Is Great Leadership Born Or Bred?

Adriana Girdler

The answer is not as straight forward as you’d think Are great business leaders born or bred? This is a great question. For the millions …

The answer is not as straight forward as you’d think

Ducklings walking on the roadAre great business leaders born or bred? This is a great question. For the millions of dollars that are spent every year on training employees on becoming great leaders, you would think the answer would be straight forward…bred. But can you really train someone to be a great leader?

How many times have you come across a manager (potential leader) who should not be in their role because they’re not people friendly, visionaries, or even able to inspire those around them. They may be a great task executor and wonderful at managing themselves, but that‘s it. These managers that tend to have people interaction issues are sent to leadership training to resolve these issues but when they come back, does anything really change? Most of the time they return to their old way of working. Is this because their skill set is limited? Just because you send someone on training, does this mean they have the capability to change into what it is you want them to change into? These are a heavy duty questions.

To make answering it a bit easier, let’s look at this question from a sports angle. Just because someone plays hockey does that mean they have the ability and aptitude to play in the NHL? The answer is no. We all know people who love the game and are good, but aren’t able to go to that next level of playing pro. It takes a special person, one that is born with natural talent and the love of the game that makes it this far. These NHL pro players are talented and have a skill set that is beyond others. Could the same be said for great business leaders?  Are great leader’s special people that are born with natural talents, desires and willingness to lead? I would say yes. Like a talented hockey player, you either have ‘it’ or you don’t. We have all come across leaders who we are charismatically attracted too. They have this magnetism that draws us in and makes us want to listen to what they say and be inspired by what they do. These leaders are special.

So, I now ask you the question, do you think you’re a natural leader or a born follower? The good news – there is no right or wrong answer. Both are needed to achieve greatness in this world. If we had a world full of leaders, nothing would get done. It’s about balance.  Check out this fun quiz and find where you stand.

Have you ever come across someone who thought they were a great leader but really wasn’t? Why do you think this is? Thanks for reading, don’t forget to share/tweet/like our blog just underneath this paragraph And don’t forget,we’re always here to help with your business efficiency needs.

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Adriana Girdler is a project manager, productivity specialist, entrepreneur, professional speaker, facilitator, visioning wizard, and author. As President of CornerStone Dynamics, Adriana is one of Canada’s prominent business productivity and project management specialists—helping both individuals and businesses do what they do, only better. She is a certified master black belt lean six sigma with over 20 years’ experience improving how companies work.

She also holds both PMP (project management professional) and CET (certified engineering technologist) designations. She’s a Tedx speaker, as well as a HuffPost and Thrive Global contributor. She has been interviewed on Global, CBC, CTV, CHCH, 680News Radio, Newstalk 1010, Sirius XM and published in the Globe and Mail and numerous industry magazines. WANT ADRIANA'S FREE ONLINE TRAINING? In 45 min, learn Adriana's 5 project management secrets she use on EVERY project. Sign up for the Free Webinar here: THE FAB FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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