Leadership Turn

Leadership Turn: "Leadership has been defined as “the ability to inspire willing action”. Emphasis is placed on the willing. But to understand leadership, we need to delve a little deeper than that.
One thing which experience has proven over and over again down through the ages is that when any group of people are thrown together for any length of time or for any project, a leader will emerge from the group - one to whom they will listen and give their confidence and support.
Their position on the organisation chart or their title alone cannot make a person a genuine leader. They must have certain traits and skills, or they will surely fail. In business, it has been shown again and again that these skills can be learned and the traits can be developed in any individual who is willing to exert an effort based on strong desire and a true hunger for success."

This is something that many fail to understand. Leadership skills are learned and taught. Either a leader guides people to success or they push them further away from success. The latter can be called a tyrant, Hitler comes to mind.

Historically, leadership has been studied and theorized by different practioners and scholars. Stogdill comes to mind in the trait department. A list of traits continues to grow and will continue because each leader holds different traits. Some are more common. Similar to sports, some people say that a person has "natural talent." Whatever that is. Every athlete I know practices and practices and is coached, even the best. Leadership is not different.