The Natural Born Leader: Fact or Fantasy?

The dictionary defines the word natural as "found in nature; without man-made changes; real, not artificial or manufactured; innate, not acquired." To be a "natural" means you were born that way. It is in the genes, programmed by your DNA. We readily observe the results of the genetic program in a "natural" redhead, in someone who is "naturally" slender, or in those whose skin is "naturally" sensitive to sunlight.

Does this same genetic predisposition apply to a leader? Are some people "naturally" born to lead?

I argue no. No one is born a leader. No one is genetically programmed or innately structured as a leader. In my book The Nine Natural Laws of Leadership, I explain that a leader is a person who ...

Get The 108 Skills of Natural Born Leaders now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.