Leader’s Corner by Kam Jgup

Leadership: Can it be taught?

Countless debates have taken place on this subject, and till date, there is no straightforward answer. The bone of contention—is leadership teachable or not? There are multiple schools of thought to this. 

Before reaching any conclusion, one thing for sure is that nobody is a born leader. All individuals rise to the occasion with their set of stories, like, when a common ordinary-looking man turns into a giant goliath-like leader figure, untearable, and transforms people and the world. There are endless stories of people rising to the moment of victory in a fraction of a second. But only they knew. They have been working for that moment rigorously with the complete focus of learning the science, commerce, and art of it.

Coming to the debatable point of the possibility of teaching leadership. Definitely, yes, it can. Everything in this world is teachable. So is leadership. But honestly, leadership requires certain traits and attributes that don’t show up in all individuals, even if equally taught.

Just for understanding, let us pick discipline out of the many attributes of a leader.

Discipline is a specific branch of knowledge, learning, or practice, with a set of expectations required by the adjudged group, institution, community, or society in a specific set of timely frames.

You can prepare a person on all the essential aspects of leadership in a teaching-learning environment through hard work and continuous revisions. But can there be a guarantee that the person will behave and abide by all the prescribed guidelines of discipline on a constant and permanent basis, not changing the instructions with their own set of thoughts and flexibilities? The human brain keeps changing on a real-time basis. It tweaks the situation based on its comfort and intelligence. Here, the point in consideration is that one might learn the attributes and skills required to be an outstanding leader with a lot of hard work and dedication, but the only person who has the spark and intent to remain unfazed and disciplined, despite any challenging situation, will only reach and keep the position of leadership.  

If you categorically observe the above-mentioned qualities, attributes, and characteristics of leadership, there is none that one cannot learn or imbibe. But if you see the congruence and seamless integration needed in the mindset and skillset on a constant level, it is an arduous task for an individual to achieve them without exemplary passion and aggression. A person needs to set himself on a mission with his attention focused towards his goals and objectives and be genuinely interested in a one-point focus to reach his goal. Working day in and day out with all his teachings and committed to learning for the present and future life channelizing all his energies on the task, with his heart and brain aligned to his aim. Like cement and brick are to the wall; similarly, internal and external factors of the mind are to a leader in making. 

I have no reservations to say that all things are teachable and learnable in this world. There is no iota of doubt about that, but until a person has self-propagated himself with an eagerness to learn, with a passion for having a circumstantial edge to the learning. It’s impossible to achieve success on this path without being generous, courageous, and having a humble attitude towards self and others with a sound and focused mind.

The matter—that leadership is teachable or not—will take a back seat with a status quo, or remain debatable forever until the ages to come. But one sure thing is that “Leadership is learnable.” One can’t end without this fact: Nobody is a born leader.

Kamaal Gupta/ Author Name – Kam Jgup 

Leadership Coach,

Author of Leader’s Corner – The Learner Guide to Leadership

Founder of GBOAT – Greatest Books of All Time YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/@listengboat)

The above article and the views expressed are those of the author and do not represent the stand and views of FNN News editorial in any manner.