Can Leadership Be Taught?

This is an age old question, which I'll attempt to address. The short answer is yes, but with some caveats.

First, leadership is a combination of soft skills, self-awareness, and situational awareness. The soft skills and self-awareness can be taught, but it requires desire and effort on the part of the student to study diligently and practice (like the man who once asked how to get to Carnegie Hall ---- Practice, baby, Practice!). Scenario training is especially useful, and the next best thing to experience (albeit no substitute).

The remaining element of leadership--situational awareness--is a little trickier. Studies have shown that some people seem to have an inate ability to see both the forest and the trees. Yet we can come close to achieving this rare trait through:

• Avid research of our project's subject
• Constantly reading up on relevent internal and external events
• Being well connected to people in the organization (i.e. the grapevine)
• Better visibility (through EPM software)
• Critical thinking skills to be able to interpret what it is we're seeing
• Plenty of experience

This last one is critical. Without experience, it's truly difficult to gain situational awareness unless you are one of the few born with this gift (and even then, it takes study and knowledge). Thus, we can deduce that it's difficult to be an effective leader without experience. But we must start somewhere. So, to make our early leadership career successful, training is key--especially situational training. So are the other items on our list, as they can help get us by as we build experience.

So, yes. Leadership can be taught. But it's dependent on the following: "Are organizations ready to invest in leadership training for their managers and not expect overnight success?" and "Are managers ready to invest the time and effort to become good leaders?"

The key point is that putting someone in a management position does not make them a leader. And if they're not a leader, they're not fit for management. But that doesn't stop the majority of organizations from doing just that. For the minority of enlightened organizations that "get it," a wealth of rewards await.