Is there a Leader within everyone?
There are several self-help books and other resources that entice us to develop the leader within. But, is there really a leader within everyone? If so, then how does that corelate with the six archetypes and how are each of them unique & different from each other?
Explain, using examples and references, and relate your comments to the Four Principles for Purposeful Action.
This post was written by Jimy George, who will lead the discussion for the week starting on March 17.
I do agree that there is a leader within everyone. But people are not born leaders. They tend to become as they learn how to be one and by how they go ahead about doing things. By been a trustee we learn so many things that when we look to implement them, that’s when we tend to show our leadership skills.
In exploring the leadership qualities within ourselves, we’re thinking about personal abilities — mental and physical. We think about knowledge, skills, time and energy, even attitude and enthusiasm. We think of building leadership capacity, which involves enhancing our abilities, learning to transfer skills from one situation to another, and devoting time to reflection and development of a personal leadership philosophy.
Today’s challenge is to ask:
-Do I share in leadership roles?
-Am I developing my ability to work with others as a team leader and member?
-Am I a lifelong learner, instead of thinking I already know all there is to know?
The last part of the question should be addressed first. We know from our studies that everyone expresses the characteristics of each archetype at different times in life and due to different circumstances. We are not one archetype all the time. So, if this is true then, yes we do all possess the propensity to be a leader. Now I would say that we all express the different archetypes, including the leader, with varying degrees of intensity. I’m sure we all feel more comfortable in one character set than another.
But we all cannot be leaders all the time. There must be leaders and followers.
The Wikipedia article is quite interesting. This digs into leadership from different theories: Trait, Behavioral, Style, Situational, contingency, functional, transactional, transformational. All of which I think are linked to the development of the archetype in ourselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership
Absolutely Chris. We tend to be all the archetypes in certain moments in life. But been a leader is the most important as it shows ones assertiveness.