Before exploring the traits and characteristics of leaders, spend a few moments thinking about the great leaders of today and yesterday. Are you not in awe of the sheer range of backgrounds from which these leaders emerge? Some might come from a royal family while others have very humble beginning.

Now, what is the driving force behind these leaders that thrust them towards prominence? Under this sub-topic, we are to explore the very old question: Are leaders born or made?

Kirkeptrick and Locke (1991) suggested that leader do not have to be great men or women by being intellectual geniuses or omniscient prophets to success. But they do need to have the ‘right stuff’ and this stuff is not equally present in all people. Luthans (1995) then recognized 5 traits that could primarily affect task performance in terms of leadership skills. They are:

• Extroversion – are you sociable, talkative and assertive?
• Agreeableness – are you good-natured, cooperative and trusting?
• Conscientiousness – are you responsible, dependable, persistent and achievement-oriented?
• Emotional stability – viewed from a negative standpoint, are you tense, insecure and/or nervous?
• Openness to experience – are you imaginative, artistically sensitive and intellectual?

Other than that, effective leaders also possess personality traits such as enthusiasm, warmth, self-confidence, sense of humour, high tolerance for frustration, courage, flexibility and adaptability, and locus of control. These are all important in making one stand out as the leader with commanding presence and action-oriented charisma.

Successful leadership also demands an appreciation of attitudes and their manifestations in an organization. Attitude has components of affective (favourable or unfavourable feelings), behaviour (human actions) and cognitive (beliefs, knowledge, understanding). In some situations, these 3 components come into conflict and the leader must consider feelings as well as behaviours in the attempt to promote positive attitudes. In that, Dublin and Daglish (2003) pointed out the importance of cognitive factors, such as creativity, farsightedness and conceptual thinking, insight into people and situations, and knowledge of the business or group task. These are influential elements in leadership.

Heredity and Gender

So to answer the question of whether leaders are born or made, we have to look at the topic of heredity. Of course, in this case, we are not going into the complicated science of biology to fully grasp the mechanism of genetic inheritance. All we wanted to say is, whereas once it was believed that all leadership traits were inherited, modern psychological research supports a perspective that includes both biological and environmental contributors to personality development. We are, in fact, born with certain dispositions toward leadership. These dispositions can be aided, stunted, or otherwise altered by experiences we have during our everyday lives (Shriberg & et. al.). Study into the dynamics of leadership has already substantiated that most people have the potential to become leaders under the right circumstances, with attention to strengthening their interpersonal skills. (New LTW 2001) With the knowledge and desire to show the way, any person can be a leader! Knowledge can be acquired, and desire is the result of motivation. For that reason, you can decide for yourself, if leaders are born or made.

As for the difference in gender, we would like to say that, again, there are diverse views in this subject. But Grant has concluded that between male and female managers, there are few personality differences. Studies that Bass reviewed even indicate that there is no consistent pattern of male-female differences in leadership styles. That is, both male and female leaders differ amongst themselves in leadership styles.

Development of Leadership Skills

The strategies in developing leadership skills are sketched by McDonald-Mann (1998). They include:

• Conceptual knowledge and behavioural guidelines
• Conceptual information demonstrated by examples and brief descriptions of leaders in action
• Experimental exercises
• Feedback on skill utilization
• Practice in natural settings