Numerous studies have shown that certain people naturally possess leadership qualities, while others who lack these native skills can be taught how to lead.
The contrary belief that leaders are born, not made, dates to the 1840s, when Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish philosopher, advanced the "great man theory," which suggests a select number of individuals are intrinsically blessed with qualities such as vision, honesty, assertiveness, commitment, empathy and a willingness to take risks.
These people are capable of leveraging these qualities, the theory goes, when opportunities arise, to lead people toward a common goal — Gen. William T. Sherman's role in winning the Civil War, for example — or, as commonly, toward a higher plane of the human condition, e.g., in the case of the Civil War, the end of slavery.
