Nature or Nurture -Our Upbringing Environment and Conditions

We are made by the choices we make in our life which is entirely dependent upon on the space we have with us. One becomes a leader due to this power of choice which is applicable for the people who are mentally fit.
Stephen Covey states in “The 8th Habit” that we are a product of our choice and not of nature or nurture as there is always a space between stimulus and response. If we use our power of choice based on our principles, our space for taking decisions and making choices increases. Some, like little children and mentally challenged people may not experience the space but a great majority of people do. The present day culture has deeply imbedded determinism reinforced by the frightening sense of being responsible for our actions if we have a free choice. A person must accept the fact and honestly say “I am what I am” and “I am where I am because I so choose to be there,” before he can say with conviction, “I choose other-wise.”
Are Leaders are born or made by environment conditioning and training? People have the power of choice because of the space that exists between stimulus and response. Therefore we can say that leaders are neither born nor made but are environmentally trained and nurtured. They are entirely self made by responses chosen by them. If the choices are based on principles and they develop discipline their freedom of choice increases. In the book Geeks and Ceezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders, authors Warren G Bennis and Robert J. Thomas demonstrate that leaders are made not born. Due to one intense transformational experience one makes his own choices and that makes him a leader. The leaders aren’t made or born; their leadership is a function of choices.
Our responses are based on the choices we make. Leaders are not born but made out of the choices they make and the principles have and they follow.
All the best,
John Meredith
The Learning Center - A UK partner of FranklinCovey

Tags: choices, environment, response, space