Leaders Are Born, Not Made

“Leaders are born, not made – critically discuss”

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This essay will be critically evaluate and analyze about leaders are born not made, this topic become often been asked about leadership. Who is leader? Someone who can lead other is known as a leader. A person who as a good mission, eyesight, ambition and a responsibility to achieve that vision is known as leader. In other word leader can be defined as “A leader needs a clear and good vision, words that has a power, able to motivate others, do not loss hope and be persistence”.(Rowley, 1997). Base on the statement of “leaders are born, not made”, certain people with good personality characteristic are extra advantages for being a leader. Other factor that influence such as family genes for sure cannot be argued. Examples, Martin Luther King, his leadership skill come from his family gene. Besides that, society, education, training and job are external factors that influence leaders to be made. An example, Dick and Mac McDonald, ‘Mac Donald’s founder is a made leader because their leadership skills develop after went for training. In this co-operate world a great leader could climb up the co-operate ladder. “Now days everyone try to be a leader because a leader has more power and can earn more money than follower there have”. (Allio, 2005).

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Concept of Leadership

The concept of leadership is a process where a person will influences other to accomplish a mission or an objective and directs the organization to more cohesive and coherent way. Leaders applying their leadership approaches such as right in behavior, knowledge, skills, belief, character and values to carry out the process. According, to Hersey and Blanchard (2001), “As the process of influencing the activities of an individuals or team in effort towards goal accomplishment”. (Cited by Koech and Namusonge, 2012). Leadership allow minimize problem, teamwork, contributes some idea and integrating role to keep people be united. Leadership together with incentive and stimulant motivates people to achieve common vision, having a relevant role in the developing process, transmitting process and changing of organizational.

2.2 Trait Theories

The trait path of leadership knows as original theories. Theories that discover the personal characteristic of successful leaders known as trait theory that lead people naturally into leadership roles. Furthermore, commonly people in higher level positions will have more leadership traits rather than those in lower level positions. “Trait theory is very important, due to trait theory is try to find a framework based on the qualities of exceptional leaders in term of personal quality that the leaders trait”. (Rowley, 1997). Besides that, trait theory tells that a good leader born with inborn leadership qualities such as imagination, decisiveness, determination and sociability. “An opinion from researches tells that communication between the character of the leader and the position of the leader self is result to be a great leader”. (Fleenor, 2006).

2.3 Behavioral Theories

Behavioral theories use path of charismatic leadership to describe the leadership approach. Autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire is example of leadership for behavioral sphere. Autocratic way is predominant action to implement the law, regulation, and communication in the work circumstances. Democratic way is collaborative, responsive, and interactive action with members regarding work. A laissez-faire way leads through non-leadership and leader not able to take authority of the post. Leaders will use certain styles among three basic ways when approaching a team of member in a leadership position.

2.4 Contingency Theories

Fiedler’s contingency theory analyzes that favorableness of the leader’s situation according to the leader’s potential level, the organization’s work structure, and aspect of the leader-member bond. Blake and Mouton found that “The important in suggesting that managers can modify their styles and those leadership skills that a manager able to learn”. Cited by Rowley, 1997). This theory mention that a leadership capability is magnify when leaders perfectly make their attitude “contingent” on certain circumstanced and with member characteristic. Fiedler classifies leaders using The Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale is a projective technique through which leader has minimum preferred to work over their course. Then follow by The Situational Favorableness that has three dimensions such as structure of task, position of power and relation between leader-member.

2.5 Leadership Skills

Beyond the personal traits by a leader, certain skills that a leader should master if they want to be a great leader. A leader must good in doing a planning to achieve the goal or vision they set. A systematic level of plan will keep everyone moving towards the goal. Besides that, an effective communication because a leader should be more then able to write and speak. A leader’s communication must able to move his team member to work towards the goal the leader has set. Nevertheless, a motivation by a leader that able to motivate his/her followers. A leader should know how and when to push everyone to do their best to achieve the goal has set.

3.0 BORN

3.1 Personal Characteristic

Leader that born with personal characteristic is important for an ethical leadership. According trait theory of Rodrigo, 2012 explained that “traits are the distinguishing personal characteristic of leader like honesty, intelligence and self-confident”. An efficient leadership need have talent, imagination, trait, or character that could not obtained cognitively. The main leader traits let the development of important vision, useful planning and skills of procedure to implement and achieve the vision. An individual taken as an example is Marina Mahathir, daughter of former Malaysia Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohammad. She does have personal characteristics that traits from her father such intelligence,