by Marty Adkns

Created on: December 23, 2008

The debate on leadership turning on whether it is learned or instinctual seems to be misguided. For a start, instinct seems to be the wrong word.

An instinct applies to ability to do a thing without instruction. Dogs for instance, have the ability to swim at birth. They do not require learning to achieve this skill. People are somewhat more complex.

Humans rather than instincts have talents. One may learn to be a tennis player and yet one may not be as good at it as a professional. Study and learning can make anyone better at it but some people will have an inherent talent for tennis that gives them a competitive edge.

Leadership involves talent in a similar way. Some people are inherently more talented at leadership. They seem to have a gift that allows them to learn the necessary skills more rapindly and employ them more efficiently. This talent does not absolve them of the need to learn what they need to know to effectively lead people. It simply makes it easier for them to learn.

There are a great many examples of great leaders born with extrordinary talent. General's from Washington To Patton aand great statesment as Jefferson and Lincoln stand out as shining stars. Their gifts aided them but were insufficient.

Others of us are not so fortunate. For most people succesful leadership will require hard work and through study. Mentoring and reading are good ways to learn what is needed. For all but those lucky few, the hard work is necessary to get to a satisfactory level of knowledge on leading people.

The study of leadership then is critical. All the more so in times of economic uncertainty and difficulty. Employees will work without effective leadership. You can pay for a body to perform a task adequately. To acheive superior performance and increase value to the organization the ability to explain why things are done the way they are done is necessary. The ability to persuade and convince employees of the benefit to themselves for exceptional perfomance is the way to achieve it.

For everyone though a degree of study is necessary. It is vital that everyone in a management role recognize the functions and duties of leadership. Even the most talented and inherently gifted must learn that people are lead and that things are managed. Even those born with extraordinary talents must learn at least that basic statement. Talent undevevloped is of no value to either a supervisor or his organization.

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