of use.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.