Are leaders born or are they made?

I agree that great leaders are developed, though some are born with attributes that perpetuate leadership stature.  Size, posture, depth of voice are all attributes that lend to the ease of a leader's influence.  Confidence and charisma are leadership characteristics that can be developed.  We can learn the tools of leadership by following as we observe both positive and negative leadership examples.  In order to actually develop our own leadership capabilities, we must step out front and take on the leadership role.  Leadership development is often suppressed as individuals shy away from taking on leadership roles due to a fear of failure.  That fear is likely a result of experience or perception.  

Hypothetically I was born.....then made a leader.

There are individuals with particular traits of character, personality. Just like athlets leadership can be taught and develop but there are those few that will mastered to a higher level just like sports there are plenty of good athlets in sports but there is only those few that are natural beyond believe. Any one can be a great leader all it takes is having your subordinates their families and the Army best interest always first.

SGM Finin,

I have read the responses here and I would like to provide my own input on the matter.  I am of the belief that there is no such thing as a born leader.  However, I believe that there are varying levels of potential for leadership, but potential does not make one a leader. 

I believe that potential waxes as life experience supplements it.  However, that alone does not make one a leader.  A leader is an individual who whether by circumstance or choice, is chosen to step up and give guidance to others. 

A leader is the man who is willing to take responsibility for those who serve subordinate to him.  He is the man who is willing to guide them towards accomplishment of what needs to be done, but he is also the man who serves them by protecting them and ensuring that their needs are met. 

Again I state that there is a natural pool of potential.  I believe this pool is based off of a few key factors such as intelligence, resourcefulness, charisma, empathy, and other such things.  But I believe that leaders are forged by the experiences where they must utilize that potentially. 

Very respectfully,

PV1 Cherry

Leaders are certainly not born. There is no demographic factor into determining who will be a leader. I have met Marines with multiple Bachelor's that couldn't lead a fire team out of a wet paper bag, and I have met Marines from small town America that excel in leadership roles. Leaders are shaped through guidance of senior NCO's and SNCO's as well as by the command example of officers. It is through their combined efforts that junior enlisted/officers are shaped into the leaders needed to take charge of our armed forces into the 21st century. If we look at the example of Robert E. Lee, we see a General that counseled his officers and encouraged them to train their subordinates with the edicts and ethos of leadership. The same example is in Gen. George Washington, counseling and training in leadership and entrusting those that prove themselves with more responsibility, not simply handing someone a command because they have time-in-service.

This is a topic that was posed in my Org. Leadership class at grad school this past week.  Author Richard Daft had some really interesting thoughts on this exact topic.  On a pure biological stand point, people are inherently born with leadership traits.  Those traits can be refined into what we consider a great leader.  However, good leadership (which is 99% of our current leaders) can be taught. Having leadership traits is only the base level of leadership though.  Behavioral leadership is the next step.  I think that part is sometime overlooked. A large percentage of "great leaders" coming out of Harvard in the past 15 years have been at the center of corporate fraud and insider trading.  They are now taking a good look into identifying underlying behaviors.  As a TAC Officer, I've tried to identify leadership traits right away in Officer Candidates.  I also try to look for behaviors.  I can't tell you how many times simple bad behaviors serve as a precursor for bad decisions in the future.