Are leaders born or made?
Yes – to both questions!
To start 2015 right, consider how effective your leadership has been. My colleague, Andy Garman and I finished our second edition of Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives (Health Administration Press, 2015) and wrote about this “born or made” question:
We can all think of people who seem to have been born to lead. Every organization almost always has at least a couple such leaders. They stand out because they give the impression that they can make things happen and that they are going to succeed at anything. We often assume the success of these leaders long before their performance results come in.
Many other leaders become exceptional over time, through perseverance and attention to their own development. They identify their strengths and development needs, find opportunities to gain the experience they need, and seek out mentors who can help them make the most of these crucible experiences.
For both groups -the “born” and the “made” - the path to exceptional leadership is crossed faster with a good roadmap. A good competency model will provide just such a roadmap.
And in my 2010 book, Leadership in Healthcare: Essential Values and Skills, Second Edition (Health Administration Press, 2010), I wrote:
I contend that: (1) leadership is both inherent and learned, and (2) leadership values and skills are interrelated in that you cannot have one without the other. Numerous research studies suggest that many leadership skills and traits are the result of heredity.6 In this vein, we can argue that those so-called born leaders who develop certain values early in life also tend to exhibit strong leadership characteristics and skills early. Others who did not develop these values early must cultivate them first to enhance their leadership capabilities, which is a belief that many managers, executives, and consultants—myself included—hold.
So as you begin 2015, realize the importance of developing leadership skills. Learn the competencies that truly make a difference, enhance your self-awareness, and grow.