In October there will be a conference on Leadership at Chelsea Football Club and no I’m not joking and yes I plan to be speaking at it! Though I have to admit I do hope the furore over John Terry will have passed by then.

Anyway, the usual debate is about whether Leaders are born or made and so I thought I would share a thought or two on the topic. You see I think that people sometimes confuse Leaders and Leadership. I believe it is possible to learn all that is required and develop the appropriate skills to demonstrate Effective Leadership but only circumstances find Leaders. National crises tend to throw up the sort of strong leadership that people look for when they want to be taken through the storm. The very same Leaders fade without the crisis to provide a contrast. In good times people look for more amenable, accessible, knowledgeable people. In times of crisis they look for clear vision, conviction, purpose, charisma and effective communication.

So what? Well the truth of the matter is that investors and management place great stock in people who lead businesses. That is why Chief Executives are paid more than other members of the board. So what is the search and selection process looking for:-

Leaders or Leadership?

Is the talent development programme developing Leaders or Leadership?

If you would like to consider the topics further I’ll let you have a copy of some presentations I have delivered on the topic, all I ask is that you attribute anything you quote.

… and to finish off, since I have been so irreverent as to include a picture of Churchill, I thought I might butcher another of his more famous quotes which I saw applied to “blogs” …

Never in the field of human endeavour has so much been written by so many and read by so few …

If you’re reading … let me know what you think!