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In the same category as "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" is the key question, "Are leaders born or made"? This question is often compared to whether artists and athletes are born or made.

The worthy Psychology Today, in an article by Bruce Avolio, tells us that "after 50 years of collecting data on the topic, most psychologists believe leadership qualities are innate or genetic and, thus, impossible to learn". An unusually black-and-white picture from psychologists one might say.

However, the majority of articles to be read on the subject would indicate that these skills can be developed over time through practice. It is argued that it is a continuum; if you have the innate ability in the first place, you can develop it, similar to athletes who are born with the skill and then practice hard to develop it.

The book "The 108 Skills of Natural Born Leaders" by Warren Blank suggests that viewing people as only born-leaders will be a disservice to the organisation, as it supresses potential leaders. He argues that everyone is born with the innate skill and can thus develop it. He writes, "True leadership mastery comes from true change in yourself."

In fact, there is a lot to develop. If you would like to assess your leadership potential, Testcafe.com can measure various aspects such as diligence, persistence, understanding and ambition, among others.

After ten years of study, Bruce Avolio, who is also director of the Centre for Leadership Studies at SUNY-Binghamton, the United States, argues further in his article that these skills can be developed and mastered but need active parental participation from an early stage. The parents  of leaders they interviewewere "very involved parents who set challenging goals", translated failure into "how to succeed next time" and lived by high standards of moral conduct - "helping their children appreciate diverse views".

I reflected that the companies I have worked for in the last 22 years have generally failed to properly identify and develop potential leaders on a consistent basis; perhaps also believing that leaders are only born. Does yours believe the same?