leaders are born not made

2. Leaders are born, not made

Over the years there has been many opinions on this statement, and when trying to understand leadership success many approaches have been looked at.
Researchers at the start of the 20th century focused on traits that leaders possessed. It was thought that some people were born with traits which made them a leader. Before the 2nd World War a lot of research was carried out, which sought to identify these characteristics. This is known as the Great Man Approach, since being born with these characteristics made you a “great man”.
So is it true that leaders are born? Before seeking to answer this question, the theories should be examined. Stodgill (1948) and Bass (1959) looked at people who had achieved “greatness” and tried to identify traits which they all possessed, and distinguished them from others. They identified 5 main characteristics which consisted with effective leadership:-
- intelligence
- dominance
- self confidence...