Are Women Better Leaders than Men - Essay Example

LEADERS ARE BORN NOT MADE By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date ‘Leaders Are Born Not Made’ Introduction In modern world of corporate Leadership, scores appear to share the notion that it is probable to dispatch workers to a series of lessons so as to make them leaders. Undoubtedly, leadership has vital significance in current competitive business setting, for the reason that with the leadership help an organisation will face all sorts of setbacks very effectively (Jameson, 2013, p.55). Furthermore, leaders are the fundamental factor that drives and guides an organization in the success path. All companies are looking for leaders as their workers. Recent leadership research points out that almost 60% of businesses are at present managed by individuals deeply having no leadership competence (Zenger & Folkman, 2012). This is for the reason that they are promoted or hired on the basis of business knowledge, technical competence, as well as politics, and not based on leadership expertise. The notion as per Kaminski (2009) is that leadership is a certain behavioral pattern portrayed by a company to make certain its continuous feasibility. That is, leadership is activities set that any business organization has to incessantly carry out so as to ensure it is successful and survives in the competitive market (Marques, 2010, p.308). Most organization see leaders as individuals for: creating understandable accounts of what must be occurring that is vision and goals; influencing staff to collaborate to realize the desired results; and maintaining the integrity and unity of the organization while facing difficult change. The essay seeks to justify that ‘leaders are made and not born’ using leadership theories as well as relevant examples. Discussion Of course, ‘leaders are not born, instead they are made’, and akin to anything else they are made through uphill struggle. Kaminski (2009, p.96) defines a leader as an individual who convinces a group of persons towards the goal achievement. Leadership is a skill as well as a habit, and akin to the majority of skills, ‘practice makes perfect’; therefore, when some turns out to be more skilled, the habit raids. In observation, it is for that reason apparent that leaders are both made as well as born. According to McDermott et al. (2011), leaders might be born with intellectual predilections and genetic individuality, which offer them the possibility to grow to be a successful leader. Still as aforementioned leadership greatness can be anchored in practicing class-based skills. It is as a result obvious that an interconnection of learning as well as genetics develops a multi dimensional approach for leadership, which consequently creates leaders. Therefore leader are smarter, full of life individuals who are initiative, determined and ready to become responsible. They could at all times not make wise decision, but most leaders are convinced in the decisions they make. Classroom-made leaders are always told that a leader is a person who leads by example, so that other persons are inspired to follow him. Being a leader, an individual should have an inbuilt dedication to the purpose that he/she will put great effort to realize it, even though no one follows him. Basically, top companies in the world share a mutual factor in their achievement: a committed comprehension of the value of first-class leadership. Until lately, leadership concept was covered in plenty of inscrutability, resulting in the common insight that in some way, some persons were only selected for leadership. That is to say, leaders are born to show the way and the ploy of effective management was intended to realize one of such ‘born leaders’ for employment. Luckily these days an improved knowledge of developmental as well as educational psychology has assisted in unraveling scores of suppositions and myths concerning leadership (Anonymous, 2008, p.11). Among them was the bogus notion that while techniques of management could be learned by means of education as well as experience, leadership cannot be learnt in classroom. Still, the value of a potential leader cannot be ignored since collectively training and potential are a commanding grouping in creating the motivating leadership needed to overcome the challenges of a hastily shifting corporate world. Therefore, it is easy to recognize candidates with the real leadership potential given that an educational background that is solid is normally measured vital, even though a number of corporate stars have hailed from unforeseen backgrounds. For example, IBM’s Thomas Watson Jr struggled to finish his high school education but above all odds, he has realized corporate recognition. It as well hard to identify students who have top leadership qualities from test results single-handedly because factors like taking part in extracurricular activities like music, drama, journalism, as well as sports could offer clues concerning the student's accomplishments in extracurricular areas. According to Ekechukwu et al. (2014, p.274), these activities offer chances for learning on the subject of motivation, teamwork as well as negotiation. Recently, a study carried out on West Point cadets associated psychosocial development while in institution of higher education or college to leadership potential. By making use of Kegan's human development theory, United States Military Academy (USMA) students were interviewed in phases during their time in military training (Anonymous, 2008, p.12). The study results pointed out that psychosocial development happened during their years of military as well as academic training and for students who exhibited the utmost psychosocial development as well revealed certain traits of leadership while interacting with their colleagues. These findings are fascinating and imply that leadership is acquired progressively while in school. Other techniques of examining potential of leadership consist of General Electric’s (GE) tactic of seeking these potential once new staff are recruited. GE’s CEO, John Rice argues that too much can be known from the manner in which new employees associate with one another, particularly when they lack power to influence others. Therefore, the workers who can achieve their peers’ cooperation in such state of affairs qualify for leadership training selection. These days’ triumphant companies admit that supportive mentorship as well as leadership training can be utilised to nurture the future corporate leaders. Companies like: General Electric (GE), Hewlett Packard (HP) as well as American Express (AMEX) have all invested lots of money in addition to time for mentorship and leadership training programs for their senior managers (Anonymous, 2008, p.12). Besides that, they have instituted leadership training for its workers careers at earlier stages: this proves that they believe on the idea that leaders are made, and not born. For instance, Crotonville Center run by General Electric is well-known for its revolutionary training courses on leadership. Earlier, GE used to see Crotonville as a costly product, so they used to kill time until their managers’ attained rightfully senior positions, and then