Leadership Theory and Practice Leadership can be learned, it just takes a willing student. In order for leadership to be taught, is it necessarily necessary to teach? According to Capowski, leaders are created; it just requires commitment and hard work. It is argued that multiple leaders were created by chance, circumstance, individual will or sheer determination, but did these leaders acquire their knowledge or skills through a cognitive approach or through any form of theoretical knowledge?. Allio (2005) postulates that the cognitive approach to leadership is a less outcome-oriented way of developing leaders. He believes that leadership schools only present historical accounts of leadership theory, new ways of leadership, and leader traits/virtues, but his thesis is that these cognitive experiences do not exactly teach aspiring leaders “how to lead.” As my brothers teased me in the early days, watching mom make soup or read cookbooks doesn't mean she knows how to cook; cooking is practical. Allio (2005) states that these leadership programs and schools fail from the start as they fail to actually describe the role of a leader. As stated in the February 2007 Harvard Business Review, no one can be authentic by trying to be like someone else, "you can learn from the experiences of others but you cannot succeed when you try to be like them." This means that authentic leadership is personal. It has much more to do with the aspiring leader than the teacher or role model. A leader is someone who is committed and determined to get the best out of himself by acquiring the right leadership characteristics and applying them correctly. Leade's effectiveness or otherwise...... middle of paper ......nd lives of other leaders, past and present. Other models such as simulation, on-the-job training, mentoring with outcome measurement, and trial-and-error methods. References Allio, R.J. (2005) Leadership development: teaching versus learning, Management Decision, 43 (7/8), pp. 1071–1077. [online] available at: https://brainmass.com/file/365598/Leadership_development_%5B1%5D.pdf. accessed 14 May 2014Northouse, PG (2013) Leadership: theory and practice 6th ed. London: Sage.Leadership Theories and Styles (2009); IAAP Administrative Professionals Week Event 2009 [Online] available from: http://www.etsu.edu/ahsc/documents/Leadership_Theories.pdf Accessed March 29, 2014 George, B. et al (2007) Harvard Business Review: Alla discovering your authentic leadership. pp 1-10 [online] available at: http://www.aawccnatl.org/assets/authentic%20leadership.pdf. Accessed May 14 2014