Can Leadership Be Taught? One of the funny things you see in children is how they mimic some of their parent’s actions. When they are small and innocent, it appears funny. However, habits accumulated through such imitation often end up defining the personality of the child. However, most of the inculcation happens without any formal teaching.
These behaviours seem to have been
caught by the child. Now transport this to work place and ask how good leadership traits get inculcated into the organization? This significant question has always been asked around and debated in many leadership summits and forum. Can leadership, a vital skill to steer oneself and organizations, be transmitted through leadership training alone? What factors would be significant for people to lead to exhibit leadership behaviours? The mind-set of a leader is often an inspiration derived from within but ignited through the inspirational force of another leader. It is often said Leadership is better caught than taught. Simply said, Inspiration is Caught or acquired by admiring at your role models, by observing great leaders and adopting their traits, by actively pursuing habits that a true leader follows. There’s a growing fear and myth globally that leadership programs don’t work; that even after investing millions, great and inspiring leaders are in short supply. 85% managers and mid-level executives are still apprehensive and insecure in their leadership capabilities. If the programs for leadership development are not working to the desired extent, what should be the right approach to create a healthy pipeline of leaders? How can leadership qualities be caught by more employees? The answer is simple – demonstrate it by your actions!! As the popular saying goes “Actions speak louder than words”. All great leaders have led more by their actions than anything else. The influence they wield is attributable to the exemplary actions they have taken.
As Theodore Roosevelt said “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care” What you care about becomes visible to others and if they resonate with your ideology and approach, they are more likely to follow your actions. Being a role model is not easy. One has to be mindful and aware of one’s actions, howsoever insignificant they might appear. This builds the leader’s personal power and integrity. The character leaders display is more likely to influence the people around them rather the advice. Values such as patience, integrity, compassion and positivity are not just soft values which can be taught in classrooms. They are the essential building blocks of your character and it is that character which will be inspiring and caught. The rest is mere semantics.
References – 1) http://www.ddiworld.com/DDI/media/trend-research/global-leadership-forecast-20142015_tr_ddi.pdf
2) https://study.com/academy/lesson/role-models-as-leaders-in-the-workplace.html