Nature vs Nurture: Can Leadership Skills Be Taught

I will be representing the position of nurture over nature, leaders are made, not born. Everyone has their own qualities that a leader possesses, however, not everyone experiences the exact set of circumstances in life where those qualities can be recognized. Everyone could build and develop their leadership qualities and use them positively in daily life and out of the work environment. Leadership and influence are similar and close, unfortunately, they are not equal. In general, leaders definitely have influence, but, not all influencers even the highly respected ones are in leadership positions.

Influence has more effect on a person’s character, such as values and thought process. An effective influencer establishes positive qualities that strive to people, whether in a way that impacts millions of people or individual level. Anyone can practice and develop these qualities whether they are in a position to lead or not. According to the study that has been done by the University of Minnesota and Toronto shows that leadership behaviors like any other human practice are a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

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It is no doubt that some people maybe be born with leadership qualities as mentioned above. In addition, the study also suggests that anywhere in between 30% to 60% most leadership behaviors are developed by overtime. (Ambler, 2019). When speaking or considering whether a leader is made or born, many believe the answers are leadership is the result of a charismatic personality. While the attraction of charismatic people is real, the success of a leader is much more than smooth talk and an outgoing personality.

Every leader throughout history had their own style and unique personality. For instance, US President Abraham Lincoln and Steve Jobs, have not received any leadership education, in fact, both historic figures are the best leaders (Ambler, 2019). History reveals that leaders are self-made, rather than a product of their genetics. Leadership reflects who you are and the changes that you want to make in this world.

The behavioral approach is comparable with nurture over nature. The behavioral approach is based upon the belief that great leaders are made – not born. This approach is the total opposite of the great man approach. According to the behavioral approach, that people can become leaders through the process of teaching, learning, and observation. (Cherry, 2019). The reason I why chooses this approach because the behavioral approach is classified as they focus on how leaders behave and assume that leaders can be made, rather than born. A successful leadership is based on definable, learnable behavior. The advantage of the behavioral approach promotes the values of leadership with an emphasis on concern for people and collaboration. Moreover, it helps managers to evaluate and understand how their behavioral style as a manager could affect their relationship within the organization and help them to decide how to act as a leader depending on concerns for people and for productivity.