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Yes, leadership is earned.

Have you ever picked up the newspaper to see the front page saying, "A Leader was Born Today." The article continues, saying there was a leader who was born today weighing in at nine pounds six ounces, and at twenty one inches long. If you have seen this, then I hope you will forward it on to me because I haven't. The bottom line is leadership is not a natural attribute that we are born with.

Like every other thing some people have more of a natural gift at leadership than other people, but to achieve true leadership, you have to earn it. To earn your leadership you need to do your time, build trust, and add value to others.

*Do your time - Rome wasn't built in a day, and your leadership ability won't be either. You have to do your time by spending time with the people you work with. Let them know you appreciate them and want to see them succeed. Leadership expert John C. Maxwell says, "I've never been the real leader at any job when I first started it."
*Invest Time in Others - It's difficult to lead others if you don't know them. Take time out of your busy day to spend time with the people you want to lead. Have a one on one meeting over coffee in your office, go out to lunch, or spend time outside of work on a weekend.
*Build Trust - An important part of leadership is building trust with the people you work with. As I've said above, this takes time because you need to invest time in others by getting to know them, so they can get to know you on a personal level. People won't trust you until they know you, and they won't follow you until they trust you.

If you noticed, these three tips each build on each other. As you do your time and build up your credibility with those you want to lead, you will be investing time in others. After investing your time in others, you will start to build trust with them. As a result of that trust you will find out that you have a very high leadership ability with them.

Learn more about this author, Christopher Scott.
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