Are Leaders Born or Made?
Are leaders born or made? ”Certainly leadership can be taught”, says Thomas Cronin, who taught the subject for many years as a professor of political science at Colorado College.
“You’re not born to be a leader any more than you’re born to be an architect or a doctor,” says Cronin.
However, as the article (linked above) suggests, you can be taught certain leadership skills, but a leader has to “bring the spirit” or vision.
In my experinece, I have known leaders with vision but not the tools necessary to lead effectively, and I have known leaders with the necessary tools and training, who have no vision and thus, also struggle to lead effectively. ÂÂ
Great leaders tend to be hard wired to bring people together for a common purpose. However, experience and good mentors tend to shape the path and effectiveness of great leaders.  ÂÂ
A.W. Tozer teaches that “a true and safe leader is likely to have no desire to lead, but is forced into a position by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of circumstances.”
I have also observed that leaders tend to emerge in times of crisis, with vision to help others find their way.
What are your thoughts? Are certain individuals genetically predisposed to lead or is all leadership learned? Can a person who has seemingly no ability to lead learn the skills necessary or is it a combination of both?
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July 14th, 2006 at 6:23 am
Great thoughts Tommy. I don’t think it seems politically correct somehow, but I think we need to acknowledge, especially in the church, that everyone is not the same, and some people are just born with certain skills far more advanced from others, with leadership being one of them.
Of course, it can be taught, refined, honed as well, but I think only upto the potential placed within a person. I think what really matters, regardless of the amount of leadership a person has, is how whether they actually use it and how… and i think much of this is accelerated in the right direction when a leader of any kind encounters Jesus.
July 14th, 2006 at 6:59 am
Tommy and Lon, good thoughts. I’ve wondered this earlier this year as well.
I think that one bit of wisdom I received when dialoguing with people about this is that leaders are not any more “important” or “advanced” then “followers”. Without followers, there are no leaders. And to be a good leader, one must be a good follower first. Just in thinking about the body analogy, every body part is needed to function. And I think a lot of times, people want to BECOME a “leader” because it’s cool or they think it’s more important or other people acknowledge them. Or maybe even because it makes them feel better about themselves.
Also, because we are called to a life of making disciples, we will, in a sense, always be a leader to someone or a group of people (if we are indeed making disciples).
So that’s my thoughts on it! =) Good conversation guys. It’s tough!
July 14th, 2006 at 7:00 am
i forgot to subscribe.
July 14th, 2006 at 7:21 am
Hey Tiffany, i totally agree. We’ve been recently discussing this in my own community here, about how rather than devaluing leadership though, we should be elevating what it means to be a follower.
As disciples ourselves, we’re followers first. That was a great point being called to lead others to Jesus so we’re in a sense everyone’s called to a level of leadership. Whatever our giftedness, i just think so many of us are living far below our leadership potential.
I struggle with how to draw that leader that I see in people, out of them sometimes.
July 14th, 2006 at 8:51 am
that’s a great point, about elevating what it means to be a follower instead of devaluing leadership. What has that looked like in your community?
“I just think so many of us are living far below our leadership potential.” Insightful; I would have to agree with that as well. I can see that in many family members, as well as college students (the area in which I work).
Thanks for that insight! =)
July 14th, 2006 at 8:59 am
Lon and Tiffany:
Thanks for the comments.
Two thoughts. My wife does not see herself as a leader. Yet people are all the time saying that they admire her or look up to her. This is because she is an excellent example as a “follower”.
In my own experience, I also see so many people living far below their leadership potential. And I agree that as followers, we are all called to lead in different capacities according to our giftedness. And I believe you are right Lon, we all have that potential inside of us. And for followers I believe this is an unlimited and often untapped potential.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
In reading my last comment, I am not sure if I made it clear that as an “excellent example as a follower”, my wife is actually an effective leader, though she does not see herself as such.
