I've lost number of the times I have heard someone referred to as a born leader. The debate has been had as to whether being a leader is something you are born with or not – and to be honest I think the answer is ‘yes' and ‘no'.
To a degree we are all leaders. If, as John Maxwell puts it “Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing else” then we are all leaders. After all, everyone has some level of influence along the line. Couple that with the fact that being a leader means we have at least one follower – then again ‘yes' we are all leaders – even if it's self leadership.
The issue isn't whether you are a leader or not – anyone can claim that title. It's what you do with your leadership that counts. A leader can march their people into a deep chasm by simply doing nothing. Leadership is measured by the markers on the journey. It's not where you take them but how you got them there and the shape they were in when they arrived that demonstrates great leadership.
But being a born leader is not the same as being a growing leader.
A growing leader inspires so much more. I would rather follow a growing leader than a born leader. For me leadership is organic; it is a continual process of development and change. It's not an exact science – it's a response to people and purpose. It demands consistent input, shaping and tweaking.
In my experience, people who describe themselves as born leaders tend to assume a right to lead, either because of job title or past success. As we know, leadership is not a right to assume, but an honor to earn. When push comes to shove and the hard times roll, your team doesn't care what you did in your last post, it doesn't matter what you have achieved – what counts is what you are demonstrating now.
Growing leaders establish trust. As people see you are developing, responding and moving forward they are inspired to follow. In the end, words are hollow, direction is meaningless and inspiration is short lived unless there is evidence that it is changing the leader.
Just recently I saw a programme on TV called ‘Make Slough Happy' (Slough is a town in the UK). Although I only watched the last in the series, I was fascinated by the story of a small company that sold tools. In all the years the team had worked there, the MD/Owner had never had a meeting with them all together. It was an extraordinary scenario to watch, and virtually impossible to believe. The MD was the leader – but he wasn't leading.
In the end, the meeting nearly didn't happen. Why? - The team was scared that if they said anything negative it would have repercussions. The MD/owner was cynical to start with about the necessity of meeting with his team, but eventually decided to go along with it. In the end, the meeting happened and it was a great success. It made that part of Slough ‘happy'. It seemed to me that meeting with his team was possible his first act of genuine leadership. Why? Because he changed.
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