If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone utter the phrase “He’s just a born leader,” I’d have…enough money to go out for lunch. But is leadership really a trait that someone is born with? Is there hope for those of us who aren’t ‘born leaders’? According to the skills approach, leaders can be developed through sets of behaviors that teach them how to become leaders.
Aside from a few close friends and my family, I haven’t had the fortune to know many people from a young age to see if people are truly born leaders or they are developed. However, I do have two close friends in leadership positions who demonstrate to me that being a leader is a combination of innate traits as well as learned behaviors. I’ll call my two friends Ann and Kat, just to protect everyone’s privacy. Ann and Kat are sisters, born two and a half years apart. This is how their leadership traits break down according to the Five Factor Model:
Conscientiousness: Ann works hard and has a balanced schedule between work and play. When she makes plans she follows through with what she promises to do. Kat works hard and plays hard, too. Both of the girls have held jobs from the time they were 15 years old.
Agreeableness: Ann is definitely friendly and social. In fact, she was her sorority’s social chair for two years. Kat is more reserved, but once you get to know here she can be very social. She often follows in Ann’s footsteps and served a leadership position in her sorority, too.
Neuroticism: This is probably the innate personality trait of leaders that Ann lacks the most. She is pretty stable, but also tends to get very passionate about issues and situations and doesn’t always stay calm. Kat, on the other hand, is extremely stable and always remains calm. She emits a type of calmness during stressful situations that help relax those around her.
Openness to Experience: This would be the other trait that Ann might be a little short on. As she has grown and matured she has expanded her interest in other cultures and travel, however, as a younger leader she was a bit more close-minded. Once again, Kat is nearly the opposite of Ann. She studied abroad twice in her college career and has lived in many different cities in order to have different jobs.
Extraversion: Both Ann and Kat are high in extraversion, but in different ways. Ann is very outgoing and competitive, while Kat is very decisive and has strong self-confidence.
So, based on the Five Factor Model, Ann & Kat seem to fit the idea of being a born leader. However, research also shows that leadership can be learned. And Ann & Kat have had opportunities. The skills approach shows that there are three big parts of becoming an effective leader: individual attributes, competencies and leadership outcomes (PSU WC Lesson 4, p. 5). The first of the skills, individual attributes, uses different kinds of intelligence in order to become a good leader. Both Ann and Kat have strong educational backgrounds, plus knowledge of their respective industries. What they didn’t know they took the time to learn. Second, the competencies are the actual skills in which leaders can learn throughout their path to becoming a leader. Some of the skills that Ann & Kat had to learn to become effective leaders include the ability to problem solve and act as a referee, and the way to know which path to take to get to a desired outcome. These skills require experience in their industries to understand which choices to make regarding decisions that affect other employees. Finally, the girls’ leadership outcomes part of the model are proven by the fact that they continue to be promoted and move up in leadership positions at their respective companies.
To me, Ann and Kat are an example of how two very different girls from the same parents with different strengths can both become effective and strong leaders. Both of the girls are in supervisory management positions where they work, which is very impressive how quickly they have moved up, considering they are both only in their mid-20s. In my opinion, they are the perfect example of how leadership is a combination of innate traits as well as learned behaviors because Ann and Kat were born with different leadership strengths, but through interacting with one another and gaining knowledge in school and at work, they expanded their born set of skills into learned behaviors that make them both effective leaders.
References:
Penn State World Campus (2012). PSYCH 485 Lesson 4: Skills Approach. Retrieved on September 23, 2012, from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa12/psych485/002/content/04_lesson/05_page.html
SHAUN MILLER says
This was a great way to showcase the skills approach by using a comparative analysis. I do not subscribe to the born leadership theory; however, I do agree with you that various traits come to natural to some people. If leaders had all the same qualities and traits nothing would differentiate them. By this I mean certain skills are utilized better by different leaders or that different situations require different skills. Northouse (2013) explained that an effective leader on the football field may not be effective elsewhere. Even though this situation changes many of the skills are still present that are included in Five Factor Model. These differences were also well outlined in your post.
This skills model is important as it includes various components which include: competences, individual attributes, leadership outcomes, career experience, and environmental influences (Northouse, 2013). Furthermore, you clearly illustrated how Kat and Ann fit into these categories and how they used them to their advantage. And finally, I appreciate how you articulated the similarities and differences between them and how it affected their careers and success as a leader.
References
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc.