We’re all familiar with the old view that good leaders are born, not made. In a nutshell, this is referred to as the Great Man Theory of leadership of 1840, which stated that certain people are born with the necessary qualities which set them apart from others and that these qualities result in their being able to fill positions of power and authority. Another view related to this theory is that leaders are heroes who achieve certain goals against all odds for their followers.
The assumption, therefore, was that a person couldn’t be a leader if they weren’t born with the necessary intelligence, personality, charm or charisma and persuasiveness. Such leaders were usually born with those qualities, having supposedly inherited them from their parents. Leadership was therefore almost considered an act of fate—you either had the qualities or you didn’t. That was what the succession to the throne in terms of royalty amounted to.
The Great Man theory of leadership prevailed into the 20th century and, sad to say, to a certain extent still lurks in some corners of unenlightened boardrooms and companies. You might be surprised at this but don’t be.
This theory of leadership was given another shot in the arm 100 years after it first emerged (during the Second World War), which further defined leadership for the next 50 years. That’s because, after the end of the war, academics based their leadership theories on the military leaders of the war.
Here’s my view on why this theory emerged and endured …
Back in the day, when someone was needed to take the lead in inspiring and rallying people to band together in order to achieve a common goal, it was indeed those who happened to have the necessary qualities who took the lead.
And the Great Man Theory was perpetuated because of one very simple reason – there were no training companies and leadership development professionals who could help others develop the necessary skills and qualities to lead.
Now, just in case you’re inclined to want to hang on to the Great Man Theory, there are a couple of things you need to be aware of.
Firstly, it focuses only on men as leaders and makes no provision for women. This is completely unrealistic in today’s workplace and world. Of more concern is the fact that it tends to favour male toxicity to a certain extent, which may or may not have been acceptable in the days of “rip your head off” international relations but, in a workplace that is rightly embracing compassion, empathy, insight and understanding, has no place whatsoever.
Secondly, this approach to leadership supports the view that leaders are special and deserve to be treated with a lot more respect than others. This is a tendency that still lurks among political leaders who drive around with blue light motor cavalcades, considering themselves to be very important. Such leaders are not really important. It’s more a case of them being very impotent!
Thirdly, relying on what Nature gave people in terms of leadership skills is not necessarily a good approach. Whatever raw material people have been born with is just that – raw material. Diamonds don’t come out of the ground with the value at which they are sold. They have to be cut and polished by experts before they acquire their true value.
The same applies to leaders. No leader should be put in charge of other people without having gone through a well-constructed, emotionally mature leadership development programme that addresses who they are and, more importantly, who they should be in a leadership position.
So, pick your leadership programmes wisely. Look for one that focuses on the whole person, and helps them to raise their self-awareness, then helps them develop both skills and qualities that will enable them to relate to those they lead with compassion, empathy, and resilience.
The days of sourcing and appointing leaders who were supposedly ready-made are over because you can now develop the leaders you need. If you end up with leaders who are destructive or obstructive, you haven’t necessarily appointed the wrong people. You may just have not given them the chance to develop into the leaders they can and should be!
Alan Hosking is the Publisher of HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net and @HRFuturemag. He is an internationally recognised authority on leadership competencies for the future and teaches experienced and younger business leaders how to lead with empathy, compassion, integrity, purpose and agility. He has been an Age Management Coach for two decades.
In 2018, he was named by US-based web site Disruptordaily.com as one of the “Top 25 Future of Work Influencers to Follow on Twitter“. In 2020, he was named one of the “Top 200 Global Power Thought Leaders to watch in 2021” by peopleHum in India. In 2022, he has been named on the Power List of the “Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership in 2022” by LeaderHum.
