Leaders: Are We Born or Do We Become?

This is a much-discussed issue in the corporate world, as some people believe they don't have the innate ability to lead.

However, we often forget that in order to become a good professional, we have to develop certain skills.

It's no different in leadership or management positions! As well as willingness, it's necessary to develop competences pertinent to the position.

Of course, all leaders are born or bred. Just like all athletes, scholars, artists, accountants, salespeople and coaches. So what? What's important and fundamental is what you do with what you have between your birth and the present moment!

Leadership is no more or less contained in a certain profile than other competences. It's not a place, it's not a position, and it's not a secret code indecipherable to ordinary people. Leadership is an observable set of skills, knowledge and, above all, practices and behaviours.

If you want to be a leader, in addition to dedication, you must have a high level of self-knowledge, identify your strengths and weaknesses, know how to take advantage of opportunities and anticipate threats in order to neutralise them.

If you are or aspire to be a leader, here are some characteristic traits you should consider:

1. Explore self-knowledge: A leader needs to find a balance between their personal and professional life. He must plan his life properly and establish a daily plan to achieve his goals, always focusing on the essential priorities.
2. Dedicate yourself to your work: It's not enough to have good ideas or just fulfil your work obligations. A leader must be entrepreneurial, passionate about what they do, take responsibility as if they owned the company, give their best effort and not wait for orders to produce results.
3. Seek knowledge: While many are distracted, a leader must invest in themselves, creating an edge and knowing how to capitalise on it. Invest in short courses, workshops or after-work training. If money is an obstacle, try to negotiate with your company to pay for all or part of the course. If this isn't possible, make concessions and pay for it yourself, after all, knowledge is something that nobody can take away from you.
4. Professional attitude: Anyone who is or wants to be a leader must be aware of essential characteristics such as attitude, discretion, courage, responsibility and organisation, but above all, they must have an ethical and humble attitude. A leader must be empathetic.
5. Feedback: A leader must be creative in the use of feedback, improve communication between people, share vision and values, coach with patience and persistence. No team member should be seen as a hopeless case; a good leader challenges himself to change a person with a strong personality.

So now that you've been given these guidelines, it's important for you to know that it is possible to become a great leader!