I believe that leadership skills are taught through a variety of ways, and
we learn them at many different points of our lives. I think that my very
first lesson came from a guy that I would not see as a leader, but who
taught me a very interesting and profound thing some 31 years ago. I was
asking for a particular consideration, and I based my petition on the fact
that some other people were already getting it. This guy responded by
saying "I will give it to you the day you prove to me that you deserve it,
not because many others are getting it." (these may not be the exact
words, but what can you expect after so many years?)
Barry has made an interesting point when he deals with responsibility. I
beilieve that one of the most important contributors to the development of
leadership skills is the mentors. But mentors will be more willing to
help some "student" of leadership when they see the student trying to or
actually taking responsibilty for his or her own actions, even when they
fail. In fact it is even more important when they fail, because
responsibility takes on a much more value under these circumstances.
Ivan
-- Blanco@bu4090.barry.eduLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>