Natural vs Learned Leadership: Let’s Focus On What Matters

Corinna Hagen
6 min readMay 11, 2023

Some believe leadership is an innate skill found in those with exceptional personalities, while others think it can be learned and improved over time. That’s the debate behind natural vs learned leadership. But which one holds true? Does nature or nurture play the strongest role in developing strong leadership skills?

Let’s explore both sides of the argument to better understand natural vs learned leadership. To do this, let’s explore the characteristics of successful leaders and examine approaches for honing non-natural talents, so you can decide where your own leadership abilities reside.

Natural vs Learned Leadership: How Do Leadership Skills Develop?

Natural Leadership Talent

Natural leaders often have an innate ability to lead and make confident decisions that help bring people together in pursuit of a shared goal without any formal training. Oftentimes, these individuals will stand out from the crowd with their remarkable charisma and confidence which commands respect from their peers.

Natural leaders may also simply know instinctively how to mobilize people and handle difficult situations when things don’t go as planned. They often exert leadership presence without conscious…

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Corinna Hagen

Founder of Zaradigm.com, an executive communication firm. I write about leadership and business communication 1 x month in the “Leading Choices” newsletter.