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Are Leaders Born or Made?

Posted on February 6, 2013 by James Scouller

After The Three Levels of Leadership came out in 2011, readers followed up with questions on leadership, leadership psychology and self-mastery – all of them interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I’m releasing my answers here as they supplement the “Three Levels” material and others may find them useful.  Here’s the third in the series.  I’ll post the others over the coming months…

 Q3. Are the characteristics of a leader already installed within ourselves or are they something we develop over time in our environment? 

This is like the classic question, “Are leaders born or made?”  The short answer is “both”, but research shows they’re more “made” than “born”.  In fact, they are about 70% “made” and 30% “born”.  Let me explain…

Early Thinking

The original theory of leadership was the traits theory which said the best leaders share certain common innate character traits.  It was from this theory that the “leaders are born not made” idea emerged.

But researchers bumped into one huge problem: they couldn’t agree what the common traits were.  Eventually, the list of qualities associated with good leaders became so long it was almost useless.  Scholars realised this from the 1940s onwards.  That’s when the “traits” idea lost favour and academics looked for other theories to explain what made leaders effective.

Genetics

Although the traits theory lost favour, it didn’t mean the “leaders are born not made” idea was dead.  After all, even if we can’t find a shortlist of common traits, it’s possible that whatever qualities are needed – even if they vary hugely between leaders – are inherited from parents; meaning they’d be present from birth.

Recent research has indeed shown that the basic “stuff” of being a leader is partly inherited.  For example, in a 2006 study of twins*, genetic factors explained 30% of the difference between people who became leaders and those who didn’t.  [Important note: the study had nothing to say about whether genetics influence a leader’s competence – it only looked at its role in influencing whether people reached leadership roles or not.]

But although leaders are partly born, it doesn’t mean leaders’ characteristics are “already installed” to use your words.  For a start, as I’ve just explained, we can’t say for sure what those characteristics are!  Plus we know from the twin study that only 30% of a person’s potential for leadership is inborn, which means 70% of the explanation lies elsewhere.

Other Reasons

But your question wasn’t just, “Are the characteristics of a leader already installed within ourselves?”  You added, “… or are they something we develop over time in our environment?”

Now I think many researchers would say the environment – especially your family background – explains the missing 70%.

I take a slightly different view.  I’d say yes, your circumstances are important, but they’re not the whole story.  What else shapes up-and-coming leaders?

• First, their perceptions of their environment.
• Second, how they approach their learning.

Perceptions of Environment

Let’s be clear.  Your environment will influence the mental habits you develop over time.  So it’s bound to affect your growth and thus your likelihood of becoming a leader.

But – and this is crucial – what happens around you has no fixed, universal meaning.

You see, the way you respond to events isn’t necessarily the way I’d respond to the same circumstances.  This is because no one responds to physical events – for example, the way people treat us.  Rather, we respond to how we perceive those events.

What drives our perceptions?  The answer is: our beliefs about ourselves and the world.  What are beliefs?  They are just ideas we hold to be true – which makes them powerful for as long as we don’t question them.  Our beliefs act as a filter in helping us decide what the events mean and how important they are for us.  So can you see that your beliefs control the effects these events have on you in later life?

I’ll give you an example.  Have you noticed how football fans respond differently when a goal is scored?  The home supporters see a goal by their team as great news – they jump about and celebrate.  What’s driving their behaviour?  Their feelings – they feel happy, perhaps ecstatic.  And what’s driving their feelings?  The idea that the goal is good news for them.  And why do they believe it’s good news?  Because they identify themselves with the home team – “I am a so-and-so-team supporter”.  In other words – and here’s the important bit – their sense of identity (who they think they are) controls their response.

Meanwhile the away fan sees the goal differently.  His body may slump and he might hold his head in his hands.  Emotionally, he may feel despondent.  Behind his emotions he’ll be thinking this is bad news.  Why?  Because, like the home supporters, he identifies with his team.

Can you therefore see that the physical event – scoring of a goal in this example – has no fixed meaning?  The meaning we give it depends on our point of view.  And that’s largely driven by our sense of identity.  That is, who we think we are – the words that come after “I am…”  But our sense of identity is founded on beliefs.

So to be clear, the environment doesn’t shape us.  It’s how we perceive our environment that shapes us because it drives the meaning and significance we give to events.  What decides how we perceive events and therefore what we learn from them?  Our beliefs.

Who is responsible for creating or accepting new beliefs into your mind?  You are.  But who are you?

According to the psychological model in my book, The Three Levels of Leadership, you are a Self.  A Self is a creative centre of consciousness; a centre of pure will, pure imagination and pure self-awareness; a centre of potential, but not of content.  You create “content” – for example a self-identity – in your mind.  So it’s you, the Self, who decides – through the mental filter that is your sense of identity – what to make of your environment.  Thus, you are responsible for your perceptions, not what’s happening around you.

Your Approach to Learning

It’s also you, the Self, that learns how to lead.

Learning is vital because it’s one thing to have inborn leadership potential and quite another to realise it.  How do people realise their leadership potential?  By learning through advice, observation and experience plus more conscious learning like reading, training or coaching.

Your learning will depend on what’s happening around you and the opportunities and obstacles it throws up and, – as I’ve just explained – what you make of events (your perceptions).

But it will also be driven by your sense of purpose together with your desire to learn how to lead and the effort you put into your learning.

So yes, some leadership characteristics are there at birth, but they are not fully “installed” to use your word again.  As you suspected, the environment also plays a part.  But so do a person’s beliefs – above all the beliefs making up your (the Self’s) self-identity – because they control how you perceive your environment.  And don’t forget, the budding leader still has to bridge the gap between potential and realisation by learning how to lead.

Three Forces

To summarise, I’m saying a leader’s development is partly nature (30%), partly nurture (one’s environment) and partly down to the Self’s creative ability to be the architect of its life. 

This third force is the one most commentators overlook.  It shows as the beliefs you hold (above all, about your sense of identity), the meaning you place on your experiences, the aims you set for yourself and the effort you put into your learning.

[* The 2006 research I refer to above is by Arvey, Johnson, Rotundo, Zhang and McGue.]

 

The author of this blog is James Scouller, an executive coach.  His book, The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, was published by Management Books 2000 in May 2011.  You can learn more about it at www.three-levels-of-leadership.com.  If you want to see its reviews, click here: leadership book reviews.  If you want to know where to buy it, click HERE.

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