How Are Effective Leaders Like

Shakespeare: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." As you requested, I've gathered material discussing both viewpoints. ============================ LEADERS ARE BORN, NOT MADE ============================ "We might not like it, but leaders are born and not made. To lead, you need the following traits: * a spirit of adventure - the urge to explore, break new ground, challenge the status quo, stand up for what you believe, risk rejection, rebel against authority, innovate. * an ability to influence - by example, logical argument, enthusiasm, persistence or painting a visionary picture. * an appropriate level of intelligence. * You can modify your style of influencing a bit, but not totally. A quietly persuasive leader will have difficulty ever being charismatic - some in-born traits here. * But it's hard to shift your spirit of adventure very much if you are strongly cautious, conservative or motivated to be accepted by others rather than risk rejection. * We are either born with a strong rebellious streak or acquire it early in life. * The same is true of intelligence. *Earlier theories of leadership rejected the idea that leaders are born because they identified leadership with ability to influence, noting rightly that there are widely differing styles of influence and that people can improve their influencing skills. But the critical leadership trait is... [continues]

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