Are leaders born or made? Useless question or valuable tool?

"Are leaders born or made." Rather attempt to answer, reviewing where we can use the question is what should be focused on.

The "born or made" question has it's place. In a solving forum, it is near USELESS, far too many unmeasurable factors. But in a pre-meeting / pre-brainstorming session setting, the question can be an effective tool.

It is a very easy question to give an opinion on, thus can be used to get people speaking, thus can warm up the "talking muscles", thus can help everyone involved be ready to contribute. So next time you are leading a meeting (or teaching a class) with a quiet group, starting a discussion beforehand with the "born or made" (or a similar kind of question), CAN BE effective. To optimize the effectiveness you have to have a good facilitator, but that is a whole other topic.

If you ask the question in an attempt to find the answer, you will not get far. Obviously environments and experiences "make" you, and we are "born" with personality traits. Just a quick example of each: 

• A "make" example: Kids growing up playing basketball will be more comfortable playing and watching basketball then someone growing up who played football. Our environment and experiences obviously shape what we are able and comfortable doing
• A "born" example: We all have seen siblings (our own kids, our siblings, our friends kids, etc) who grow up in a near exact environment (same parents, house, living situation, etc) and end up very different. Whether it's one kid being shy and the other a social butterfly, it is hard to argue that there is not some degree of natural personality difference not effected by the environment.

We will NEVER actually solve the question (and frankly we DO NOT NEED TO), so asking for real opinions is a waste of time. But is we ask in the right setting, we can use the question as an effective tool.

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