Are officer qualities such as leadership natural or they trained to be good leaders?

Question

Are officer qualities such as leadership natural or they trained to be good leaders?

Answer 1

it's always an advantage to have natural leadership qualities, but yes, military personnel are trained to lead

Answer 2

they are taught to be good leaders

Answer 3

If the army waited for officers with natural leadership abilities, they wouldn't have many.  Those that have them are lucky, but with the specific training the army offers, by the time they finish they should generally be the same level, having learnt the same things.  Unless they are a bad leader, which is also rare, but it means it would be harder for them than the average person.

Answer 4

From what I've seen from the enlisted side, officer qualities are "taught" but not all of the officers that graduate from the academy seem to know when to employ them in their daily duties.  I know that in order to lead, you have to first know how to follow.  Well I've seen many new lieutenants and young captains that get to a base, have no clue what is going on, and let the power of being in charge go to their heads with disastrous results.  The military hasn't crumbled yet but we can only hope the wrong seed doesn't slip through the cracks.

Answer 5

The entire US officer selection and training system is based on the idea that leaders can be trained.  I've always been somewhat of a skeptic, not to say iconoclast.  I think you can train a mediocre leader to be an exceptional one, but no way can someone with no innate leadership ability be trained to be an outstanding leader.

Answer 6

It is a very rare individual who is a born leader.   Most have to learn the skills of leadership,  as well as the other skills of being a good officer.   That is why the two most junior officer ranks (O1 and O2)  are not given much responsibility and have to prove themselves before they get promoted to a position where they have some real authority.  

However,  to start,  a good officer needs to learn that the motto,  "I will not lie, cheat or steal nor tolerate those who do"  is not just a motto but the beginning of being a good officer.   Too many forget that and tell people what they want to hear rather than the truth.  

President Bush should have been told in no uncertain terms we did not have the staying power to be in Iraq for a long period of time.  

Answer 7

Sure?

It's natural?

Decode this lyrics " Let your love grow"

Look in the real world.

The mystery of being " Born again"

John 3.3-7

Genesis 11.1, 6

Luke 9.25,55-56,60

Luke 8.5-8,10-17

Luke 6.39-40,41-45,46-49

John 8.44

Matt 22.17-21

Luke 16.13

Matt 23.27

Matt 22.32

What do you think?

Answer 8

Training and adapting your natural attitude

Good leaders are good followers too.

By going through being led, they know things from the followers' point of view and know their hardships.

Then when the followers complain, they can tell them how they got over it and push them to do more.

There is not just one personality type of leader.

Some use fear, others respect.

Adapt your personality in relation to the group you lead.

Good luck

Answer 9

Officers are trained to be that way . But not all officers are good leaders , Most of the time you get these lieutenant's right out of collage and they think because they have a college degree they are better than you and know more than you and then they try and tell you how to do you re job for which you have been doing for the last 4 years while they were in college (this is just an example of my personal experience ) and when you get officers like that they aren't very good leaders . The ones that normally make the best officers are the ones that were enlisted and then went to college and got there commission then they know what it is like from the bottom to the top.