How do you get to be a leader? Are you a leader already? Are
you a leader or just a manager? Maybe you aren’t either, but wanna be! So, how
do you get there?
You can’t train to be a Leader; but you can be trained to be a manager or supervisor. Leaders are products of their environment, not of some training school or academy. People can be trained in specific skills and behaviors; but leadership is a talent. Talent is the development of the environment and surroundings that have formed certain qualifications over a number of years and experiences.
Some leaders are easy to spot; you just can’t miss them. Then there is the leader who pops up outta nowhere. He//she wasn’t a leader before being forced into being one. The talent was always there; maybe simmering just under the surface. Military history gives us the two best examples: SGT Alvin York, and 2LT Audie L. Murphy. No one would have ever taken either of the first two to be the leader they demonstrated that they were until the exact right set of circumstances called them out. They then lead. Both were recommended for and awarded the Medal of Honor. Each also was the most decorated individual of their respective conflicts (WWI & WWII).
You can’t train to be a Leader; but you can be trained to be a manager or supervisor. Leaders are products of their environment, not of some training school or academy. People can be trained in specific skills and behaviors; but leadership is a talent. Talent is the development of the environment and surroundings that have formed certain qualifications over a number of years and experiences.
Some leaders are easy to spot; you just can’t miss them. Then there is the leader who pops up outta nowhere. He//she wasn’t a leader before being forced into being one. The talent was always there; maybe simmering just under the surface. Military history gives us the two best examples: SGT Alvin York, and 2LT Audie L. Murphy. No one would have ever taken either of the first two to be the leader they demonstrated that they were until the exact right set of circumstances called them out. They then lead. Both were recommended for and awarded the Medal of Honor. Each also was the most decorated individual of their respective conflicts (WWI & WWII).
Recently in Afghanistan,
SSG Salvatore A. Giunta, a team leader within his unit also met the right set
of circumstances and SSG Giunta responded. He did what he had to do.
Products of their environment?
So, who out there is a leader. There has to be some around. Every leader isn’t in uniform—they exist in everyday life also. In the everyday world that most of us play our daily game in, it can be hard to tell a leader from those that aren’t. Oh yes, there are the CEOs, presidents, directors and the such of the organizations we each earn our daily bread from; but just because they have that title, it doesn’t necessarily make them a leader.
Look around and give it some thought. Where are the leaders of today?
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