Leaders Are Made, Not Born - A Myth Or Reality
It reminded me of an old friend with whom I stayed for a month, watching him closely - handling various issues - during his interactions and dealings with people from diverse back ground.
Most of them would be visiting him for solving their problems - both personal and professional.
Let me share with you the unique features of those discussions, I still remember:
1.He would first listen to them carefully, allowing them to finish without any interruption
2.Then he would start probing in depth, seeking clarifications in case of doubts.
3.Next step would be; offering a set of suggestions, asking them choose the one they feel appropriate
4.Then there would be a brief brainstorming on the suitability of the chosen solutions, where they had to explain - why and how they picked up those specific suggestions.
5.Session would end with a mutual agreement, regarding effectiveness of those selected - future course of actions.
6.Last but not the least; a routine follow up to monitor the developments, would invariably produce the desired outcome.
Being a scientist; his professional life was no way even within a 'long range' of general leadership requirements, and he had not gone through any formal training for honing leadership skills also.
He was effectively performing in the role of a good leader in personal life, and i am sure he would have performed equally well - had such demands arisen - in his professional life also, because the basic requirements of leadership - personal or professional life - are identical.
While researching on this topic, i came across an article written by Thomas Gordon highlighting the most desirable leadership skill-sets :
Effective leaders
- listen openly to others
- offer and accept constructive suggestions
- give clear directions
- set and meet deadlines
- give formal and informal presentations
- help members identify and solve problems
- set an example of desired behavior
- show appreciation of others' contributions
- show understanding
- encourage members to exchange ideas
- handle conflict
- guide the group in goal setting and decision making
- delegate responsibilities
- ask questions of the group to prompt responses
- create a productive atmosphere
It is now clear
to me that, in his case, most of those above mentioned skills were
in-built - facilitating his success as a leader.
I do agree that some training would have sharpened those skills further, increasing the degree of effectiveness.
So,in
my opinion; there has to be a good foundation for constructing a tall
building above, and the statement that "leaders are made not born? may
not be absolutely correct !
You may now assess yourself genuinely for developing some of the
skills you already have in-built, and acquire the rest for creating a positive environment around you - success is assured.
Author : Abhijit Kar
Join My Group "Leadership And Networking" On LinkedIn
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