Leadership in the eyes of Socrates - Essay Example

Leaders are born and not made! Critical analysis Are leaders born The "born or made" issue in leadership has what so far limited the new generation towards understanding the real leader. There are many reasons for the debate; however the most obvious one is the fact that no one is born with business or leading qualities. Every person comes in this world and learns, learns from its surroundings, its environment and the society. It is with the passage of time he learns leadership traits. Later one prioritizes those traits in the form of courage, creativity and integrity before others. This creates motivation within the person and so does he leads a society, a business or a nation. Many times in our lives we interact with people whom others call as 'born leaders'. Such people are so influencing that instead of digging deep into their lives for understanding their source, we are simply impressed by their personality traits. Leadership is not simply made; it is created and developed individually with certain characteristics we would talk about later by giving examples. The debate is not simply concerned about whether leadership is born or created but also with the notion that we all analyse leadership skills in wrong phase, rather than analysing the skills in our leaders, we analyse our leaders and under specify their leading behaviours and styles. This is the main reason why most of us remain in a chaos to answer 'leadership born or made'. The question is perplexing, the answer simple. There has always remained a tendency to treat 'leadership' as a complete cure to the problem or simple 'cure'. Whether complete or simple, cure is cure. The phrase 'born leaders' is made to stand for all the qualities that are desirable in a top team or responsible post-holder-for example 'clarity of vision', 'a performance focus', 'flexibility', 'innovation' and 'winning commitment' etc. First of all, leaders never born, they are created by the circumstances, situations and consequences which provide opportunity to other hidden qualities to emerge and show off. Secondly, in the light of above phrase, if all of the leadership qualities are not present in us, at least some of them reside deep in our personalities. In reality, most of the research has made little detailed examination of the concept of leadership. That is why leadership is simply asserted and its nature assumed. Are Leaders born with Leadership skills Agility to take decisions along with pulling the entire team, no doubt does not require qualification, certificate or degree but still it would be wrong to say that a person is born with such qualities, because if we suppose for a while that one is born with decision making qualities, we do not mean that such person is blessed with such gifts but that the person has been groomed and brought up so well that he has learned how to make use of his decision making power and utilize his abilities. If we analyse leadership in terms of 'grooming' or 'development', we would see examples before us of the leaders that were not ever groomed or those who never had the opportunity of acquiring regular leadership development classes. Adolph Hitler, Mahathir Muhammad, Mahatma Gandhi, etc are among such leaders which are considered as 'born leaders' but they never acquired any formal leadership training. This means that what pulls out a good leader from us the circumstances later comes the knowledge and expertise. Leadership in the eyes of Socrates Socrates clearly taught what it takes to be a leader is the professional or technical competence, that means professionalism or knowledge is the prerequisite for holding a position of leadership responsibility. (Adair, 2002, p. 11) This also refers to the notion that capabilities like professionalism or knowledge are not born with a man, but are learned through experience and hard work. With leadership comes authority to take decisions. Socrates believes that among the three main forms of authorities i.e., the authority of position, the authority of personality and the authority of knowledge, the authority that counts is the authority of the individual. Socrates as well as Plato believed that knowledge is the main gateway to leadership. If so, then no person is born with knowledge! On the other hand Segelken (2006) suggests that "One cannot be an effective leader unless one is in a position to exercise leadership". (Segelken, 2006) Now how can an individual practice leadership without having full command or authority over his field of study. That means knowledge is the first step towards exercising authority. What matters - Knowledge or Personality After considering knowledge, the foremost question that comes in mind is, to what extent knowledge is essential in creating a leader Is knowledge alone makes a leader or there are some other traits The answer lies in a supposition that what if a leader having full authority over his field of study remains unable to maintain good relations with his followers, or is unable to make both the ends meet Absolutely not! This refers that having command in a field is not enough to be a successful leader. Among other personal qualities behind a good leader is maintaining good relationships. Everyone among us possesses the capability to lead someone. Leadership can be perceived as 'relationship', effective leadership means effective relationship in this century. Sometimes the relationship is one-to-many. Sometimes it's one-to-one. Regardless of any number leadership is a unique relationship between leader and follower which cannot be completed without trust. 'Good management' also escorts to effective leading capabilities which we all possess. Therefore in this context it would be no use to say that 'leaders are born'. New-style leader may be seen as possessing the combined authority of knowledge and personality, but that is not enough. In order to become great in the historical sense, there must have been a really significant achievement. This is the reason for why we remember and call all the great leaders for we know about their lifetime's accomplishment. (Adair, 2002, p. 305) By the word 'born leaders', the thing that comes in mind is the perfection and leading traits of the person, along with his enabling skills, competing skills and expertise that makes him lead the world successfully. If this is true, how can a person that already claims to be learned without any skills or expertise can look forward towards professional training and development. Here the concept of 'born leader' gets wrong. According to Segelken (2006), "We are all born with the natural potential to lead, but still it requires skills and efforts from our side to develop those leadership traits that are required in order to be a successful leader". (Segelken, 2006) That means the concept of 'born leaders' get false here, because born leaders do not require any training and development. Creating Leaders Leadership in this century is viewed in the context of learning and development. Apart from knowledge and expertise a successful leader learns about his inner self and seeks ways how to relate more effectively to his followers. (Storey, 2004, p. 126) What better way than to play competitive team games-crossing real or imaginary streams A real leader is not born leader, but who learns throughout his life, identifies similarities between activities and actual challenges which the participants face in their jobs, thereby realising those situations that becomes challenges, and seek solutions for them. According to Bennis et al (2001) "the most common dilemma resides with us when we think that leadership is reserved for only a very few of us. This dilemma continues on and on in the minds of our people and is perpetuated whenever anyone asks, "Are leaders born or made" Leadership is certainly not a reserved gene, found in few of us and it is not something mystical and ethereal that cannot be understood by ordinary people. It's a myth that only few of us can research and reveal with the leadership code".(Bennis et al, 2001, p. 82) Of all the research done on leadership and management, this one has done more harm to the development of organisations and people than any other. The power of the born leader myth is remarkably strong, despite its persistent inability to stand up to historical, actuarial, sociological, biological or psychological analysis. (Storey, 2004, p. 127) Today leadership is a process, followed by an observable and learnable set of practices, adopted by common individuals who are keen to be the future leaders, after all leadership is not reserved, it is everyone's business. The sense of the literature describing the virtual environment of leadership excellence is on three kinds of technologies, three sets of techniques, methods, behaviors and attitudes. One excellence technology impacts directly on the leader as an individual, on his or her behavior and leadership style. A second technology is directed outward from the leader to his or her followers. These methods and attitudes deal with helping clients and employees change. Indeed, leadership excellence deals with both the leader and all stakeholders. The third technology deals with the organizational environmental situation within which leadership excellence takes place. (Fairholm, 1998, p. 41) It is through the issue "born or made" that the most critical feature of the leadership excellence emerges as the behavior exhibited by individual leaders. As individuals incorporate excellence principles into their lives, they change. As the leader's behavior toward others changes, so does the organisation changes. The techniques of leadership change are many and varied. They all center on an overriding concern for the development of others so that both the leader and the followers can do a better job in doing the organisation's work. Leadership Example from the past - Adolph Hitler Gone are those days when leaders were born, or when leaders were assumed to be 'born leaders'. Hitler - a dictator leader is remembered as a born leader, for he never acquired any qualification or training. It was his failures in life which leaded him towards success. However, there were certain weaknesses in his leadership, which today no 'created' leader can afford to have. Some of them were: He was reluctant in taking decisions; his decisions were altered by his subordinates, he was unable to react to the external threats his party was confronted to and run chaotic government. (Williamson, 2002) With so many leadership weaknesses, one might think how Hitler managed to survive with an effective leadership His weaknesses are the proof that leadership qualities are not limited to few of us. Therefore leadership cannot be viewed as a fixed set of character traits or it would not be fair to link it to an exalted position. If it is viewed then we should be ready to welcome a 'leaderless' future that dooms to have a limited set of leaders. In this century leadership is not rank oriented therefore it's possible for everyone to lead. Today to be an effective leader is to be open for any learning or development. In this way we would be able to welcome our new leaders. We never know when the leader within us may get the call to step forward. Leadership Example from the present - Dr. Mahathir Muhammad Dr. Mahathir - an authoritarian political leader that took old Malaysia to the new heights of modernisation and recognition that opened new doors for Malays. Mahathir not only faced the critical situation when Malaysia in 1990s was about to 'bankrupt' but also strengthen 'Asian values' throughout the world. (Jones, 2000) Mahathir Muhammad was neither a born leader nor he acquired any formal training but his dedication to his people and country made him a successful leader. It would not be wrong to say that he was a good 'relationship setter' and therefore he succeeded and achieved whatever he wished for his country. From the above examples it is evident that the process of leadership, the understanding of leadership as a relationship, the connection among leaders and followers all these are far down on the list of priorities that scholars must have in order to understand how to put leadership to work. According to Burns, "Observing our leaders is one thing, understanding leadership another. It is the process which is least understood". (Rost, 1993, p. 5) We are so much influenced by our leaders that we dig down their personalities but never bother to understand their leadership. Fairholm (1998) defines leadership excellence as an applied capacity which is mostly learned through leadership action. (Fairholm, 1998, p. 39) Therefore it is action oriented, and cannot be learned in classrooms. However skills are acquired in the normal way through reading, studying and analyzing theoretical propositions and principles. Even some leadership capacity is learned through observation of other leaders. But above all leadership is a dynamic process learned through leadership action. Whatever one understands of leadership, it must be followed with the notion that every person is a leader at his/her place. The question to what extent we are able to groom and push that leader depends upon our capabilities. Therefore there is no question of 'born leaders' but to 'create leaders' within us. References Adair John, (2002) Inspiring Leadership: Learning from Great Leaders: Thorogood: London. Bennis Warren, Cummings G. Thomas & Spreitzer M. Gretchen, (2001) The Future of Leadership: Today's Top Leadership Thinkers Speak to Tomorrow's Leaders: Jossey- Bass: San Francisco. London. Fairholm W. Gilbert, (1998) Perspectives on Leadership: From the Science of Management to Its Spiritual Heart: Quorum Books: Westport, CT. Jones David Martin, (Spring 2000) "What Mahathir Has Wrought" In: Magazine Title The National Interest. p: 101. The National Affairs, Inc. Rost C. Joseph, (1993) Leadership for the Twenty-First Century: Praeger Publishers: Westport, London CT. Segelken Roger, (2006) "Leadership Initiative Teaches Principles through Practice: Students Discover That Leaders Are Made, Not Born, as They Learn to Build Teams, Trust Others, and Take Risks" In: Human Ecology. Volume: 34. Issue: 1.p: 2+. Cornell University, Human Ecology. Storey John, (2004) Leadership in Organizations: Current Issues and Key Trends: Routledge: London. Williamson David, (2002) "Was Hitler a Weak Dictator David Williamson Examines Two Seemingly Irreconcilable Schools of Thought": History Review. p. 9. History Today Ltd Read More