LEADERS ARE BORN NOT MADE
Naturally born leaders exist and have that natural confidence, charismatic, influential and command presence from a young age. But these are personalities that anyone can possess and being a great leader will not rely on an extroverted personality. The qualities present at that young will require nurturing and mentoring in order to become a great leader and through the nurturing they will then be made great leaders. The above statement is strongly contradicted by Vince Lombardi, a former American Football player and coach, who quoted that “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile”. Many of the great leaders known to mankind were never brought up into a world-class education with the right social influences, such as right neighbourhood, or right friends, instead they had a harsh upbringing and their personal experiences was what made them great leaders. Leaders such as Narendra Modi, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler and many more. In the following, it will express how leadership is learnt, how it is developed through experience, how it is all about team work and Integrity.
Firstly, a good leader is one who allows room to learn from their mistakes, struggles, sacrifices and hard work. Many successful and great leaders, such as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, Mother Teresa and Father Michael van der Peet, have had mentors that nurtured them in their journey to success. The advanced experience that the mentor has gained will serve as a role model and a supportive backbone to the young inexperience leader. The mentor is there to give criticisms, to push the young leader out of their comfort zones, to build their confidence level and self- esteem. Great leaders will learn from the mentors’ mistakes and experience and will use it for self-improvement and to make decisions. The young potential leader will also be required to learn how to listen and to accept criticisms with no grudges. To become a great leader, they need to face their fears and do what others may consider impossible, and continue to explore and learn new things from different people. According to Kouzes and Posner (The Leadership Challenge, 1995) “leadership is an observable, learnable set of practices. Leadership is not something mystical and ethereal that cannot be understood by ordinary people. Given the opportunity for feedback and practice, those with the desire and persistence to lead can substantially improve their abilities to do so.” Hence, one can say that to become a great leader it will not be achieved overnight, but in time, the mistakes committed, the sacrifices and struggles faced, and the constructive criticisms from mentors will allow the young leaders to learn new information and learn interact more effectively.
Secondly, leadership is developed through experience. The personal experiences faced and the experience...
