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Can Leadership Be Taught?

5/4/2015

For most of the 20th century, business schools strived to turn out managers; now they promise to graduate leaders. According to The New York Times, the trend can be traced back to 1977 when Harvard professor Abraham Zaleznik, published a paper entitled “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?”

Many remain skeptical of goals to “educate leaders who make a difference in the world” (Harvard), develop “brave leaders who inspire growth in people, organizations, and markets” (Northwestern/Kellogg), and create “leaders of consequence” (Duke/Fuqua). They ask: Can leadership really be taught?

We believe leadership can be taught. Leaders need core communication skills to create cultures that breed both performance and engagement. The more that business schools incorporate skills like encouraging collaboration and harnessing the innate power of conflict, the more their graduates will be prepared to innovate and inspire.

We want to hear: Do you think leadership can be taught, and what specific skills should be the focus? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.

20 Comments

Karen Bennett

5/5/2015 02:28:15 am

For some this may be true. The key is understanding the intent of the pupil in wanting to be a leader or is it to be a dictator? Some dont know the difference nor do they posess the proper mental facalties to accomplish this....this is the scary part. Its hard to teach someone sociopathic tendencies how to understand human behavior and motivation or empathy and compassion.

susan

5/5/2015 04:23:35 am

Karen: You have identified a serious issue: How can empathy and compassion be taught if people are in leadership for power and self serving reasons? We have colleagues who teach ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Training) that focuses on understanding one's own emotions and thoughts. That is indeed a long journey.

Norman Meyer link

5/5/2015 03:06:50 am

I totally agree -- leadership can be developed. In my field (court administration), our national professional group has a set of "core competencies," among which is leadership (which I helped write). Here's a link to the material: http://nacmcore.org/competency/leadership/

Merry Bauman

5/5/2015 04:22:28 am

I believe the capability for leadership is inherent in most people, but only a few actually reach that potential. I think it would be hard to teach somone to be a leader. Teaching them to be proficient in a particular area, and putting them in charge of people in that area, will either bring out the leadership qualities in them, or cause them to feel badly out of their depth. Personality, self-esteem, and so many factors can determine if a person can, or will, lead others.
In my experience, it helps to have a natural inclination towards taking charge and leading others. If birth-order has any application here, oldest children tend to lead by nature. Personally, I have been in many jobs and situations where I began as just a member of the group, but quickly became the spokesperson or leader.
I think being the oldest of six children, definitely determined a lot of my leadership skills. I am also an extrovert. There are many people for whom leadership would be extremely difficult, but they might rise to the occasion if pressed into it. Training someone who has no leadership skills or inclination would be difficult, and require a special kind of training. If anyone can do it, I am sure you could! Your programs, books, audio, and seminars are quite amazing!
I think it would be very difficult to do, none the less.

Susan

5/5/2015 04:25:13 am

Thanks Merry. Thanks for your generous words about our work. So much does go into leadership ability, and you have identified a serious problem: When someone is promoted to a leadership role because they have expertise in a particular job task, that can spell disaster without great coaching and training.

5/5/2015 04:27:02 am

Thanks for the link, Norm. How incredible that you have been working on core leadership competencies for your national professional group (NACM). Thanks for sharing the link with our e-community. BTW: Where are you now?! (For a more private answer, you can reply to the email that brought you the Communication Capsule.)

Cam McGinnis

5/21/2015 12:33:57 am

Leadership, the word, can be defined. The acts of leaders and the examples of leadership can be discussed and evaluated.
I believe, based on the above, that leadership can be taught. I also believe that suggesting that 'leaders are born and can not be taught' closes alot of doors.
Leadership, like many other disciplines, is a practice and requires time and failure.

5/21/2015 02:30:12 am

So true, Cam. Feels toxic to tell people that leadership is innate. As you say, it is a practice to be cultivated and refined. Thanks for sharing this insight with our e-community.

Daniel J. Alfonso

1/18/2016 06:07:25 am

Yes it can be taught! But as with everything in life, some will be better than others at it, and we don't know why yet! When we learned math, some students did better than others in the same class room, with the same teacher. Same for leadership skills.

1/18/2016 10:15:45 am

Thanks for this, Dan. Interesting analogy: Maybe each of us does have a leadership "set point" like we do for math or sports. Still wonder whether that is genetic or learned in a lifetime through family interactions and friendships. Lots to think about here! Thanks for getting that conversation going.

1/19/2016 02:18:21 pm

Great observation, Dan. Leadership skills can be taught/learned -- everyone can get better. BUT, each of us have individual talents that are pretty well set very early in life. Thus, some talents enable one to become better leaders than others, taking into account that this is dependent on the environment/situation, too.

1/25/2016 12:56:27 pm

Interesting thought Norm. What I take from your comment is that leadership skills are learned but often at a very young age so that by the time a person arrives in the workforce, there is more limited capacity. Did I get that right? Wonder if Dan sees the leadership set point as being more a genetic/brain capacity (like math) or social/environmental learning. Thanks for continuing this conversation.

Norman link

1/25/2016 01:18:03 pm

Susan, I distinguish "talents" from "skills," thus my previous comment is meant to convey that one's talents/abilities are very much formed early on in life and are very hard to change, if at all. Thus, leadership development efforts/training really start with that base with a goal of enhancing skills (specific actions/methodologies) that extend one's leadership effectiveness.

1/26/2016 10:56:49 am

Appreciate the clarification, Norm. So if talents and abilities are formed early in life and hard to change -- how do you think they are initially established?

Norman Meyer

1/26/2016 12:24:37 pm

Ahhhh, the age-old nature vs. nurture conundrum! A good dose of both, I think. How you are raised/nurtured, along with your genetic heritage (which is then shaped by environmental factors, too), are key.

1/27/2016 04:55:24 pm

Yep. And so we return to nature/nurture. Our life work has definitely plunked us down heavily in the nurture camp. Although years of teaching communication skills has also made clear that some people come more "ready" to excel.

2/13/2016 05:35:16 am

Yes, and "Nurture" will develop leadership skills! Again some will be better than others but the core skills can be taught. Even character traits can be modified with lots of work. So that a person who wants to lead, or is put in a position of leadership can look at others that have succeeded as leaders in the past and imitate their behavior, learn their skills, and act as leaders do. I am a natural introvert, but I force myself and have learned to network when I go to a conference or go to a meeting with new faces. I force myself to be more of an extrovert in those social situations!

2/22/2016 01:53:19 pm

Great to hear from you again, Dan. We agree that if a person is committed to learning leadership skills, the possibilities are limitless. Part of the puzzle is discovering what concrete skills to focus on and practice -- part of our inspiration for writing Be Quiet, Be Heard. When you consider Malcolm Gladwell's statistic that you need to practice a skill 10,000 times to be expert, it is not surprising that more good leaders don't transform to great:)

4/8/2017 05:50:50 pm

Leadership can be fought. Some are better pupils than others.

4/19/2017 11:40:21 am

So true Danny. And some are better teachers. Thanks for connecting your ideas with our community.

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