Nature vs. Nurture

Are people born leaders or are they a product of their environment or a combination of both?

Many of us have worked with that person who everyone just new would be a leader some day. Was it because they were gifted those innate abilities to inspire and motivate or did they just find a career path that allowed them to develop the skills neceesary to lead?

Nigel Nicholson, a professor of organizational behavior at London Business School, is an adherent of the somewhat controversial school of evolutionary psychology. Rooted in neuroscience, this discipline asserts that our minds are not so much culturally conditioned as they are hardwired to survive and reproduce. The "profile of human nature," Nicholson writes, "was fully delineated long before the dawn of recorded civilization.""It is now time," Nicholson continues "to return to the idea that some people are simply born with potentialities for leadership." By accident or design, Nicholson says, people who want to be leaders are more likely to display the alpha-male biochemical profile -- elevated levels of testosterone and serotonin. And those who succeed as leaders typically want to dominate and to achieve through competitive striving. They have natural ability, and they are graced with strong physical constitutions.

Although I tend to agree that each of us are wired with different attributes that have evolved over time. I also think our society and business culture have evolved such that leaders now can come in all shapes and sizes - not just the alpha males. Moreover, I think the truly great companies in the 21st century will recognize that in order to survive and thrive in the increasingly global economy, leadership must be diverse and be stimulated at all levels. So that by nature companies will learn to nurture leadership for those with the divine-given DNA and those who can be trained to lead and lead successfully.

TJV