Strategic Analysis of Zara

leaders are born, not made

For several years, the concern whether leaders are born or made is an issue of great controversy. From different opinions however, it could be a little bit of both hence proving that any manager can go on to be a great leader as well.

Among other definitions, Maxwell (1993, p.11) has defined leadership as an ability to influence others. He also defined a leader as a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal or goals. Leaders are also thought to be people who listen and learn from others, energize the organization, act for the benefit of everyone, develop themselves and others, empower others to lead and recognize achievement.

Some leaders may be born. The basic assumption of the Trait Theory is that people are born with inherited traits.

There are many successful leaders who demonstrated their skills at an early age. They have natural talents that make them to be 'natural leaders'. Sometimes they also obtained characteristics or elements of a leader when they are born. Studies over recent years supported that at least half our traits are inherited. In other words, some people are born with the characteristics of a leader while some people are not. People born with these characteristics made them outstanding among other people and followers usually want their leader contains these traits.

This theory believes that leaders are born that way, they are naturally braver, more aggressive, and more decisive and more articulate, this means they stand out in physical characteristics, personality and intelligence. They also argue that a leader is born with certain inherited characteristics or quality traits that a good leader must have. Researchers have identified some correlation between leadership and certain personality traits. They found out that good leaders always have some quality traits that distinguished from non-leaders. (Laurie J Mullins, 1996, p. 417) suggests that good leaders should be self-confident, honest, initiative and have cognitive and supervisory ability. Besides, they always desire to lead people. In his findings, Stogdill (1984, p.536-7) also identified several traits that appeared consistent with effective leadership, suggesting the possibility of innate leadership characteristics. Without these quality traits they cannot become good leaders. In agreement with the findings, there are many successful leaders who demonstrated their skills at an early age. They have natural talents that make them to be 'natural leaders'. Sometimes they also obtained characteristics or elements of a leader when they are born.

Kotter(1988, p.40) among others, argues that a few of the leadership attributes do seem to arrive at birth: some basic such as mental and interpersonal capacity, and perhaps some physical capacity that is related to energy level. Furthermore, a few of the other attributes build off this native capacity (e.g. some intellectual skills would not develop without some minimum intellectual capacity). Moreover, people think that some one has their natural skills like self - awareness, passion, rapport and being confident which are developed by the time they grown up. Of course no one can judge a child when he or she was born, he or she can be a leader can not identify. But by the time they become an adult, they are good at communication, be passion, confident that mean they had some basic qualities of a leader and they just need the chance to show it and become a leader.

Although many people believe that having many of the traits makes one a leader, the most important thing in leadership is the vision. With no ability to see the picture of what is going on, all the possessed qualities would be wasted. The best leaders have a vision of where they want to take themselves and their organisations. In the Holy Bible(Probers29), its mentioned that" Without vision people perish".Maxwell(1993, p. 17), in his work states" A great leader's courage to fulfil his vision comes from passion not position".He explains how people become great leaders by beginning to change the way they think which leads to change certain behaviours. Those people start to act the part of the person they want to become.

Visionary leadership is transformative. It involves greatness, penetrating the ordinary, and reaching through time to bring out the best the best world has to offer. A visionary leader anticipates events, influences the future, and enables people to florish in fundamental ways. In associations, this means perceiving challenges and growth opportunities before they happen while positioning the association to produce extraordinary results that make real contribution to the world. Leaders with vision have total involvement, tremendous work, a willingness to put everything on the line, and continuous engagement.

The point here therefore is that although there could be inherited qualities that are valuable such as good communication, being articulate, the ability to think on your feet, intelligence, dominance, self confidence, and so on, there is a need for a vision.

A leader's vision is his definition of what success is to him. He is the person who knows what is to be done and it is his job to ensure that he conveys this picture to the rest of the team correctly, so that they in return can get the job done. Hence, a leader's vision is what pulls the whole thing along. It is what the team struggles for, competes for, fights for and sacrifices for and under the correct leadership. Will successfully attain. Vision thus gives a team a mission, a sense of purpose to get excited about and reason for being charged up, enthused and motivated. Hence, great leaders are driven by a vision, a true sense of mission and purpose. Of course a leader with a vision but without the ability to convey this vision to his followers is similar to a hot balloon without someone to work the controls, the desirable traits are the gears to carry that vision. Gate's ability to see the future labels him as visionary leader.

However, if leadership cannot be learnt as the trait theory suggests, why is so much time, money and effort put in for leadership training? For example, Motorola recently spent 150 million US dollars on leadership education for their staff members (Daft, 1999, p. 89). Or ASB Bank is a leading New Zealand organization that understands the importance of leadership training. One of the first courses undertaken by ASB Bank is employees, who are newly appointed to a management position, is in fact leadership.

Although some people are born with those traits, doesn't necessarily mean that those without cannot be leaders. Evidences prove that leadership skills