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Leaders Are Born AND Made

By Michael McCleve

A good friend and I had an interesting discussion a few months back. We were talking about the age-old argument of whether leaders are born or made. I jokingly said that I've yet to see a leader who wasn't born and he, in a similarly joking tone, said he'd never seen a leader who wasn't made. Joking aside, we started kicking around the idea that if leadership can be developed, then there is certainly a process that can be defined for doing it.

Unfortunately, he and I both concluded that far too many of the books out there which purport to be about developing leaders, actually aren't. That is, they discuss skills, abilities, principles, or some other set of similarly identified constructs. They don't ever actually offer a step-by-step process - or any process for that matter - about how to go about the business of developing leaders!

Now, just in case you had any doubts about my position on the matter of whether or not leaders can be developed, I'll be sure to offer my two cents worth and say that I do believe leaders can be developed. Having said that, I suppose most of you will ask me to back it up with evidence, data, or - more importantly in light of the preceding paragraphs - to actually produce the process for the development of leaders.

Before I do that, there’s the need for a little groundwork to be laid. It might be useful for you to know that my theory and ideas come from over ten years of observation, research, assessment and evaluation with college

students on several different campuses. My ideas have been tried. They've been tested. I believe in them and think they're pretty sound. Okay, so much for the groundwork.

The formal leadership development process is not a linear process, not a sequential series of steps. Neither is it an upwardly progressive spiral. Further, it's not a cycle.

It is messy, almost chaotic. It's messy because people are involved. Not that they are messy, but none of them come to the process from exactly the same spot, for exactly the same reasons, or with exactly the same outcomes in mind. So, things get messy quickly.

Nevertheless, every developing leader must attend to five key areas of the developmental process. Namely, they must 1) evaluate, 2) be, 3) discover, 4) learn, and 5) do. Allow me to offer a bit of explanation.

Evaluate deliberately. Don't leave it to chance. Evaluate what, you might ask? Everything, I would answer. But do it intentionally.

The developing leader must be. It's about knowing who you are and why you do what you do. Leadership is a lonely business and the developing leader must be a leader of self first. Self-confidence, self-assurance, and self-awareness are vital.

By discover I meant the developing leader must discover his/her own passion in life. The best leadership will be exercised where and when the leader feels a deep, burning passion. Thus, it becomes necessary to discover what those passions are and where they will be found.

Learn was fourth. The developing leader must learn to make change in the field or area where leadership is

exercised. Leadership is about making change. How to make change varies from one area of life to another. One must learn how to be effective in his or her arena.

Finally, it comes to doing. How does a little kid learn to ride a bicycle? By getting on and riding! The budding leader must get in and lead. You've got to do leadership to learn leadership to become a better leader.

There is certainly more that can be said and I do have a companion article to this one. If you’d like to read more about the developing leadership process, please let me know. You can send me an e-mail or visit my website at http://www.TheDevelopingLeader.tk and take a closer look at the five components -- evaluating, being a leader of self, discovering your passions, learning how to make change, and doing what leaders do -- of the leadership development process. Or, drop me a line with your comments, questions, or observations: mailto:TheDevelopingLeader@arczip.com

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About the author:

MICHAEL MCCLEVE has spent over two decades years learning, researching, and studying leadership. He has over 60 hours of

formal academic study on the subject, including a master's thesis. He also has over a decade of practical experience, teaching  workshops, seminars, and classes on the subject of leadership. His website, The Developing Leader, offers additional insights, more information, and a FREE weekly newsletter. Visit at http://www.TheDevelopingLeader.tk or you can e-mail him at TheDevelopingLeader@arczip.com and he'll be happy to reply.