On leadership II

Jawge

Reggae Prime Minister

Join Date: Jul 1995

Posts: 12018
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On leadership II

September 4, 2006, 09:37 AM

I am glad that JA has reached the point , where she can now see the difference betweeen managers and leaders.Can Leadership Be Learned?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>by Tamim Ansary<o></o>Certainly leadership can be taught, says Thomas Cronin. And he should know: He taught the subject for many years as a professor of political science at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Colorado</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">College</st1:PlaceType></st1lace>. "You're not born to be a leader any more than you're born to be an architect or a doctor," says Cronin. Most of our political leaders, for example,have received extensive leadership training, even though we may not think of it as such. "In fact, training for political leadership is very much like training to be a doctor. You might go to law school first to get the informational base, then do an internship by assisting a congressperson or some such; then you might run for a small office, which is like a residency--and in the process of all this, you learn things like accountability, like compromise, like how to build coalitions--a whole range of skills." "Of course genetics plays a part, too. Most people are not cut out for leadership, because they abhor conflict. They run from conflict, but leaders have to confront conflict, move to it, engage with it, handle it, use it." What you're born with will not make you a leader, Cronin says, unless it's developed. That's what schools can do.<o></o>"<st1lace w:st="on">West Point</st1lace> is a leadership training institute. They say, Give us four years and we'll give you a general. It doesn't happen overnight, but it happens. When you get an MBA, you're going to a finishing school for leadership." True. But students who go to <st1lace w:st="on">West Point</st1lace> see a general inside themselves already. Those who go into high-end MBA programs already have the traits of a leader--drive, ambition, a willingness to sacrifice for goals. Schooling doesn't turn them into leaders. It gives them tools to be better leaders.<o></o>.All the skills converge
If we don't have medical schools, we won't have doctors, but if we don't have leadership schools, we'll still have leaders. Humans clump into groups and follow someone; that's our nature. They won't necessarily be [i]good</SPA
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On leadership II