Addressing the question of whether leaders are born or made is like trying to solve the agelong problem of which came first, the chicken or the egg.
Since there always seems to be a shortage of charismatic business leaders, there is no other solution than making them, rather than waiting for them to be born.
Management education plays a key role in shaping the personality of new business managers, and helping them become strong leaders.
Therefore, the aforementioned shortage of leadership talent should be taken into serious account in the context of management education.
This means that, in addition to the technical aspects of management practice, the leaders of tomorrow should be equipped with personal skills, traits, and characteristics that will enable them to lead people, and achieve results even in unforeseen circumstances.
Not every business leader can earn the trust of employees
A prospective leader may decide to enroll in a business management school to get academic knowledge of how to successfully manage a business.
However, unless that person earns the trust of his or her employees, he or she won’t be an actual leader, but rather an “administrator” of a business.
Not every prospective business leader has this ability and talent, i.e. earn employee trust, and many people who run a business may never earn this trust, which will result in a high risk of business failure.
Earning employee trust is not taught in business schools
Unfortunately, teaching how to earn the trust of employees is not included in the syllabus of business schools.
Although other modules, such as Taylor’s approach to management (the so-called: “Scientific Management Theory”), McGregor’s XY Theory of Management, or the legal context of industrial relations may be taught, there are usually no modules, for example, on how to build a strong team spirit by earning the trust of subordinates.
In my opinion, it is wrongly believed that these aspects of leadership cannot be taught, but they are rather inherent to a person.
It is generally believed that business school graduates who grow into successful business leaders are born with this talent, or, they can reach their full potential as leaders through practice and with time.
Leadership is the social side of business management
Unless a business manager realizes the social role of a leader within a business, he or she won’t be able to become a true leader.
A leader’s power is based on those under his or her command.
This power is not imposed on subordinates, but it is the outcome of the latter’s free decision to follow a leader.
However, in order for them to make this decision, a leader should be able to earn their trust through his or her unique skills, competencies, and personality traits.
Leadership skills cannot be developed in an abstract context.
They could, and should, be developed in the context of human resource management, because a leader leads people, not machines or equipment.
Therefore, a leader should be able to understand that, in order to successfully run a business, he or she should first be able to utilize and combine the collective effort of employees under his or her command.
It is this collective effort, which is another form of social force that strongly affects the successful operation of a business, that multiplies a leader’s power and determines the level of his or her success.
This article was originally published by me on Medium.com.
You can read it here.
