Leadership in supply chain management has become a hot topic over the last few years. Many supply chain executives visit the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) for recruiting, executive education, and other reasons, and it is a rare meeting where the topic of leadership (or really the lack thereof) does not come up. The issue usually surfaces in side conversations where supply chain executives lament the shortage of individuals in their organizations who possess leadership skills, both “hard” and “soft.”
From our discussions it’s clear that regardless of their industry, geography, or size, these executives are basically seeking answers to three key questions. Three Leadership Questions. The conversation usually opens with the question: Can leadership be learned or is it an inherited trait? Is there a leadership gene that enables certain individuals to be more effective leaders than others in all situations? Most executives I know agree with me that this is not the case and that leadership skills certainly can be learned. (It would be a very sad world indeed if this were not true.) If leadership was truly defined at birth, then companies should be recruiting their future leaders from kindergartens instead of grad schools. Read the full article here.