It is often said that important people are born with certain characteristics that enable them to become great leaders. The alternative view is that leadership is a learnable quality. Personally, I agree with the latter viewpoint because training and experience are more important than innate ability in this situation. It is somewhat true that many individuals are born with distinctive personal traits that allow them the opportunity to become talented leaders. Leaders tend to be those who are charming and persuasive. In contrast, those who lack these characteristics may have a difficulty inspiring the belief and loyalty that all leaders require and end up as followers rather than leaders. For instance, a salesman who often fails to convince his clients to sign a deal may be dissuaded from becoming the sales team leader since he does not believe that he has what it takes to be one. The more convincing salesmen are more likely to rise to that role. However, there ...