Are Leaders Born or Made?

Over the past two years, our economy had been declining. Sky rocketing food and energy prices affected the economy at large, but that wasn’t all. Last week, our economy was shattered even more by the fall of the 158 year old investment bank, Lehman Brothers, when they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Following Lehman Brothers fall, Merrill Lynch & Co. and AIG, the world’s largest insurance company, were facing a very similar outcome. In a last minute deal, Bank of America agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch & Co. saving it from a fate similar to Lehman's, while the government rescued AIG in a $85 billion deal. These actions brought up a great deal of debate about our leaders’ abilities and what to do to prevent similar outcomes in the future. It has been argued whether or not it was fair of the government to intervene and save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or lend money to rescue AIG but not Lehman Brothers… This brings up an interesting point in my discussion related to leadership. Are today’s leaders born or made?

Personally, I believe that leaders are something in-between. They are born with the instinct to lead, communicate, and solve problems, but trust, openness and other variables and credentials are developed over time and through experience. Similarly, Arvey, Rotundo, Johnson, Zhang & McGue (2006) estimate that 30% of the determination of simply “being a leader” is accounted for by genetic factors related to an individual’s personality. Similarly, Johnson, Vernon, Harris & Jang (2004) found that leadership style and personality share genetic influence and that transformational leadership is correlated with conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness to experience.

In the end, regardless of whether leaders are born or made, it is important that we have good and strong leaders that can keep a cool head and provide sound solutions when most needed.



Arvey, R. D., Rotundo, M., Johnson, W., Zhang, Z., & McGue, M. (2006). The determinations of leadership role occupancy: Genetic and personality factors. Leadership Quarterly, 17, 1-20.

Johnson, A. M., Vernon, P. A., Harris, J. A., & Jang, K. L. (2004). A behavioral investigation of the relationship between leadership and personality. Twin Research, 7, 27-32.