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Are Top Australian Leaders Made or Born?
For centuries there has been debate whether it is our personalities or experiences that shape behaviour.
Are we born a certain way or can we learn with hard work and effort?
Can a leader who is aspiring to reach great heights succeed through effective leadership coaching and executive
coaching programs or is there a time when we need to accept that we cannot change who we are, and that we just don’t have
leadership greatness stamped inside?
To begin tackling this question it is important to differentiate between personality and behaviour. Who we are is a
factor of our personality. What we do is a factor of our actions. This being the case, is leadership greatness about who
we are or what we do?
If you think about a great leader do you think about their inner make up or do you think about what they have done in their
leadership role?
If it is the latter then the case for any leadership coaching or executive coaching program may hold water. If the
leadership training is about focusing on those behaviours that make leaders successful, and using the actions of great
leaders as the benchmark of aspiration, then surely the investment is worthwhile. If however the leadership coaching is
more about trying to emulate the way other leaders lead, or trying to become like a particular leader in personality, the
investment is questionable.
Executive Coaching is about developing constructive leadership behaviours and minimising counter productive and defensive
behavioural styles. What is interesting is the fact that many great leaders share similar behaviours. When these
can be identified as preferred styles in any leadership coaching or executive coaching program then one need not recreate
the wheel but rather mirror the one that is most outstanding.
The success factor in leadership coaching is the degree to which these behaviours are practically and appropriately applied
within the workplace environment. What may be appropriate in one culture may not be in another, and therefore the leadership
coaching or executive coaching methodologies need to be tailored and non generic.
For this to occur the executive coaching program needs to factor in all the variables that affect people and culture
of that particular organisation, and to ensure the leadership styles are those which will yield best results.
Can anyone learn these effective leadership styles of behaviour? Yes. Can anyone action them in the same way as a great leader
does? Well that depends on how great you are!
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