Leading through... leading

The reading and discussion came back to the concept of leadership. Contrary to my own opinion (and an earlier posting), leaders are made instead of born. At least, that's what the authors at Resource Associates Corporation say.
There's a lot of evidence presented to support that conclusion and I can buy it, for the most part. In some respects, its kind of like saying an athlete makes it to the professional ranks as a result of their hard work. Of course that's true. But if you believe that's all there is to it, you're ignoring the fact that they're also born with a great deal of innate ability. What sets them apart from others is that they've maximized their abilities through hard work.
In my opinion, the same applies to leadership. I've had the pleasure of working with some people I'd categorize as strong leaders and without question they work hard at what they do. They listen, they seek input, they have a great sense of who they are and they have a vision of the future. I'd argue that these people were born with certain gifts (and it varies by person) that others were not. They maximized their abilities. They recognized their limitations and compensated for them. But I'm not ready to discount the idea that they had a little more to work with from the start.
The trick is, I think we're all born with certain strengths, that we all have certain abilities that set us apart and above the rest. Maybe it's just a matter of recognizing those abilities and putting in the work to maximize them. If someone asked, what abilities would you talk about?