Leadership skills can be learned.
Many of the world’s most famous leaders — like JFK, Steve Jobs, and Rosa Parks — are said to have been natural born leaders. Natural born leaders appear to have come into the world with qualities like confidence, ambition, charisma and clarity of purpose.
But is leadership actually something you are born with? Did these leaders pop out of the womb with so much charisma that the doctor asked them to speak at her child’s college graduation?
Or… is leadership learned?
The answer is that leadership skills are learned. And the great news is that anyone who wants to be a leader can learn the skills.
Regardless of their natural talents and strengths, or lack thereof, if a person puts in the effort to practice the 10 skills and develop the 6 qualities in the leadership competency model that I describe in this post, they will become a highly effective leader. Period.
Unlike the capacity to excel in competitive sports, which requires certain physical qualities that are genetically inherited, leadership skills can be acquired. Leadership isn’t like basketball. You don’t need to be seven feet tall in order to be a leader.
Genetics do play a role in a person’s style of leadership. Effective leadership styles can vary widely. A big part of becoming the best leader you can be is to know your style and strengths and play to your strengths while not over emphasizing them to the detriment of other things that leaders need to do.
Leadership skills versus leadership qualities
To make the question “is leadership a learnable capacity?” relevant and useful, we need to break down the big bucket called “leadership” into smaller components.
Based on my experience in working with hundreds of teams over the past 30 years, I’ve broken leadership down into two categories: 1. skills, which are things that leaders do, and 2. qualities that leaders possess.
As you’ll discover when you read these two lists, every skill listed can be learned, and only one inherent quality on the other list may be un-learnable.
The single potentially-un-learnable quality may, however, be THE foundational quality of leadership. That quality is the desire to be a leader. And yet… if someone desires to have the desire… well, that just may be good enough! Given time, a person can develop the desire within themselves, though no one can be taught to desire leadership.
The 6 qualities of a great leader
Before we jump into leadership skills – that is, what great leaders do – I want to discuss leadership qualities that have more to do with who a person is. All of these are qualities of emotional maturity, and all (save desire – the one noted above) can be learned.
Many people effortlessly embody certain leadership strengths, but then fall into the trap of being overly dependent on the strengths and qualities that come most naturally to them. When they do this, they may underutilize other important leadership qualities and skills that they are perfectly capable of, though not practiced in.
A person is not a stagnant being. We evolve and grow.
Quality leaders are on a path to becoming more of their true selves. As we become more self-aware, we gradually uncover the artillery of psychological defenses we’ve adopted in our lives in order to keep our egos safe and secure, and in familiar territory.
This is why it is so important for leaders to have a coach. A coach can help you see what you have been blind to in yourself (and don’t kid yourself – we ALL have blind spots!). And when you are able to see your subconscious defensive patterns (most of which you probably developed in childhood), you will likely discover that they are no longer necessary. Through working with a coach and deliberately choosing to change, you will grow into new leadership qualities.
As we gain the courage to see more of ourselves, we learn to be better leaders.
Even qualities that great leaders appear to possess innately can actually be learned!
#1 Self Awareness
True leaders work to understand their own blind spots so they can continually improve their ability to lead themselves and others. They know, and continually assess, their own strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness increases as we do our internal work, including self-reflection, deep inquiry, and working with a coach/mentor and/or a therapist. We also solicit feedback from our peers and our team. Though some people may be more naturally self-aware than others, rigorous self-awareness is a learned trait. It doesn’t come with no effort.
#2 Confidence
Great leaders are confident without being arrogant. They are humble. They do not need to prove to themselves or others that they know everything. This type of confidence comes from knowing their own worth, without needing to be perceived a certain way by other people. This is not to say that leaders never struggle with things like “imposter syndrome” and lack of confidence. They are human, and part of the human experience is to be unsure of oneself at times. However, great leaders are able to set aside their fears and doubts in order to lead. They have faith in themselves on a deep level.
#3 Curiosity
Good leaders ask questions. They are open-minded. They are good listeners. They do not believe they have everything figured out. Great leaders see the world with fresh eyes. Having it all figured out would mean they’re making assumptions that may not be true, and they know this is a trap.
