Page 236 - The extraordinary leader

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WHAT INDIVIDUALS DO TO

BECOME GREAT LEADERS

All over this country, in corporations and government agencies, there are
millions of executives who imagine that their place on the organization
chart has given them a body of followers. And of course it hasn’t. It has
given them subordinates. Whether the subordinates become followers
depends on whether the executives act like leaders.
—John Gardner

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born—that there is a
genetic factor to leadership. Myth asserts that people simply either have
certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite
is true. Leaders are made rather than born.
—Warren G. Bennis

The Age-Old Questions
When the subject turns to leadership, someone inevitably asks the question,
“Well, aren’t leaders born that way?” Then comes, “Can I really make myself a
better leader?” The questions arise so frequently from savvy and well-intentioned
people, we feel the need to address them yet one more time.

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