In order to catch our attention, the media often focuses on leaders and their personalities. Amidst articles about Microsoft, we see photo after photo of Bill Gates. Since the US economy is so complex, most reporters don't attempt to confuse us with too many facts and figures. Instead, we read speculation on Ben Bernacke's state of mind. Personality trumps substance, and a single individual at the top appears more important than anyone else in their organization.
In their Fast Company article "Leadership is a Muscle", Chip and Dan Heath argue that people who believe leadership is an innate characteristic will never reach their full potential. Even more important, top executives who search for "born leaders" to populate their management ranks typically fail to develop the raw talent they already employ.
...the notion of born leaders still permeates the business world. Marty Linsky, a faculty member at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University, puts it well: "I've never met anyone who thinks that leadership is inherited who doesn't think that they have it." Yet consider the military, another domain where leadership is critical. We might expect West Point to be focused on attracting born leaders. Not so. "The whole point is to develop leaders," says Colonel Tom Kolditz, head of behavioral sciences and leadership at the school and the author of In Extremis Leadership, a study of leadership in life-and-death situations. What West Point does is create leaders, over the course of a strenuous 47-month curriculum. Kolditz says the cadets are taught, "You weren't born a leader. . .I don't think that idea is a very American one."
Read the entire article here:
Leadership is a Muscle
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