Dave Says: Becoming a Leader

Dear Dave,

Do you feel that some people are born leaders, or do you have to read and study to become one?

–Michael

Dear Michael,

I don’t believe anyone is born a leader. I’ve watched all three of my kids being born, and not once did the doctor say, “Congratulations, Dave! You have a little eight-pound, six-ounce leader!” No, I believe people make choices.

I’m 49 years old, and I’ve been studying leadership ever since I opened my company almost 20 years ago. I was really awful when I first started. I made so many bad, dumb mistakes! But I’m a world-class leader now. I’ve learned how to do this stuff, and its taken thousands and thousands of hours of reading and studying and lots of experiences—both good and bad—to get to this point. It’s also meant having to realize that I don’t know everything and taking time to examine my mistakes and learn from them.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a fabulous book called Outliers. In it, he studied people who are unusually successful. In the process, he discovered that while some people may have a natural predisposition toward some areas, the key was they took the gifts they had and then practiced and studied for thousands of hours to turn their gifts into world-class talents. In other words, these people made choices, and their “talents” were really acquired skills.

This stuff doesn’t just occur. You’re not a born leader any more than you’re a born football player, actor or musician. You may start with a gift, but you have to make a choice to work your tail off if you want to develop that gift to its fullest potential!
 

– Dave