allure them to Crotonville. But nowadays potential leaders are given training much earlier at Crotonville, with the intention of developing effective leaders. The contemporary philosophy needs an earlier boost onto the leadership ladder, and lots of this necessity stem from potential workers themselves instead from company’s CEOs. According to McDermott et al. (2011, p.358), in the present world of business, money is effortlessly attained, whereas exceptional leadership still remains an uncommon product. In contemporary world, leadership is viewed as the personal capability to guide a group of persons with diverse as well as different agendas into realizing a common goal, and still with all group members realizing their individual goals. Ability of leadership is compared to a performer in a rock band, who individually, cannot play any particular musical instrument; and still he/she is influential in making the rock band of entity musicians to perform in a concert. Certainly, leadership can be developed, but intelligence cannot be developed since in intelligence, both the aspects of nurture and nature play their complementing as well as contributing and roles. Given that leadership is a learned skills or behavior, leadership akin to any other individual skills may be developed. Similar to how children gain knowledge of walking and running by first crawling, leadership can also be developed. According to (Boyce et al., 2010, p.300), leadership is attained by means of self-development as well as practice. Yet, akin to intelligence, particular leadership aspects are inborn. For instance: charisma, similar to physical strength, heights, or looks, are all inborn; therefore, this is one leadership aspect that cannot be acquired in classroom. Keep in mind, that one can by no means make high-quality wine out of rotten grapes, but still, ripe grapes cannot make excellent wine. Through empirical observation, from Ronald Reagan to Shih Huang Ti, from Ayatholah Khomeni to Prophet Muhammad, Napoleon to Genghis Khan, the universal trait uniting all of them is that one incident in their lives sets them distant to realize what they believed was so important and valuable. Jameson (2013, p.57) posits that, great leaders are normally filled with the wish to realize their visions as well as the resolute stubbornness to realize them, whatsoever it takes for they deem that they are supported by a superior power. This enormous persistent stubbornness steers them on even against the impossible, and this is an additional characteristic that can never be attained through training. Undoubtedly, great leaders are self-inspired for the reason that they believe they were born to do, even what they do not what to do. Scores of firms are carrying out research regarding leadership with reference to the argument that ‘leaders are made not born‘ and so they spend millions of dollars annually on programmes such as leadership development, and this has yielded positive outcomes.  Basically, good leaders are essential for offering valuable leadership through the current challenging times experienced in the world of business, so that they grow to be better in what they do in business as well as social environment.   The success and future of business organisations, as mentioned by Zenger and Folkman (2012) are dependent on effective leadership. Lots of individuals occupying the leadership positions consider that they do not possess what is needed become a good leader, but can portray leadership role because they were born leaders.  It is as a consequence of this insight that their motivation as well as desires is concentrated away from taking the leadership role. Marques (2010, p.309) posits that there are some individuals perceived by others as ‘effective and good leaders’, the ideal role model, as well as leaders born a naturally. Such individuals are however not born leaders, rather they are distinct from others people in the sense that they want to be leaders. Every person is has an inborn ability to lead, however only a few are able to take that ability to the next level. For instance a mother caring for a child is an eventual leadership type, whereby nurturing, handling and infusing values to the child is somewhat a form of leadership. Therefore, it is obvious that leaders are born, but a number of leadership traits such as charisma are inborn and cannot be developed through classrooms. Even though leadership can be taught, the ability to become leaders through training programs lies squarely on the individual commitment to become a leader. Therefore, each day a leader is born, considering that all children born in this world are leaders, however, all of them must be taught how to nurture their skills so as to become a good leader as well as gain knowledge of where to use the leadership ability and in what situation. Basing the argument that leaders are born on King or Queen, ruling monarch is unjustified. Even though people acknowledge them as their leaders with regard to their blood line, not all of them have managed to prove their leadership ability, and that is the reason why they are surrounded by advisers. As William Shakespeare said a number of leaders are born great, others achieve prominence, and a few have greatness plunged in them. Conclusion In conclusion it has been argued that, in contemporary competitive business setting insufficient leadership skills cannot be accepted. Inspirational, innovative and creative leadership is excessively valuable commodity and is progressively more acknowledged as the key to business achievement. These form of leadership are not born, instead they are developed through leadership training as well as mentorship programs. Even though, some leadership traits are inborn, leaders are made to overcome the contemporary challenges experienced in the business world. References Anonymous, 2008. Leaders are made not born: Essentials steps in leadership development. Strategic Direction, vol. 24, no. 4, pp.10 - 13. Boyce, L.A., Zaccaro, S.J. & Wisecarver, M.Z., 2010. Propensity for self-development of leadership attributes: Understanding, predicting, and supporting performance of leader self-development. The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 1, pp.159 - 178. Ekechukwu, R.O., Ateke, B.W. & Ekenedo, G.O., 2014. Leadership Education through Extracurricular Activities in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria. Academic Research International, vol. 5, no. 3, pp.273-79. Jameson, J., 2013. Leadership in Post-Compulsory Education: Inspiring Leaders of the Future. New York: Routledge. Kaminski, T.W., 2009. I Beg to Differ that Great Leaders Are Born and Not Made. Athletic Training & Sports Health Care, vol. 1, no. 3, pp.96-97. Marques, J.F., 2010. Awakened leaders: born or made? Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 31, no. 4, pp.307 - 323. McDermott, A., Kidney, R. & Flood, P., 2011. Understanding leader development: learning from leaders. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 32, no. 4, pp.358 - 378. Zenger, J. & Folkman, J., 2012. Are Women Better Leaders than Men? [Online] Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/03/a-study-in-leadership-women-do/ [Accessed 7 September 2014]. Read More