Are leaders born or made?

We’ve all heard the phrase “natural born leader” before. It’s this pervasive belief that leadership is an innate skill some people simply have and others don’t. It’s not hard to find listicles and business articles that enumerate the traits of these natural leaders, citing qualities like charisma or decisiveness, and if you think back to the best leaders you’ve worked with or hired in your career, chances are there was an effortless to their behavior and attitude that felt, well, natural. The question is: was it actually natural? Or can leadership be learned?

Let’s start with something most of us would agree on: good leadership is a skill. And like most skills, there’s no universal definition of what makes the best leader. In the same way chefs can specialize in certain cuisines or musicians can master specific genres, leaders can lead in different ways. One might be data-driven and prone to uncovering consensus. Another might have tremendous instincts for …

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