Introduction Leadership is a procedure where a person persuades others to

complete a purpose and directs the organization in a way that makes it more
interconnected and logical. It is interactive, not a one-way occasion and
it involves how leaders affect and direct followers to achieve a common
goal (Northouse, 2010). According to Robert House’s Path-Goal theory, the
most influential leaders enhance subordinate incentives by clarifying the
pathways to better performance. In this theory of leadership, paths and
goals of subordinates define two meanings of leadership. First, it guides
effectiveness in the leader’s behaviour and second it points out some
accuracy in the situational factors that are reliant on the leader’s
behaviour (Pennings, 1986). Robert Blake and Anne McCanse developed the
leadership Grid that contains various forms of managerial leadership. It is
linked to the management of production with concern for the people. They
look at the management style of teams as ideal, but they know it is
difficult in certain work situations. Effective managers have enormous
concern not only for people but also for production and organization. They
work to stimulate employees to reach their maximum levels of achievement.
They are flexible and reactive to modify and they understand the need to
transform (Shriberg & Shriberg, 2011 ). Are leaders born or made? Now we
would like to discuss the issue of whether effective leaders are born with
the capacity to lead or if leaders are capable of developing leadership
skills. According to the Great man theory, leadership abilities are natural
and great leaders are born and not made. It describes great leaders as
courageous and projected to rise to leadership when necessary. Based on the
trait theory of leadership, people are born with inherited traits. In these
two theories, great leaders are intelligent, aware of others’ needs,
comprehending of the task, scheme and resolute in dealing with issues,
self-confident, and aspire to accept duty and take up an authoritative
position and control (Stogdill ,1974). For instance, take Burmese leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate who struggled for the freedom of
Burma and protested for human rights and democracy. She is one of the most
famous leaders who were born with the ability to lead. Her father, General
Aung San, was an initiator of communist party of Burma and influential in
bringing about Burma’s independence from British colonial. He was a great
leader and saviour of Burmese people’s freedom. Successive Burmese
governments had invoked his name since independence until the military
organization in the 1990s. Aung San Suu Kyi is exactly like her father and
is excellently intelligent, truthful, fearless and strong. Her intellect
and appearance makes her a strong supporter and a powerful speaker. She won
numerous international awards such as Nobel Peace Prize, the Sakharov prize
and presidential Medal of Freedom (Abrams, 1999). She is a charismatic and
effective leader who was born with the capacity to lead. Another person
with a born capacity to lead was Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the
United States, who directed the country through a legitimate military and
right crisis. He was a state legislator, a country lawyer and a one-term
member of the United States House of Representatives. He revolutionized not
only the military but also the political dimension of the war. Many
followers and historians believe Abraham Lincoln to be America's greatest
President because of his leadership throughout the Civil War. He carried on
regardless of generals who were not ready to fight. The American Civil War
protected the Union whilst ending slavery and encouraged economic and
financial reconstruction. By issuing the liberation declaration, Lincoln
liberated all slaves (Charnwood, 2009). Lincoln had a generous leadership
style which involved telling a story that established his point and people
accepted and respected him for it. He could practically make amends with
his enemies with his highly upright, skillful leadership. Lincoln confirmed
an amazing strength of character by relaying stories, which explained his
actions and influenced others to follow his lead. He lived in a time of
unrelenting political, social, economic and technological change. His led
to successful leadership such as “always bear in mind that your own
resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing”, “I am
here: I must do the best I can and bear the responsibility of taking the
course which I feel I ought to take” (Phillips, 1992). Lincoln was a man
with excellent ability as well as an advocate for human independence. Under
his leadership, America became the greatest country. Lincoln has been
recalled in many names such as capital of Nebraska, Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, Lincoln's sculpture, National Historical Park and Lincoln Home
National Historic Site. Ford's Theatre and Petersen House are kept as
museums that are the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
(Thomas & Burlingame, 2008). Hence, leadership has mostly been thought to
be a born quality that people are blessed with from the beginning. However,
as very few leaders are born into great families, most of them develop
their leadership along their way. While there are a lot of people who have
the proper genes to become great leaders, there are also people who are
able to develop leadership skills as they grew up. For example, one of the
most distinguished people in the corporate world today is Steve Jobs. He
quoted, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”, and he
had stayed true to his quote showing his devotion to Apple Computer’s
quality and innovation. He is a charismatic leader, able to motivate his
employees to work harder. On the other hand, he is also known to be harsh
in his leadership ways. But there are few people who would dispute the fact
that Steve Jobs a successful CEO in computer history (Gilliam, 2008). He
did not come from a family of leaders but he is able to lead an innovative
company like Apple. His adoptive parents, Paul and Clara Jobs, were not
even college graduates. Paul Jobs worked as a machinist while Clara Jobs
focused on raising her children. Although coming from a simple background,
Steve Jobs became a great leader, learning through all the difficulties he
faced while growing up such as having trouble making friends at school. He
had overcome it by becoming more confident. His confidence and hardworking
demeanor managed to get him a job with Hewlett-Packard when he was only
thirteen years old. Steve Jobs did not attend college, dropping out after
just six months of school. However he managed to get an education by
auditing their classes. He was unable to afford a dorm room, so he slept on
a friend’s floor. The hardships he faced did not deter him and it made him
even stronger (Imbimbo, 2009). Another influential leader with humble
origins was Henry Ford, who invented “Fordism” and was also the founder of
Ford Motor Company. He restructured industrial production and his idea of
an assembly line is still being utilized today. Ford’s parents were
immigrants from England who settled in America looking for a fresh
beginning after being evicted from their home in Somerset. Ford’s parents
were not leaders and in fact, his father was only a farmer. Ford’s mother
passed away when he was just a child and it made him suffer from
depression. Against his father’s expectations, Ford left the farm to work
as a machinist in Detroit (York, 2011). Henry Ford was good at mechanical
work and was highly innovative. He began to experiment with various
machines and managed to build a horseless vehicle, which he improved into a
proper car to sell to people at a cheap price. Due to this, in the
beginning, he was unable pay his workers reasonably. Instead of being
dishonest and promise his employees a high pay without following through,
Ford displayed great wisdom and leadership skills by having the boldness to
tell his employees the truth about his situation. He solved the crisis by
reducing the working hours instead of increasing their pay, which made his
employees respect him more. It was Henry Ford’s inventive ideas coupled
with his benevolent treatment of his workers that made him one of the
prominent leaders of industry (Wildman, 2005). CONCLUSION In conclusion,
there is no one correct answer to the question of whether leaders are born
with the capacity to lead. Leadership is often something a person decides
to do and not something that comes naturally. Hence, even if you were born
into a good family full of historically strong leaders, if you are not
interested to lead, you will not become a good leader. Likewise, if you
were born into a normal or humble family and have the inspiration to lead,
you will be able to develop leadership skills in the future regardless of
your heritage. As a result, the great leaders of our world are made up of
those born with the capacity to lead, such as the aforementioned Aung San
Suu Kyi and Julius Caesar; as well as those who manage to become leaders
despite their birthright, such as Henry Ford and Steve Jobs. Other examples
of leaders coming from modest origins would be Mahatma Gandhi and Barack
Obama. REFERENCES

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Northouse, P. G., 2010, “Leadership: Theory and Practice”, Sage

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