This is what leadership is all about since it demands followership (Fox & Marine Corps Association, 2011).
Anyone with the basics can learn how to become a leader. However, an entire leadership lot cannot be taught or learnt. This is primarily because leadership proves to be an apprentice trade. Leaders tend to learn about eighty percent of their craft on the actual job (Kets, & Engellau, 2008). Through watching and emulating other leaders, they learn leadership behaviors. They seek mentors, choose role models, and advice from other leaders on how to address the situation. Leaders improve their skills by seeking feedback and using it to benefit their subjects. The best leaders request for feedback from their subordinates, bosses, and peers. However, they adjust their behaviors to get the best results. From the competitive nature of the current globalized business environment, hard work is crucial for a leader to develop his/her level of knowledge, competence, and experience.
Leaders tend to learn and improve their skills...
However, most leaders fail to learn from their experience. A number of studies indicate that leaders have the special power of crucibles. This means that leaders use trials that teach hard lessons used by leaders as the basis of their strength in managing a crisis. Most of them are referred to as failures, but leaders turn them into good situations by learning from them. This makes them effective as they gain control of their own development (Avolio & Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2010).
References
Avolio, B.J., & Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (2010). Leadership development in balance: Made/born. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Fox, W.L., & Marine Corps Association. (2011). Six essential elements of leadership: Marine Corps wisdom of a Medal of Honor recipient. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.
Kets, V.M.F.R., & Engellau, E. (2008). Are leaders born or are they made?: The case of Alexander the Great. London: Karnac
