What makes a great leader?

Whoever asks the question “Is leadership inherent or acquired?” has already taken his or her first step on the path to leadership. Leadership is a combination of intelligence, resourcefulness, wisdom, a strong personality and aspiration to the greatest of things. Most of these qualities are innate and hereditary, while some can also be acquired. However, even those who are born with such qualities must refine them through education, practice and communication in order to become successful leaders.

Leadership is neither conferred by chance at birth, nor guaranteed by study even at the finest academies. I personally know many graduates from such academies who have worked on themselves and expanded their knowledge to reach high leadership positions, while others stopped at some point because their qualities and skills did not help them to progress any further.

We have seen that an enquiring nature places some people ahead of others on the path to leadership. We also want to change the concept of leadership so that it includes anyone who has the ambition and the will to change himself, and also to benefit his society.

When we say ‘leader’, people tend to imagine political, military or historical figures who have changed the history of their peoples and countries. They may also imagine successful economic leaders who have transformed companies or given life to new creations and inventions. The hereditary qualities of those people, combined with their environment and their great self-development efforts, have made them exceptional leaders and enabled them to transform their societies and peoples.

But today, the concept of leadership is much more far- reaching. Anyone who can improve the life of those around him is a leader. Similarly, anyone who can serve people and make them happy is a leader. A leader is also a person capable of creating positive change, whether at work or at home, and of innovating and creating even the simplest of things. A leader excels in his craft, art, talent or profession.

All people are born with the seeds of such qualities, which they can nurture and grow, so that bit by bit, they advance on the path to leadership and ultimately evolve into great leaders.

Every single achievement you make, every single life you change and every single skill you acquire brings you one step closer to becoming a better leader. Every day you can improve the leader in you to become a better person and a greater leader.

Were we to limit leadership to exceptional political, economic and scientific figures, we would confine such a vast field to a very limited circle of human beings. Everything can be learnt and every person is capable of self-development. Human development requires entire generations of leaders to lift up their nations and peoples.

A great vision needs not only a great leader, but also a great work team with diverse leadership qualities.

Looking at leadership from this perspective, there is no need to ask whether it is inherent or acquired, but rather whether one wants to become a leader or not.

This article is published in collaboration with LinkedIn. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum. 

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Author: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and constitutional monarch of Dubai.

Image: A worker arrives at his office in the Canary Wharf business district in London February 26, 2014. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh