Can leadership be taught or learned?

Leadership can most definitely be learned but the vice versa seldom works. Leadership as much as it is an information- led science, is also an art which comes with practice, experiences and learnings or with the right set of behavioural traits. While talking about the right traits for leadership it is also pertinent to note that there is no one “right” set of traits that can be put together in the making of a leader and it is often a grey area with different things working and not working.

This can be very well explained by the idea of the Head and Heart of Leadership. The head of leadership constituting all the knowledge- level, information- led, analytical and decision making skills necessary to make great plans and lead change; the heart of leadership constituting the rather intangible and immeasurable aspects including empathy, relationship building, etc., There is no end to the number and amount of intangible things that can go into any leadership role and that makes all the difference with respect to learning leadership and teaching leadership, which essentially surfaces the idea of reflective practices and continuous learning that can go into any leadership role.