Leadership: A Critical Analysis of Born vs. Made Theories

This essay delves into the fundamental question of whether leaders are born with inherent qualities or are developed through experience and learning. It begins with an executive summary and introduction to leadership, emphasizing its significance in influencing subordinates and achieving organizational goals. The essay then provides a critical analysis of the 'born or made' debate, examining key theories such as the Great Man Theory, which suggests that leaders are born with unique traits, and the Trait Theory, which focuses on the development of leadership qualities over time. The discussion covers the impact of leadership on employee confidence, productivity, and organizational success. The conclusion summarizes the different perspectives and stresses the importance of skills, motivation, and a willingness to take responsibility in effective leadership. The essay also references several sources to support its arguments.

Are The Leaders Born or Made? 0
Title: Are The Leaders Born or Made?
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Are The Leaders Born or Made? 1
Executive Summary
There are many people who show a tendency towards leadership, but a few only learn within
their career and life. Leadership is the trait which can influence subordinates and requires
understanding as on how to motivate people. This report summarizes an introduction to
Leadership. A critical analysis has been given on- Are leaders born or made or both? The
significant theories such as Great Man Theory and Trait theory have been given. This is followed
by a conclusion.

Are The Leaders Born or Made? 2
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
A Critical Analysis-Are Leaders Born or Made or Both?...............................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

Are The Leaders Born or Made? 3
Introduction
Leadership is the process through which individuals can influence subordinates and
results in the achievement of enterprise objectives. Leadership is considered as the most frequent
subject in the enterprise sciences. There are numerous studies which have been published and are
being researched in many different ways. This is dependent on methodological preferences of
leadership definition. There are numerous scholars which deal with the narrower concept of
leadership. This includes behavior, traits, and power and has a lot of influence over the
situational approaches. There are few people who are considered natural born leaders and there
are few people who work for whole life to become the best leaders.
A Critical Analysis-Are Leaders Born or Made or Both?
Are leaders born or made or both? This is one of the questions which has dominated and
has continued to dominate the theory of leadership. There are a number of research papers
written and there has been no conclusive evidence as the topic of leadership remains vague.
However, with the upcoming ten years or more, there will be some contributing factors which
will make the leadership origins clear (Santovec, 2018). Moreover, there is no predictive model
and how a man leads towards leadership. Researchers, scholars, and experts have given hundreds
of definitions of leadership. Leaders are known to have significant impacts over employees as
well as businesses which they lead. Due to these criteria, behavioral researchers and economists
are studying who is a good leader. According to the early researchers, there are different traits in
leaders who are inborn and stable and therefore leadership traits have been looked upon
(Sadayappan, 2019).

Are The Leaders Born or Made? 4
Leadership will be represented as the procedure through which an individual influences
the behavior and attitudes for the achievement of an enterprise goal. Leadership will make
employees confident and increase productivity. This is done through the creation of trust and
building an interactive and friendly environment. This makes the employees more self-confident
and trains the employees for providing safety and security in their jobs (Henrikson, 2006). This,
in turn, increases the productivity levels in organizations. There are casual or informal leaders,
which have no authority, no power in their positions and they hold no title. They can increase
personal power. There are a number of companies which have agreed that management without
the leadership will be considered as an ineffective activity. The organizational resources are
unable to be managed through formal leadership. If an organization lacks leadership traits, they
may move slowly and results in lower profits and revenues.
A leader is an individual who is considered trustworthy, fulfill promises and has self-
confidence and can work seriously over projects. There are different people who will have
different attitudes and need a solution to a particular problem in different methods. When a
conflict arises, then the best and suitable decision must be made through the leaders. Leadership
is concerned with an activity that involves making people do the right things. The organization
needs to select better leaders and this becomes a challenging task (Piaw and Ting, 2014). Being
with the right team and motivated staff and an individual with great leadership qualities will
increase the productivity and reputation of the organization. There are researchers who have
discussed the leadership as a personality trait and a few others think that leadership can be
considered as an information processing behavior. In this real world, there are self-made
individuals or leaders and they have become successful in businesses. This matter is of great
debate as they are born or gained experience within a due course of time (Kaminski, 2009).

Are The Leaders Born or Made? 5
There are people who put long hours and learn the job with dedication and commitment.
The person who wants to become a great leader should know how to react to constructive
criticism and then use it as an advantage. There are people who are trying to be the leader will
look for definite opportunities and learn them (Olson, 2009). Moreover, learning is a process
which is never ending and an individual has the opportunity to learn from the people who are
junior and senior to them. The great leaders can learn from failures and this will help them in the
future. Effective leaders will be holding themselves accountable for the actions performed and
never rest in the worst conditions. The leader is one who focuses on the organization towards the
perfect future and motivates to overcome the barriers. Leaders need to motivate people and
cooperate with organizational goals.
Significant Theories
1. Great Man Theory-The Great man theory proposes that leaders are born and cannot be
made. These people have certain traits which are inherited. Great leaders will arise when
there will be a need. This Great man theory has been originated in the nineteenth century
and linked with Thomas Carlyle. According to scholars, a leader is an individual who has
been gifted through unique qualities which can capture the masses. The great man
leadership theory states that there are a few people who possess the necessary traits
through which they are set apart and these skills are responsible for gaining the power
and authoritative positions (Poole, McHardy and Janssen, 2008).
2. Trait Theory-Trait approach identifies individuals based on the developed traits in a due
course of time. There are a few people who can lead the world with their personal
qualities. This approach also suggests that those people who develop traits within a
stipulated time period can lead the world. These can be physical characteristics, aptitudes

Are The Leaders Born or Made? 6
and personality traits. The major focus is also on the people who have stress tolerance,
emotional maturity, self-confidence, and greater energy level can go very high in their
life. According to the reviews given by the trait approach, the entire above discussion is
linked with managerial effectiveness (Patel, 2016).
Conclusion
Leaders not only influence people, but they create change. The person must have skills
for the accomplishment of a task. The researchers suggest that leaders have a strong motivation
to lead. These people have a strong capability of influencing other people and often equated
through power need. There must be a willingness for assuming certain responsibilities. This is
frequently found in inborn leaders. The phenomena work towards understanding motivation and
leading factor and effective leadership. There are wide ranges of traits which are implemented
and inspire the employees.

Are The Leaders Born or Made? 7
References
Henrikson, M. (2006). Great Leaders Are Made, Not Born. AWHONN Lifelines, 10(6), pp.510-
515.
Kaminski, T. (2009). I Beg to Differ that Great Leaders Are Born and Not Made!. Athletic
Training & Sports Health Care, 1(3), pp.96-97.
Olson, D. (2009). Are Great Leaders Born, or Are They Made?. Frontiers of Health Services
Management, 26(2), pp.27-30.
Patel, E. (2016). Preparing Interfaith Leaders: Knowledge Base and Skill Set for Interfaith
Leaders. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2016(152), pp.75-86.
Piaw, C. and Ting, L. (2014). Are School Leaders Born or Made? Examining Factors of
Leadership Styles of Malaysian School Leaders. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116,
pp.5120-5124.
Poole, P., McHardy, K. and Janssen, A. (2008). General physicians: born or made? The use of a
tracking database to answer medical workforce questions. Internal Medicine Journal, 39(7),
pp.447-452.
Sadayappan, S. (2019). Cardiovascular Leaders Are Made, not Born. Circulation Research,
124(4), pp.484-487.
Santovec, M. (2018). Women Leaders: Made, Not Born. Women in Higher Education, 27(5),
pp.11-15.