Searching leadership capabilities, attributes or characteristics, there are many views, whether you are a born leader, or whether those capabilities are developed and how best to develop them.

I have trawled through list upon list of the top leadership traits that all the different theories and websites say you must have and compiled a top ten, that appear on most lists, based on my findings which are:

1. Focus
2. Confidence
3. Communication
4. Responsibility
5. Vision
6. Honesty
7. Integrity
8. Inspirational
9. Empathy
10. Positive attitude

Interestingly enough none of the above are things that you learn at school, or university, I have not come across any workshops teaching them, they couldn’t go in any of the standard boxes on an application form for a job, skills, education, experience etc.

There are some leadership principles that list over 2000 attributes that make up a perfect leader. I believe that this list has been compiled because every situation is unique, to try and predict an attribute ideal to deal with every situation, you would indeed need thousands of characteristics or attributes

Dr Paul Hersey suggests in his book situational leaders that there is no best style of leadership, there is no one style fits all. I agree, you have to be adaptable and versatile and use your instinct in each and every situation. But isn’t everyone made up of thousands of attributes? I think so, we are all innately the same, we are all capable of showing compassion, we are all capable of communication, honesty, integrity, given the right environment, where a person feels secure and confident and is functioning well, they can easily access the right characteristic or attribute to deal with the situation appropriately. I believe this environment is coaching.

I don’t believe anyone comes out of the womb a leader, I think there is a percentage of nature and nurture and it probably varies from person to person. but working on the above figures of 1/3, that means that some children are born with a head start, they have certain tendencies towards being a leader, they then could be nurtured or coached from birth in way to further develop those attributes needed to be a good leader.

Coaching can give a person the right environment to work through any emotions that are affecting their decisions. We make decisions in the Limbic part of the brain, this is also the emotional head quarters, if our emotions are high, then our decisions will be affected. I have worked with many leaders that have been considering a situation at work and come to a conclusion based on some old, corrupt method of thinking, clouded by thought of situations in the past.

I see it as my job as a coach to recognise patterns, when someone is making a decision based on these old, contaminated feelings and thoughts, encouraging them think and possibly create a new learning or synapses. As in a solution-focussed approach, changing the viewing, can change the behaviours, which can change the outcome.

I would argue that a leader has a knowledge of their team and business that no one else has, I would suggest that every one has all their own answers, sometimes the stress and routine blocks access to their subconscious mind where all their creative, innovative, memories, all the data for the perfect problem solving light bulb moment, that is the exact fit for their specific situation.

Coaching is unique I think I need to give clients space to explore their thoughts in a safe relaxing environment that can lower the stress, get the neutrons firing and in turn help them have their own bespoke light bulb moments that fit their situation and business.

I think the odds can be against you or for you, you could be the son or daughter of a great leader, and you may be confident from an early age, you may be nurtured in an environment that helps you develop some more capabilities. This just means you have a head start.

All the capabilities on the list above can easily be developed, I have never had a client with no capabilities and developed them all, but I have certainly developed all those capabilities in various clients.

The beauty of coaching over other theories is that it empowers the individual to make decisions and develop in a way which is best for them. For I believe the subconscious mind is highly intelligent and it knows what is best for us at any given moment.

Coaching offers an autonomy, a versatility and adaptability that no other development offers. WE are all unique, our situations are unique and we may need a variety of the thousands of different capabilities, behaviours or traits . You may have 5 capabilities and need another 3, you may have 1 and need another 5, but the right coaching environment can develop them all.