#4 Optimism
Leaders are believers, not cynics. They believe other people act from good intentions. They believe their projects will succeed. Then again, some entrepreneurial leaders cannot even see the possibility of their projects failing. This is hubris, not healthy optimism. When optimism is ungrounded or unbalanced, it can be hazardous. Still, overall, a leader must be optimistic about the future. Without this trait, no one will follow them.
#5 Courage
Good leaders take calculated risks on projects, strategies, and people. They make decisions without having all the information required for certainty. Courage is a skill that leaders grow as they become increasingly self-aware, curious, and confident. This is because their unflinching self-examination will eventually bring them into contact with their shadows. They will need to look at themselves in ways that may not always be comfortable, and accept parts of themselves which aren’t pretty. All humans have attributes that they don’t wish to see in themselves. It takes – and builds – courage to look at and accept one’s full humanity, in all its messiness and glory and contradictions.
#6 Desire (to become a better leader)
This is the one leadership quality that may be very difficult to learn, because desire cannot be taught.
And yet, even here there is some evidence that desire can develop over time. I have worked with clients who had very little desire to lead others, but as we worked together they became more self-aware and self-confident, and their courage and optimism increased. Through this process, they discovered that they actually did have a desire to lead and to become better leaders.
It may be that the desire to lead correlates with the development of moral courage.
It is worth noting that the above qualities do not have a particular sequence, nor do they have cause-and-effect relationships with each other. It isn’t like you can say, “Let me become self-aware and then I’ll be curious.” But there is a synergistic relationship between all of these qualities – as you work to develop one quality, others are also amplified.
The 10 leadership skills of effective leaders
Now that we’ve covered the qualities that good leaders have, let’s get into leadership skills – the things that good leaders do.
#1 Generate shared purpose
Purpose motivates, and having a shared purpose brings a team together. It gives the team a common goal and helps them stay aligned.
A good leader also knows how to discover an individual’s purpose by building trust with their team members and having conversations to discover each person’s cherished ambitions in life. They look for ways to meld the purpose of their project, organization, or team with the individual’s goals whenever possible.
#2 Provide structure and clarity
High-performing teams have clear roles, responsibilities, values, objectives, and a strategy to accomplish their goals. It is up to the leader of the team to provide this structure and to communicate it plainly to the team.
Without structure and clarity, team members will wonder where they stand. They will discuss their confusion and uncertainty with each other. They will spend cycles worrying and wondering instead of getting to the necessary work.
#3 Defend alignment
High-performing organizations and teams are aligned on the business model, core values, vision, strategy and behaviors of the team. Without alignment, resources are often and easily wasted.
It is the leader’s job to uphold and defend alignment. This means making tough decisions when team members or initiatives drift from the shared vision. It means having difficult conversations when behaviors don’t match values.
#4 Delegate effectively
Many leaders struggle with delegation. They believe they can do things better or faster themselves. While this may be true in the short term, failure to delegate stunts team growth and leads to burnout.
Effective delegation means matching tasks to team members’ strengths, providing clear expectations, and then stepping back to let people own their work.
#5 Develop others
Great leaders invest in growing the people around them. They mentor, coach, and create opportunities for their team members to stretch and develop new capabilities.
#6 Navigate conflict
Conflict is inevitable in any team. Skilled leaders don’t avoid it – they navigate it constructively. They create safe spaces for disagreement and help team members work through differences productively.
#7 Communicate with clarity and empathy
Communication is perhaps the most critical leadership skill. Great leaders communicate clearly, listen deeply, and adapt their message to their audience. They combine clarity of thought with empathy for how their words land.
#8 Make decisions
Leaders are called upon to make decisions constantly, often with incomplete information. Effective leaders develop frameworks for decision-making, know when to decide quickly versus when to gather more input, and take responsibility for the outcomes of their decisions.
#9 Build trust
Trust is the foundation of every effective team. Leaders build trust through consistency, transparency, vulnerability, and follow-through. They keep their commitments and own their mistakes.
#10 Manage energy (your own and your team’s)
Sustainable leadership requires managing energy, not just time. Great leaders understand the rhythms of high performance – when to push hard and when to rest. They model healthy boundaries and create environments where their teams can do their best work without burning out.