"Leaders are born, not made."

For the longest time, this was the widely held perspective about leadership. The majority of people believed in this idea put forward by the Trait Theory of Leadership, which is an extension of the Great Man Theory given by Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle in the 1840s. Many theorists and philosophers also got influenced by Carlyle’s idea and even expanded it.

One such philosopher was Francis Galton, who had several titles under his belt but was best known for his work in the fields of eugenics and human intelligence. In his book Hereditary Genius, written in 1869, Galton borrowed Carlyle’s idea of leadership and claimed that leadership qualities are immutable properties of extraordinary individuals. He also further emphasized the notion that leadership qualities are not something that you could develop.

This line of thinking prevailed for about a century. It was only in the late 1940s that some theorists and philosophers started coming up with different perspectives about leadership. They were classified as behavioral theories of leadership and focused on identifying and studying specific behaviors of leaders and their response to particular stimuli. By building on this core idea, behavioral theories suggest that anyone can become a leader by learning appropriate behavioral responses to various situations.

I believe that the art and science of leadership, one could learn. The set of personality traits, qualities, and skills that make great leaders are often acquired and developed, of course, with hard work. Like any other goal, you need to set priorities, determine your path, and consistently work to become a leader in your field.

This book is about the things I learned during my journey in the business world. It’s about the essential characteristics, qualities, and skills that one needs to have to progress and eventually become a leader in any field and how you can develop them. You will also learn about how I understood what it takes to become a leader, which, I believe, will inspire and motivate several others out there. If I can do it, anyone can!