This leads us to several important questions. Can you do anything to grow new leaders? Can leadership be taught? Can it be learned? If so, how?

Of course, there are legions of classes being offered on "leadership skills." But a five-day class, a personality inventory and a 360-degree evaluation will not inculcate the depth required to guide a smart, dedicated and, frankly, difficult technical staff.

In her new book, "Leadership Can Be Taught" (Harvard Business School Press, 2005), Sharon Daloz Parks captures the dynamic and difficult nature of guiding people to learn to lead. As part of her treatise, she documents the teaching of Ronald Heifetz of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, who has been evolving an effective approach for nearly two decades. The course he teaches is built around his book Leadership Without Easy Answers (Belknap Press, 1994).

The observations of both Daloz Parks and Heifetz resonate with my own thoughts about what it takes to learn to lead. Here are a few key ideas that you should consider if you plan to grow your own leaders.

Leadership lessons are best learned by reflecting on personal experiences and integrating that insight with theory. Just reading a book won't make anyone a great leader. But just looking in the mirror is an equally hollow basis for learning.