Face-off: Are leaders made or born?
Leaders are made, not born.
Vince Lombardi, an American football coach who led the Green Bay Packers to win the first two Super Bowls once said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.” The age-old debate of whether leaders are born or made rears its head once again.
While there are leaders in history who seem as if they were born to lead, many others were not. For example, take Abraham Lincoln, who is often considered to be one of the greatest leaders in American history. Under his presidency, many great things were accomplished. The Civil War ended and the Emancipation Proclamation was written, putting a stop to slavery in America.
Although Lincoln accomplished a lot during his time as president of the United States, he wasn’t necessarily a natural leader. Lincoln grew up in a poor family, living in a log cabin, without the opportunities many others had. In the years before he was elected for presidency, he lost his job, had a nervous breakdown, and lost numerous political races. He didn’t have much going for him at all — aside from his determined mindset and refusal to give up.
In Lincoln’s case, life and circumstances fostered his natural leadership qualities to make him a leader. However, something else could have happened. For example, a person could be born with certain leadership qualities, but never become a leader because those qualities were never nourished in life.
If a person has the natural inclination to be a great leader, but that inclination is never supported and those qualities are never forced to grow—or worse, the person is never given the opportunity to lead—then is he or she still a good leader?
Despite whether or not someone was born with good leadership skills, those skills will never be manifested without situations in life that will make him or her a leader. In addition, even if someone is not born with the natural tendency or desire to lead, he or she can certainly become a leader and overcome challenges, exceed all odds, and rise up against an issue if he or she is passionate, determined, and has the necessary drive.
Harriet Tubman, another leader during the time of the Civil War, was a “conductor” with the Underground Railroad and led numerous slaves to safety. Tubman grew up in slavery and was abused and overworked. Because of her terrible experience as a slave, she decided that something needed to be done — someone had to rise up against slavery, so she did.
Tubman certainly wouldn’t have chosen to constantly put her life in danger rescuing people if she hadn’t believed so strongly in her cause of leading others to freedom. Similarly, Lincoln was not a “born leader,” but because of leadership qualities that were nurtured in his life and strengthened through circumstances and hardship, he was able to become a great leader, going on to lead our country, end a war and bring freedom to many.
Story by Sarah Kraus | Staff Writer | kraussj@grace.edu
Everyone was born with leadership qualities, but over an individual’s childhood, teenage, and young adult years, I believe those innate leadership traits are either cultivated or destroyed.
Let’s look out how these developmental years affect leadership and why.
Babies exhibit many of similar leadership traits as CEOs, mayors, and entrepreneurs of today.
That is a big statement, but think about it for a second.
When we give babies building blocks, play-doh, matchbox cars, and crayons, we are giving them the tools to creatively solve the world’s problems and create countless imaginary worlds of tomorrow.
Babies are doing the job descriptions of many of our “grown up” leaders all before nap time!
Based upon their actions with objects like building blocks and matchbox cars, I often wonder what our world would look like if babies could talk and we listened.
I wonder if through their placement of block buildings, they came up with a better regional planning model. I wonder if when playing with matchbox cars, babies are actually seeing better ways to move traffic through an area.
Now before you call me out and say, “Babies aren’t solving problems or doing anything productive. They are just playing with blocks and toys.” That may be true, but these babies have a mindset that is invaluable.
They are creating, developing, and leading through action. They aren’t afraid of being wrong and they don’t care about the status quo. That sounds like the traits of a quality leader.
Then these kids enter grade school and are “taught” until they walk across a stage to receive their college diploma.
It’s during these years that instead of creating and imagining, students are subjected to a specific style of learning for eight hours a day, five days a week, for nine months of the year, for around 17 years.
This is when the leadership traits we were born with are cultivated or destroyed.
There is this popular belief that leaders are made over time.
I think it appears this way because many of our great leaders had their traits “taught” out of them for years and while it appears that they are being made they are really returning to the way they were born. They return to being creative, developing ideas, not afraid of being wrong, and forgetting about the status quo.
I believe that the discussion between leaders being born and leaders being made is one of the most important discussions taking place, and how we answer it will dictate the direction we as a human race will head.
That is a terribly large statement to make, but I believe it with all of my heart.
Will only a select few in the world be made and lead while the rest follow, or will all of us return to our innate traits that we were so in tune with when we were babies and be leaders that create a better tomorrow?
Story by Jonathan Haag | Staff Writer | haagjr@grace.edu