Perhaps humilty plays a role as well.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
Jesus is our example and as such, he showed humility, lowliness, strength, and wisdom. Since the person of the Holy Spirit resides in us and since we are followers of Him, we are all in essence followers are we not? Being in tune with the spirit is the key me thinks. He shines through the talents He has given you and I to use; and in humility, lowliness, strenght and wisdom we then become leaders in following. It is one of the weirdnesses of being a Christ follower. We lead by following and the closer we follow, the better he allows us to lead. Just some late night thoughts from a rambling old barbarian!
July 15th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Oldb:
Yes. Good thoughts.
July 18th, 2006 at 10:06 am
I think leaders are made. However, i am not sure that it is a specific skill set that makes a person a leader. Instead, it is he ability to follow closely that makes us a leader. If I were in a caravan traveling through the jungle, my leader would be the person on the path right in front of me. I would hope that this person was the best follower in the world because if he started to go of course we would both be lost. In some sense this is how we lead people. The difference is that our goal should be to follow Jesus so closely that we could point the people we are leading directly to Jesus allowing them to see and follow himself.
So are leaders born or made? I beleive they are made. It takes discipline and sacrifice to follow Jesus. I honestly believe everyone who surrenders thier life to Christ can learn to be a leader. That is a leader who guides people to Jesus himself.
July 18th, 2006 at 10:41 am
Chris:
I agree that leaders should be great followers and that it takes discipline and sacrifice to be an effective leader. I believe “discipline” is taught and how well you lead depends on how disciplined you are. Maybe discipline is a better word to use than skill, I don’t know… I was thinking along the lines of things I have learned from mentors/examples in my life, like how to resolve conflict or handle crisis, etc. What do you think?
July 18th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
I guess I might not understand the question: Are leaders born or made?
Are you asking the nature/nurture question? Are you distinguishing between spiritual leadership and a business model of leadership?
I was simply saying leaders are made because we must learn to follow Christ and in learning to follow Christ we will have the oportunity to lead others.
Disciplines/skills are learned and taught. Jesus taught them, Paul taught them, the church fathers taught them. our mentors teach them, but they originate with Jesus. This includes conflict resolution and crisis management.
Sorry, I ramble . . .
July 18th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Chris:
I am agreeing with you. I was mainly clarifying my own thoughts and semantics. Also, in my next post I am going to discuss leaders of movements, who do not follow Christ. Thanks for the comments.
July 18th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Does that mean David Koresh and Jim Jones? Just Kidding!
Looking forward to it.
July 18th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
(I preface this by saying I haven’t read all 14 comments so someone may have already commented on this).
“Leaders aren’t born or made, they are summoned. They hear the call and take action.” I think that was the premise behind Len Sweet’s book prior to the “Three Hardest Words.” It was a good read on leadership and something that gave a different look on what you have asked us to think about here.
I know in our community we have seen some great leaders, but I am not sure they were considered leaders before they came to us and I am not sure they learned much leadership since they arrived. I think they just took an opportunity and God came through for them.
(Now I will go back to read the posts). Thanks.
July 18th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Stephen:
You used the word “summoned”, which I love. We have been talking about leaders being “excellent examples as followers” and it is true that followers are summoned. As we know, Jesus summoned people to “follow” him, but in following closely (as Chris put it) they emerged as leaders, which Christ also summoned them to be. Basically, as Lon has stated already, leaders are “elevated followers”.
Great thoughts.
August 6th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
While this question has been abound for a long time I think we are better served by asking a different question.
The question you ask will determine your answer.
It is a bit like the chicken and the egg. Who comes first?
Stephen you are on to it when you talk of “summoned”. This opens the way of exploring the process of becoming a leader. How does one come to leadership? How does one be/come a leader? Have a look at “who picks the leader?â€? on my blog
October 6th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Lon:
I had to go back to the last post you subscribed to, in order to contact you. For some reason, when I read your blog lately it is blank where ‘Leave a reply’ would be. I can respond on other vox blogs, but yours seems to be always like this. Has anyone else had this problem with your site?