What better example of a born great leader than one of the most
admired and respected presidents in our history, Abraham Lincoln. I do
not recall ever reading that Lincoln took a leadership seminar. And
even more amazing, Lincoln was viewed by his own advisors as
nothing more than a gawky, second-rate country lawyer with no
leadership experience.^12“I believe great leaders are
born and good leaders are made.”^11
(Herman Cain)- Built Leaders: Other people are more built leaders than they are
born leaders. This would be by far the larger category that most
leaders come from. They have developed leadership skills through
conscious effort, study, discipline and desire. For these people,
leadership is more of a learned behavior. Their leadership skills
have come more through instruction than through intuition. They
have learned leadership through the mentoring of older mature
leaders. For them, leadership is more of an external example
they have followed – rather than an existential impulse they have
expressed.
It is my firm belief that leadership skills can be both caught and taught.
But if a person is going to be a good leader, whether they are born leaders,
or built leader, they must be:
Available
Teachable
Responsible
AccountableWe can see a clear example of both of these types of leaders in the first
twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. Some of them – like Peter, James and
John – were more natural born leaders. But the majority of the rest of the
twelve were not so much natural leaders as nurtured leaders. Through His
mentoring, Jesus built them into the leaders He wanted them to be. We
read about His mentoring method of leadership development in these verses
from the Gospel of Mark: