Leadership Is Critical to Any Essay

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Contingency leadership theories are based on the view that the situation dictates the ideal leadership style -- and how much of that style can be learned or not is variable.

There are elements of leadership, however, that cannot be taught. In particular, the inspirational aspect of leadership is very difficult to teach. Leaders can reach their subjects in a number of different ways, using a wide range of triggers. While to a certain extent these ways can be identified through scientific study -- psychology and sociology in particular -- there is an element of relating to other people than is entirely inherent. Some leaders are simply born with better charisma and interpersonal skills than others. The former in particular is nearly impossible to teach -- those with charisma that makes others want to follow seldom can identify what it is they do that makes them so charismatic -- they simply are.

Even the core skills that leaders need can be difficult to teach. It has been noted, for example, that leaders typically must be able to allocate resources well, but there is a core underlying talent to this task that will make some leaders inherently better than others. The ability to think in abstract is difficult to teach, yet for a leader this is a critical skill. I believe that thinking in abstract allows a leader to piece together disparate resources and objectives in ways that others simply are unable to conceive of. As a result, a leader with strong abstract thinking skills will be able to devise better solutions to problems and opportunities than one who has more trouble envisioning the ways in which problems can be solved.
While problem solving can be taught to some extent, beyond that extent there are leaders who will simply be better than others.

Thus, while many of the key traits of leadership can be explained and at least to some degree taught, there remain many elements of leadership that cannot be taught and as a result there is no clear answer as to whether or not leadership skills can be taught. By understanding the different leadership roles, a person can have a better sense of which skills they already have, and which they will need to develop. It is not impossible to improve one's leadership abilities dramatically, because there are a number of functional areas in particular where skills can be acquired by learning. However, the ceiling of one's leadership potential is also going to be guided by the leadership traits that are inherent. In particular, these reflect the strong interpersonal dimension. With these traits, the prospective leader should understand them and how they can be improved upon, but must also find ways to work within the constraints provided by one's own skill set, in order to maximize one's own leadership potential......

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