Leadership: given or learned?

The question of whether one can become a leader has concerned more than one generation. Leadership often seems like an innate quality — something you either have or you don’t. But in reality, it is less a gift than a conscious choice and a path of growth. A leader is not simply the one who stands in front. A leader is someone whom others follow not out of fear or submission, but out of respect and trust. Leadership begins not with a role, but with an inner state — with belief in oneself.

Belief in oneself is not loud confidence, not an external shine, but a deep inner knowing: I am capable of being a source of support. A leader believes in their own strength and in the strength of others. They sense potential — both their own and that of those nearby — and can ignite that inner fire. This is what distinguishes a leader from simply a good performer: a leader inspires. They not only act, but awaken in others the desire to act.

There is no universal portrait of a leader. One leads through inspiration and speech, another through action, a third through quiet but steady care. Leadership doesn’t fit into a template because it is alive. However, there is one trait that unites true leaders: they can see in a person what that person does not yet see in themselves, and help it unfold. Such a leader does not drag others behind them but becomes a point of growth from which people move forward on their own.

Leadership is the shift from control to support. A manager tells you what to do. A leader asks: where do we want to go? They create a space where everyone feels their importance, responsibility, and opportunity to contribute. True leadership is not power, but service. A strong leader builds a system in which new leaders are born. They don’t build a hierarchy, but grow a community.

This is why leadership begins with education. Not with slogans, but with learning that teaches thinking, decision-making, and taking responsibility. The school of the future is not a place of rote memorization, but a space of awakening. A place where not only knowledge is given, but also experience — of teamwork, project work, co-creation. Where a child learns to see in themselves and in others not an object of assessment, but a source of strength and meaning.

To be a leader means not to strive for being first, but to create the conditions in which others can grow. In a world filled with true leaders, there is no division into leaders and followers — there is a shared movement where everyone matters, everyone contributes. It is not a competition, but a synergy. Where the strength of one amplifies the strength of another.

Leadership is not a given, but a path. A skill built on awareness, responsibility, and belief in people. It is the path of those who choose not just to act, but to inspire. Who see meaning not in control, but in the unfolding of potential. And each of us is capable of walking this path — if we are attentive to ourselves, honest with others, and open to growth. In a world where leaders are not appointed, but grown, real change becomes possible.