COACHING
Leaders : Are They Born Or Made ?
By Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia
Leadership is probably one of the most admired things in the world . Everyone wants to be a leader . You get to be “ at the top .” You have access to money , power , influence and more . Or so it seems to those who interpret leadership to mean a position of authority .
A quick check on google brings up over 2billion results on the definition of leadership . Many scholars have developed definitions and theories on leadership . Plenty of research has and continues to be done in this area .
Then comes the next question - are leaders born or made ? Again , scholars have been able to share their thoughts , with arguments being made for both positions . Some scholars have brought in the angle of religion . What if God created man with certain traits and they were born with leadership qualities ? What about a person ’ s potential ?
Sir John Whitmore , a pioneer in the area of executive coaching , and an expert in leadership development has a quote that has been repeated many many times . Whitmore said , “ Coaching is about unlocking a person ’ s potential to maximize their own performance .” This starts from the assumption that potential exists in each person . Can every person be a leader ? What is the ‘ process ’ of becoming a leader ?
In 1988 , Robert Clinton wrote a book The Making of a Leader , Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development . His work was based on researching hundreds of Christian leaders and he outlined the stages a leader goes through in their life . Clinton says that not all leaders go through all the stages , and in fact the stages can overlap . Each of the six stages is based on Christian principles . However the framework can be applied in a secular context as well .
Sovereign Foundations
The first stage is called Sovereign Foundations . Clinton defines this stage as the stage where God lays the foundation for leadership through life experiences
Recently , a coaching client said that he felt he was more empathetic towards people after working in Africa where the culture is quite different from other parts of the world . You may have had that experience too , of having gone through an experience that has made you a better person . and through the people who are around the leader - family , friends and those who come into one ’ s life .
Recently , a coaching client said that he felt he was more empathetic towards people after working in Africa where the culture is quite different from other parts of the world . You may have had that experience too , of having gone through an experience that has made you a better person .
Inner Life Growth
The second stage is Inner Life Growth . This stage talks about the need to learn lessons in life and if one does not learn the lessons , they keep coming back to you until you learn the lesson . Some selfreflection goes a long way to seeing this happening to many of us .
It also reminds me of the reality stage of a model commonly used in coaching called the GROW model , ‘ G ’ being goal setting , ‘ R ’ reality , ‘ O ’ options and ‘ W ’ being way forward . The reality of a situation allows one to take stock and also to answer the question where are you now - so that you can see how to move to where you want to be .
Ministry Maturing
The third stage is called Ministry Maturing . In the Christian context , it would refer to the stage where you get to learn more about the ministry and how to disseminate the Christian teachings and messages to others .
In a secular context one can interpret this as the stage where the leader grows in their
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