Introduction
The debate whether great leaders are made or born will never escape the media and academic discussions due to the reasons presented for and against this topic. There is a significant difference between managers and leaders and this should be the starting point of unraveling the mysteries behind this discussion (Knights 2010). This essay explains how great leadership is developed and achieved by individuals.
Natural Leaders
Many scholars and psychologists have argued that great leaders like Winston Churchill are born with these qualities. These people have leadership qualities in them even if other people try to influence or undermine their abilities they will always achieve great things in life (Martins 2012).
A research conducted by the United States Military Academy showed that the brain plays an important role in determining the leadership skills of an individual. In addition, the grey matter located in the brain plays a significant role in memory and decision making.
Therefore, an individual with a large grey matter will have more leadership skills than the one with a small one. These are important elements that determine how an individual manages various situations (Hamm 2011).
Great leaders are able to make decisions that will lead to achievements in the future. In addition, they have always risen from scratch to grace even if they are born in poor families. This means that it does not matter how an individual attains his or her education or wealth but one day the person will prove to the society that he has the power to transform their lives.
Nurtured Leaders
On the other hand, all leaders have been nurtured to achieve greatness since, without this, they cannot be leaders. The society trains people how to communicate and understand one another to ensure they interact without conflicts.
This means that a great leader must have good communication and interaction skills to enable the person to fit in the society (Hamm 2011). People are born without specific characters, but they achieve them by learning various issues from people around them.
Therefore, the family, society and friends play significant roles in shaping people to be great leaders. This explains why it is always common that most leaders come from one family like the Bush presidencies. Secondly, education gives people opportunities to nurture their talents, skills and abilities and this becomes a good way of mentoring leadership (Martins 2012).
This means that even though a person may be intelligent there is the need to attain education to ensure the person has relevant knowledge to solve and manage issues in the society. Therefore, without good education a person cannot become a good leader.
Lastly, experience plays a significant role in widening people’s knowledge and skills that are required for them to become great leaders (Eikenberry 2009). A person must have relevant experience in specific fields before he can influence others to follow a certain way of thinking.
For instance, when a worker wants to influence others to strike because of poor salaries the individual must understand different regulations that govern the rights of employees and responsibilities associated with demonstrations (Eikenberry 2009). He must understand the salary scales before demanding an increase in their salaries.
Conclusion
Great leaders must have leadership qualities in them before they achieve greatness. However, these skills must be nurtured before they are put into good use. Therefore, great leaders are nurtured and not born leaders since without proper education, experience and knowledge they cannot use their skills to benefit their societies.
References
Eikenberry, K. (2009). Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Hamm, J. (2011). Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership. New York: Jossey-Bass.
Knights, B. (2010). Management and Leadership Skills: Inspire, Motivate, and Gain the Respect of Your Peers. California: Cengage Learning.
Martins, W. (2012). Leadership Conversations: Challenging High Potential Managers to Become Great Leaders. New York: McGraw-Hill.