Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2012 - (Page 45)

CLosING ArGumeNts | TIM SoSBe nature versus nurture no matter how your leaders got where they got, they’re there O kay, this is going to seem shocking, so let me prepare you gently. I’m about to compare your leadership to the Three Stooges. Done laughing yet? Let’s move on. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Okay, getting serious, let me explain. It’s not as bad as it sounds. The rather forced comparison comes from a classic Stooges short, “Hoi Polloi,” in which two millionaires decide to take the intellectually challenged trio and make them rich men. The point? To settle an argument over whether class is a matter of nature (i.e. breeding) or nurture (learned skills). It was the same plot as the Eddie Murphy/Dan Ackroyd classic “Trading Places,” only with a lot more slapstick. In both fictional cases, the results were inconclusive … but funny. But let’s address a serious subject: Is leadership a skill that we can train, or is there something more required to build a great leader? Does the leader himself or herself have to bring a certain something to the table, or can any stooge be a leader? I’d like to think it’s a little of both. Professionals at any level of an organization should ideally have the right combination of means and motive that propels them to be leaders, and ideally training should be effective enough to build measurable skills. Training may not be able to automatically create all necessary elements of leadership — such as opportunity — but it should certainly be able to provide the basic knowledge. So it’s nurture right? According to legend, Arthur was a commoner with no regal pretentions when he became king, and training made him great. So it’s not nature then? Well, Ronald Reagan made it to the top of two of the most difficult professions — politics and acting — without professional courses of study in either. Could it be both? As depicted in “The King’s Speech,” Queen Elizabeth II’s father, George VI, wasn’t intended to be the monarch of the British Empire, but he learned the necessary skills and drew on inner strength to lead his country nobly through dark days. In fact, much the same could be said for his daughter. I guess it pretty much has to be a little from column A, a little from column B, doesn’t it? As Curly would say, “sointenly” So, as we close out this issue on leadership, let’s look at those columns, and how to make them work for your leadership development efforts. There’s not a lot training can do to support someone’s natural inclinations, other than provide the opportunities that will lead them to advancement. Whether you call them high-potentials, top talent or just an ambitious lot, it’s good to recognize the future lead as early as possible in a career. That way a company can build loyalty while grooming talent … feel free to call this the GE Model. Training can certainly have a great impact on the nurture side of the coin, since that’s precisely where we live. Training results are a solid early indicator of potential, of course, and at some point the relationship needs to become nearly symbiotic, with both the talent and the training relying on one another to survive and thrive. So to close the loop on this topic, there is no solid answer to the Nature versus Nurture question. Maybe being a leader is like being pregnant: You either are or you aren’t, and there’s absolutely no third alternative. “I believe we have two lives,” Glenn Close said in “The Natural,” the classic Robert Redford baseball movie. “The one we learn with, and the one we live after that.” That’s as good a description of leadership as I’ve heard … whether to the manor borne or not, leaders learn their crafts well, and then begin the act of applying those lessons in real-life situations. Nature may certainly be a factor (Darwin thought so), but at some point nurture becomes a tool for leaders at all levels. Which brings us back to Moe, Larry and Curly, and your leadership. The truth is the nature/nurture question is entirely academic: No matter how your leaders got where they got, they’re there, and your job is to help them shine. No worries I’m sure, if you’re in training, it’s your nature to nurture. As Moe would no doubt say, “Oh a wise guy, eh?” Tim Sosbe is editorial director of Training Industry Quarterly and general manager of TrainingIndustry.com webinars. Email Tim. 45 Training Industry Quarterly, Summer 2012 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.TrainingIndustry.com http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2012

Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2012
From Where I Sit: The Leadership Perspective
Table of Contents
Ad Index
Guest Editor: Recipe for Leadership Development Success
The Real Power of e-Learning is Social
Too Big to Know … Too Much to Train?
Where Are You on Your Leadership Journey?
Ideal Behaviors for Building Innovation
Going Local: Six Ways to Keep Leadership Development Alive
Building Your Leadership Brand
How Simulations Develop Leaders
Organizational Burnout: How Training Can Help
Increasing Leadership Performance with Emotional Intelligence
Casebook: General Mills: Leaders Teaching Leaders
Tracking Trends: First Step in Leadership Development Training
Tweet Suite
Company News
Closing Arguments: Nature versus Nurture

Training Industry Quarterly - Summer 2012