Is a leader born or made?

Leaders are ‘mostly made.'

Nowadays, there is tremendous interest in leadership and in leader development. There is not
a recipe or a formula that can be used by an individual to become an effective leader
instantly. Leadership is a process of tries and errors which exhibits its successes and failures
and needs to be achived over time.
The ability to effectively lead, motivate and direct a group of people requires a very complex
set of skills, mostly acquired through experiences, self-development as well as access to
subsequent training:
 To be honest to his followers and transparent in everything his doing.
 Forward looking, planning, setting goals and creating a vision for the future.
 Must be inspiring, a role model of his followers
 Must be intelligent enough to know the answers needed by the group.
 Must be fair-minded, showing a fair treatment to all people
 Courageous, have the perseverance to achive hid goal, regardless of the obstacles that
may come into his way.
 Being straight-forward

People who are leader should be trustworthy. This is because leaders influence behavior of
human beings. For people to follow what you care telling them they must trust you. Whatever
their leadership style, type and so on - must choose the right action at the right time and
“keep a steady eye on the ball”.
True leaders ensure they continue to develop their leadership skills throughout their careers,
through learning and development materials and activities.”

Leaders need to be able to clearly and succinctly explain to their employees everything
related to job performance. This includes organizational goals, specific tasks, and feedback
regarding their performance. A large part of communication involves listening. Leaders
should establish regular communication with their staff or team members. Leaders should be
available to discuss issues and concerns with employees.

A strong leader will identify employees’ skills and assign responsibilities to each employee
based on unique abilities. Or they will identify a skill that needs to be developed and will
work with that employee to accomplish the task.  

Leaders are responsible not only to meet the needs of their team, but also to meet the needs of
their manager and of the organization. They are also accountable for both the successes and
failures of the team.

These skills and qualities can be taught and can be learned by motivated
individuals. Leadership is about taking responsibilities.
These objectives, goals and vision should be continually changed depending on the prevailing
circumstances. By them being flexible the leader will therefore be able to achieve what he or
she planned for leadership is therefore about determining your goal which should be
achievable.A leader should always display uncommon commitment. A leader should always
be committed to what he or she wants to achieve. A leader does not have undivided
commitment. It should be total commitment this will help him or her to achieve the very best
results which he or she anticipated for. The leader should be committed to his or her goals
because if he or she is not no one else will be committed. Therefore, a leader should be
committed first in order for the people he want to influence to be committed.

A leader should always expect positive results. He or she should always anticipate for a win.
Research has revealed that people who think positively will always achieve positive results
even if not exactly what they wanted. People who think negatively will always lose.

Therefore it is very important for leaders to think positively so as to achieve positive result
for winners always expect a win.A leader should always take care of his or her people or
customers. Human beings respond to things or actions according to what they have received
at their end. If a leader takes care of his or her people, he or she should always expect the
same. People will take care of you if you take care of them. If leaders do not show care to
their people than vice versa will be true. Therefore leaders should be caring to the people who
want to influence their behavior.Leader should always put duty before self.

The leader should always be there to guide and perform the actions that are called for by his
or her leadership area. He should not seat in the office and give instruction on what is
supposed to be done. He or she should go out to the people and watch what is happening.
This is what that can be termed as leadership.The above principles reveal that leader should
be knowledgeable, good communicators, committed, optimistic caring, trustworthy, and
courageous and have a powerful sense of duty

Leadership occurs at diverse levels in all organizations. This courses help to prepare the
learners to be able to take up responsibilities later in future.When people are learning
leadership each of students should be given a chance to assume leadership as a practical
lesson. This will help show whether the person has attained any potential in leadership and
where he or she needs to improve. The things which are learnt in the courses can be applied
everywhere in the learner’s day to day life. Leadership does not reside in the position that an
individual holds but is based on the ability to identify issues and realistically looking at them.
It also involves making hard decision, ability to mobilize people and dealing with change
which are taught in course work.

A leader should know his or her values, knowledge and abilities and how other participants
perceive them. It is important for a leader to know his or her strengths and weaknesses. It
helps in improving.Leaders who succeed are the ones who put an effort to learn and practice
the skills they have learnt. The skills are:A leader should have knowledge as well as
understanding. a leader should have knowledge about the organization, how to conduct a
meeting and the business that the organization carry out. A leader should know the
organizations objectives, vision, mission and its set up. Knowledge about the group that the
leader is dealing with is also important.A leader should have skills and an ability to
communicate.
A good leader is a person who is able to express himself or herself with confidence and a
high level of clarity. A good leader should also be a good listener. A leader should get the
facts and feelings of the people he or she is dealing with. Great leader are good in probing
and they pay a lot of attention.A good leader is a person who can be able to foresee and
therefore develop a vision to the organization. A vision should always be communicated to
the people thus allowing them to become part of the vision. A vision cannot be built by one
person, it is a collective action. Therefore, the leader should include the people.

A leader should be a person who is always ready to take risks and is innovative. New ideas
may come from all corners i.e., from the people and from the leader. A leader is a person who
has the ability to recognize constructive ideas, support them and campaign for action to be
taken. A good leader is person who values other. He should recognize and reward people out
of their good work.

Tenth is tolerance, leaders must have a high tolerance for the small mistakes his subordinates
may occasionally make. A leader can understand a repeated yet small mistake in his group
but if the mistake is affecting the business in a bad way the leader can make an appropriate
decision for the group. Eleventh is understandable, a leader must be understanding and
humane enough to his subordinates. Twelfth is honesty and transparency, leaders must be
honest and transparent in everything he is doing and dealings and cannot be bribed by
anyone. Thirteenth is accessibility, leaders must be easily approachable when
needed.Fourteenth is providing opportunities, leaders must be willing to provide
opportunities and chances for his subordinates. Fifteenth is guidance, leaders must lead by
training others and show how the work is done. They also must not show off to his
subordinates.

Sixteenth is willingness to listen, leaders must listen to his subordinates when they have
something to say. Seventeenth is genuineness, leaders must not be plastic to his subordinates;
he must be sincere in everything he says and does. Eighteenth is discretion, leaders must
respect the privacy of his ubordinates; they must not indulge themselves in the conversion of
others and also must not gossip about them. Nineteenth is informed, leaders must inform his
subordinates on what is happening around them, they should not give time for gossip.
Twentieth is grace, leaders must neither denigrate nor undermine a subordinate for any
reason. Twenty-first is authority; leaders have the rest to give orders, rewards and
punishments. Twenty-second is people orientation; leaders must not be afraid of speaking in
front of many people or talk to people.

He must also be cooperative and inspire his subordinates.Twenty-third is positive personality,

subordinates like leaders who are active, humble, gracious, thoughtful and confident. Leaders
must be proactive and inspires trust. Twenty-fourth is good communication; leaders must be
good communicators. He must inform all his subordinates about all his doings.

Maybe some of the traits and characteristics are natural in a person but most of it is learned.