Leaders: Born or Made?

A recent television reality show featured three chefs in a competition. They received the same list of ingredients and were to prepare several courses. Each chef had the same amount of time and could use only the ingredients on the list.  When the gourmet meals were finished, a panel of judges picked the winner. This is a good example of what happens during leadership development. Given the same individual, different mentors develop leaders differently; and, of course, leaders respond to each mentoree differently.  There are several implications here. Leaders should have multiple people developing them. Not only should we develop the leaders under us, but we should encourage them to seek outside mentors who can also develop their ingredients.

People often say, "He is a born leader." I respectfully disagree. Leaders aren't born; they're made, like bread is made. Leadership development is an intentional activity. Raisin bread doesn't appear by itself even if we leave the ingredients on the kitchen counter overnight. Someone must consciously take ingredients and knead them together, put the mixture under the right amount of heat and allow it to rise, then punch it down and start over again until the dough is the perfect consistency. Only then will it rise above the pan. Helping a leader rise takes this same kind of intentional activity.

One reporter wrote:
I believe everyone has the ingredients needed to be a leader. We are leaders at different times and places. Dad might be a manager in an office. The people who work for him acknowledge that he is a leader. But Mom is also a leader. She leads a Cub Scout troop, she leads the family in getting chores done, and every morning she leads the kids to school. But Junior could be a leader too. Maybe he is the academic pacesetter of the fourth grade or is the captain of the dodgeball team at recess. Even the dog can lead with his bark when a stranger comes to the front door. So if everyone is capable of being a leader, how do we explain the difference in ability between leaders? If we could measure people on a leadership scale of one to ten, some people will only rise to a level three while others will rise to a ten. The ingredients are there, but they never seem to come together to their full potential. That's where we come in. With the proper training, dogs are taught to lead blind people through busy streets. What can our leaders accomplish if we invest time in developing them?