I'm often asked the question: Are Leaders born or are they developed? I usually answer that leaders are much like athletes-some have more natural talent than others. But, without practice, athlete or leader will fail.

All of our great leaders, whether they are social or business leaders, have natural talent and have spent many years of hard work developing their leadership skills. Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric and arguably one of the world's most effective corporate leaders, reportedly spends the bulk of his day on GE leadership issues. Although the pending acquisition of Honeywell may pull Welch's current attention away from leadership topics, he focused great energy in the 1990s on GE leadership development. Each April and May, Welch traveled to GE's various businesses to review the progress of the top 3,000 executives. He spent enormous amounts of time with top future GE leaders, reviewing outlined plans for their development and fine tuning detailed succession plans. Talent and hard work from the top leader.

Often we hear and read about the quality of GE's leadership bench. In GE's annual report of last year, under Leadership it read:

It's about the four "E's" we've been using for years as a screen to pick our leaders. "Energy": to cope with the frenetic pace of change. "Energize": the ability to excite, to galvanize the organization and inspire to action. "Edge": the self-confidence to make the tough calls with "yeses" and "noes" - and very few "maybes." And, "Execute": the ancient GE tradition of always delivering, never disappointing."

Are GE's leaders born with all these attributes? Of course not! It takes many years of practice - trial and error - to hone these skills to a fine edge. That's why many of America's major corporations spend time and financial resources moving individuals around the organization to engage in assignments that will help them grow as leaders-and prepare them for more important jobs and responsibilities.

As leaders ourselves, we can help with this preparation. Our job is to help the budding leader via a mentoring or coaching relationship.

Mentoring, the act of bringing someone in under your wing, can be very useful for an individual. However, mentoring is somewhat passive. It's characterized by showing concern, responding to questions, giving advice when sought, providing encouragement, and, of course, acting as a role model. Coaching, on the other hand, is more proactive. Coaching focuses on helping the individual analyze their performance; suggesting ways to improve performance; demonstrating patience, support, and encouragement; and even holding practice sessions prior to demanding tasks.

Through effective coaching, we help leaders achieve their highest potential-just as a coach can help an athlete achieve success. And, like athletes, leaders of all levels need to enhance their natural talent with practice.

As you spend the dog days of August contemplating how you can be an even more effective leader, think about those high potential individuals within your organization. If you were to provide some mentoring or coaching time, could their development be accelerated? This investment would probably be beneficial for the individual, the company, and you.

Now ask yourself... Am I a Leader?