Understanding Leadership: Natural Leadership Isn't Always What it Could Be

A couple years ago I was reading a book on leadership in which the author began with a story about one of his early "leadership" experiences. He had convinced a group of his friends to vandalize some property. They followed his lead. The author's point of sharing the story is to talk about how those that naturally lead out don't always have the desirable skills for leadership. The author goes on to say that no one praised him for leadership skills at that time, even though he was undoubtably the leader of the group. (I can't remember the name of the book or the author, or I would include those. Sorry. If you know, please send me a message.)

I have seen a number of examples of this in my own life and as a leader of youth. Sometimes a person with natural leadership qualities ends up being a person that we don't actually want leading. Often the young or otherwise impressionable end up following the loudest voice in a crowd rather than the best. We have only to glance at history to see examples of leaders who clearly exhibited leadership but were actually not good roles models or great leaders. Hitler comes to mind, as do Genghis Khan, Joseph Stalin, and Kim Jong-il.

Often times, the people who display natural leadership qualities early in life never seem to develop truly inspiring leadership skills. Young leaders do not always mature into the kind of leaders we hope they will become. As a mentor, I believe that core values are at the heart of creating great leaders. I see examples of this in the great leaders from history: George Washington, John Adams, and If a leader believes in compassion, respect for the property of others, and that all human life has value, they are more likely to be the kind of leader that people aspire to follow. Imagine how different some of the leaders from history would be if they had believed in and lived by these core values. Leadership education without core values may still create leaders, but it won't create the type of leaders who help people achieve their potential and strive to create a better world.

What ways do you use to integrate core values in your mentoring?