Are Leaders Born or Made?

Leadership is a skill and like any skill, it is something that is learned. Leaders are self-made through continuous personal development. Those who excel at it have spent countless hours honing and perfecting their learned skill. The more time and experience they have spent developing that skill, the better they are at it. No one is born as an effective leader, just as no one is born with the ability to speak. It is something that is learned by watching what others do, learning how they do it (by practice and repetition), and then copying them.

To become a great leader, you first need to identify the qualities that make up a leader. By acclimating yourself to the leadership qualities, you set yourself up for success in the long journey towards becoming a great leader. It is like studying a map before going on a trip to an unfamiliar destination. Without a map, you may wander aimlessly, without ever reaching your destination. By having a set of criteria with which to evaluate yourself, you can map out an efficient route to reach your destination.

Leaders share numerous qualities, including integrity, character, humility, focus, cooperation, confidence, and competence. Integrity is moral wholeness demonstrated by a consistency of beliefs, words, and actions. People with integrity practice what they preach, they believe what they say they believe, and they do what they say they will do. Integrity is also the foundation to character. Character is the ethical and moral strength to demonstrate trustworthiness, respect, fairness, caring, and good citizenship. Leaders demonstrate humility through self-confidence and self-awareness. They recognize the value of others without feeling threatened. They admit when they are wr...

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...rio may mean death. Keeping this thought in mind, I refuse to accept failure. To do that requires me to be proficient in my field. I am reviewing new case law and law enforcement publications, regularly attending training and education courses, and constantly practicing my perishable skills.

As I review this list of leadership qualities, I realize these are all skills I have years working towards improving. I am not an expert at any of them, nor do I think I will ever achieve perfection. A leader understands and is aware of where they were in the past, where they are now, and where they want to be in the future. They work diligently towards improving these qualities but understand the job is never done. They can always get better. In this way, leaders are self-made into the type of leader they want to become and not born with innate leadership qualities.