'Leaders are born not made. To what extent is this saying justified by current research evidence?'

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'Leaders are born not made. To what extent is this saying justified by current research evidence?'

The phenomenon of leadership is one of the most extensively researched management processes, and inevitably effective leadership plays a fundamental role in the success of any organisation. The fact that no single style of leadership has been found to be universally effective, suggests not every leader exhibits the same type of leadership behaviour. It is possible that this is a result of leaders' personal choices, or due to innate genetic factors, giving rise to the view that 'leaders are born not made'. Being a leader and leadership itself are however, two very different concepts. Fielder (1995) defined a leader as a person who is "appointed, elected, or informally chosen to direct and co-ordinate the work of others in a group". In contrast, leadership is more of a process, and can be considered to be a combination of personal qualities, behaviours and styles adapted by the leader. It is therefore possible that not all leaders will possess effective leadership skills and attributes.

With reference to the statement leaders are 'born not made', it may be that people are born with certain predispositions i.e. personality characteristics, which make them more effective as leaders, or in exhibiting leadership qualities. There are certain factors that are indisputably innate, such as family, genetics etc, however there are factors that are controversial such as intelligence, personality and status. These factors are arguably influenced by environmental and situational factors. In comparison, there are influential factors that are not innate, i.e., social influences, life-experiences, education, mentors etc. It is therefore unclear if individuals are 'born' with the qualities that make them effective leaders, if they acquire these, or if it is a combination of both.

Early research such as the Great Man approach focussed on distinguishing personal traits of leaders e.g., personality. Fundamental to this theory was the idea that certain individuals were born with traits that make them natural leaders, therefore supporting the theory that 'leaders are born'. Stogdill's 1948 literature review, uncovered several traits that appeared consistent with effective leadership, suggesting the possibility of innate leadership characteristics. However, it also highlighted that the importance of a particular trait was relative to the situation, thus possessing certain personal characteristics is no guarantee of success.

Current leadership research is dominated by studies of Transformational and Transactional leadership (Burns, 1978). Judge & Bono (2000) collected evidence that over half of all research papers on leadership published in psychological journals in the 1990's, focussed on transformational leadership. In contrast to earlier research, these theories emphasise the role of interpersonal relationships and interactions in effective leadership. Whereas transactional leadership is concerned with contingent rewards and management by exception, transactional leadership is concerned with transforming the values and priorities of followers, and motivating them to perform beyond their expectations to achieve a higher collective purpose (Yukl, 1998). Bass (1985) commented that transformational leadership is likely to result in growth, independence and empowerment of followers, all of which suggest effective leadership.
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Researchers have proposed that transformational leadership behaviour comprises of four main components: inspirational motivation, idealised influence, individualised consideration and intellectual stimulation. The first two components represent the notion of 'charisma' (Avolio, Bass & Jung, 1999; Bass 1985). These processes are similar to the charismatic leadership theory (Conger and Kanungo, 1998), and emphasises personal identification as a central mechanism through which leaders can influence. This notion highlights the need for leaders to be able to communicate effectively, form interpersonal relationships, exhibit empathy and understanding, and earn the trust of their employees. It is questionable whether leaders are born with ...

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