1.5 Can I Personally Grow as a Leader?
Most of us have thought at some time in our lives, “I want to make this happen! Send me in!” At other times we may have thought, “I’ve tried stepping up before and it didn’t work out. It got messy very quickly. I just don’t know if I have it in me to make that happen.” Given life’s many varied experiences, a core question might hit us at one point or another: “Is it possible to become a leader at my company, in my community, or even in my own family? Can I really grow into a successful leader? Have I really got what it takes?”
Nature versus Nurture
As we know, some believe that leaders are born and others believe leaders are made. What are your beliefs on the question of nature versus nurture? Do you believe that both aspects play a role in determining leadership ability? To what extent do you believe that a person can grow as a leader? Importantly, to what extent do you fundamentally believe that you can personally grow as leader?
In this course, we focus on the fact that beyond characteristics of birth, individuals can grow into effective leaders based on experiences, observations, training, practice, and insights. We believe you can too.
Desire and Belief
You may have taken this course because you have a desire to become a more effective leader. That’s actually a great place to start. Desire and a belief that you can grow as a leader are two good first steps. They’ll take you a long way toward the goal of growing into a better leader. Here’s why:
To believe that you can become a better leader is to begin by believing that you can learn and grow in general. According to Robert E. Quinn:
To believe that one can gain [leadership] attributes is to believe that one can learn. This belief is important because some people have been injured by life and believe they cannot learn. So they do not engage in experiences that lead to the gaining of new attributes. They tend to stagnate.
Buckminster Fuller once wrote that he was not a noun but a verb.1 I believe that people who see themselves as nouns tend to avoid meaningful but challenging learning activities and implicitly accept being ‘acted upon’ by their culture.
People who see themselves as verbs tend to gain a mastery orientation to life. They clarify a purpose and, if the path to that purpose is challenging, they feel confident that they can learn their way into the creation of their intention. Learning by faith, they create something new. Doing so increases their confidence or faith in the process of learning. They believe they can further engage and master the challenges they face. The process leads not only to more faith but also a hunger to learn, improve, and contribute.2
Leadership Is a Choice
We’ve observed that leadership is accessible to everyone. It is not fundamentally genetic; rather, leadership is a choice. As Elaine Agather said, “The leadership instinct you were born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it.”3 While leadership attributes may tend toward certain physical characteristics, we see leaders that come in every shape and size. The same is true for other characteristics of birth.
We look forward to learning with you and growing as leaders. According to the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”4
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