Do you belive some people have leadership in their blood when they are born?

Question

Martin Luther King, George Washington and Ben Franklin, Ceasar Chavez, etc.
Do you think its not just a quincidence they just happened to be great leaders, or was it written in their genes and fate from the time they were born till the end.

All your answers deserve 10 points but i have to choose the one which i believe relates most to how they answered the question.

Answer 1

People are born with certain basic personality characteristics -- you can see it in infants and the way that different babies act/respond to different things. So yes, the capability to be a great leader is an inborn trait. HOWEVER, it is not inevitable that the inborn trait results in greatness. It can be re-directed, or misdirected, by circumstances and others around them. For example, someone could have the capacity to be a fantastic musician, but grow up in a household or culture where music is not valued or even not allowed, so this capacity does not develop. On the other hand, someone could have a strong trait, like for leadership, and instead of becoming Martin Luther King, they become a gang leader. Everybody always uses Hitler as an example, and it does fit: both he and Winston Churchill were great leaders and above average artists. I'm glad Sir Winston didn't stick just to painting, but Hitler would have done a lot less damage if he had stayed in the studio and out of politics. Every inborn personality trait has the potential for good or evil.

Answer 2

This has been a debated topic for years! Here's the latest I found, as it's still being researched:

What about the statement that
"leaders are born, not made"? What about the idea, "once
a leader, always a leader"?
For years, social scientists have pondered these
questions. In the 1800s leadership was seen as an inborn
characteristic, but the idea that leadership is learned has
been emphasized in the last 30 years. Today, there is
growing recognition that leadership be treated as either
inborn or learned. A combination of these two basic ideas
plus a third dimension, the situation in which the leader
functions, is perhaps the most appropriate orientation.
This approach might be stated somewhat as follows:
Each of us is born with certain mental and physical
characteristics which represent a potential for leadership.
The key word here is potential, for without learning this
potential, it remains dormant and leadership skill does not
evolve. Therefore, the combination most likely to produce
a "leader" is the possession of the inborn characteristics
desirable in a leader plus the learned skills, knowledge and
techniques which bring this potential to realization. If
emphasis were to be placed on either inheritance or
learning, it would be more appropriate to emphasize the
learned aspects. The reason is that the difference in our
inborn potentials for leadership are relatively slight.

I also found this that I thought helpful:

Myth No. 1: Leadership is an inborn trait. You either have it or you don't.

Wrong! Every once in awhile there is an extraordinary person who, without any experience, training, or support, is able to be an effective leaderÑbut it's a rare person, indeed. A more likely occurrence is that an ordinary person is motivated by extraordinary circumstances, or becomes dissatisfied with a situation, gets involved and learns the skills needed to be an effective leader.

Answer 3

I don't think it is a genetic thing, but I'll agree that some humans have a penchant toward it. I think certain personalities, when steered the correct way, by mom or dad, hero, or need, make better leaders. Unfortunately, some can still become 'bad'. Adolf Hitler was considered a good leader at the start, so was Julius Ceasar>I put in this last bit because I think you can have great leaders, but also great dictators. Leadership=Tool, The way leader wants to use that tool=Dictator or Savior.

Answer 4

I do think that some people are born with the potential to lead others. Personality tests can show that. Combine that with a cause and a purpose and a passion to change a situation and the leadership will emerge.

Answer 5

Absolutely. But they don't have to necessarily be great leaders in historyl. The chief of Police, the Prime Minister, the head of a silly fanclub. It isn't random that the blood is there, however i do think that luck has to be in your favor as to where you are able to use it!!

Answer 6

Nope...not at all...I'll tell you like a great LEADER once told me...
Babies aren't born as lawyers, they're not born as doctors, or teachers, they're not born anything except babies...
Leaders are made by taking on the different characteristics of a leader and it is just as simple as that.

Answer 7

HI
I don`t think so..because i believe leadership depends upon the society around you and the family you are brought up in..so there are some people who have leadership right from there childhood...........
so leadership can surely be cultivated.Basically it is your attitude and to some extent it depends on your knowledge and intellect.

Answer 8

Yes, I do. Our characters xcan be pre-determined at a young age.

I also think the environment a young child has to go thru can instill subconcious characteristics to help them achieve their leadership abiltities.

Good question, really makes 1 think!!! ;)

Answer 9

You teach what you have been taught by others in life.

Answer 10

I think they do but I also think it is the way you are raised