Leaders Are Born, Not Made

The statement “Great leaders are born, not made” has been pondered over for many years. There have been numerous different explanations supporting both sides of the argument. While some people may fight that point to the death, I personally disagree with that statement. People are not born great leaders. I believe that people are made into great leaders. Great leaders can be created with experience, positive upbringing, knowledge, effort, training, or hard work.

Anyone can be made into a leader with the right training or practice. No one is born a true leader right from day one. It takes time to become a leader. A person’s upbringing has major effects on their lifelong leadership qualities. If a person is born with leadership instincts, but is raised poorly and acquires low self-esteem, their leadership qualities are far inferior to another person with less natural instinct and a positive upbringing. Parents can raise their children into becoming great leaders. If parents put their children into leadership roles at a young age, that would benefit them in the future. They could also teach their children crucial values and principles. If done correctly, these principles would become second nature to their kids. Leading would then be a relatively effortless part of life.

For example, let us say there is a child with no siblings and who is rarely a part of social situations. Their parents have not bothered to spend much time with the kid. This child would not be a very good leader because they have not been put in situations to learn how to work with people. They would be independent, but there is a big difference between independence and leadership. Being able to work alone is much different than working with and leading a team of people. If we look at the opposite scenario, another child is part of a big family, has been shown core values by their parents, and frequently spends time with other kids. They have learned how to deal with people in an effective manner,...