Can leadership be taught...?

Yes.

Leadership is taking people from point a to point b using various mechanisms.
I think these mechanisms be assimilated in a disciplined fashion thru training and the conscious effort to decode and re-code.

What differentiates born leaders from 'made' leaders is that the latter have to consciously inculcate what the former thinks/says/does 'naturally'. Thus, just a less talented cricketer can overcome his talent limitations, so can a less talented leader overcome his leadership limitations.

Who's to blame...?

They all contributed to the financial crisis - Wall St, Government, Regulators, and consumers on Main St.

Why did the Government promote home ownership as being so integral to the American dream (Fannie and Freddie being instruments of making it happen...) ? Didn't that cause hordes of citizens to aspire to buying and living in a home (that they couldn't afford at times)? And, of course, campaign contributions that may have forced them to turn a blind eye to potential laws that could have averted it.

Clearly, the regulators were too busy watching porn or being in bed with Wall St's army of banks and law firms to actually do their jobs and play watchdog. Incentive misalignment and all that - sure, but what about their sense of duty?

And, who asked Joe Blow on Main St to buy a home they could not afford? And, of course, get neck deep into debt just because Citibank or Capital One was giving them a credit card? It's simple mathematics - if you spend more than you earn, you will be in trouble. I guess they forgot the lessons their parents taught them.

Last, but not the least, Wall St - who plundered away billions of dollars (and millions of jobs, lives, blah blah) with complex financial instruments, manipulations and outright lying. Their defense is 'We were just responding to what we were incentivized to do'. Cute, but clearly at some point, they lost their sense of right and wrong. Probably, they never had that sense to begin with, right Mr. Gekko?

While everyone has had a role to play, among the lot, Wall St is the one that's getting the most of the rough end of the stick - at least as far as commentary goes. 'I hate Wall St' has become a very popular movement.

Unfair, says Wall St. But, I say its OK. It's this category that's the most mismatched in terms of role played and adverse material impact, i.e. they have had the least to lose for the influence they had on the crisis. Stated otherwise, the other parties played an equal role in causing the crisis, but are having to bear a bigger brunt in material terms (Ok, maybe not the Govt. per se).

While the above argument could be counter argued, all said and done - for once, its ok if Wall St happens to be the fall guy. After all, they make the most money for the least value added to society. So, screw 'em!!!

(That being said, Wall St has only had to face criticism - almost none of the honchos who precipitated the crisis have had to deal with any significant punishment. Bottomline - the common man has gotten screwed and perhaps will continue to get screwed.)

Tolerance...

In my mind, the most pressing issue facing humanity today is intolerance.
For centuries, there have been several characteristics, such as religion, color, caste, sexual orientation, nationality and race that have differentiated people. Heeding to their survival instincts, people of similar affiliations have clung together. Though this has helped to bring together and unite similar peoples, this has also served to deepen the chasm between different segments of society.

People have become more comfortable with individuals of their own color, religious affiliation or nationality and consequently, less tolerant of people who are ‘different’. Tribal clashes in Africa, the Arab-Israel conflict and the Cincinnati riots of 2001 bear testimony to the rise of intolerance. Intolerance results in negative emotions, thoughts and actions, which ultimately work to the detriment of society.

Intolerance breeds suppressed animosity towards people in the community and at the workplace. This has the effect of decreasing workplace productivity and generating an environment of apprehension in society, which in turn affects the peace of mind and quality of life of individuals.

Intolerance results in potential propagation of hate towards other peoples. Energies begin to be channeled towards activities that are destructive in nature. Such acts of violence that hamper people’s everyday lives and result in property and material losses have a huge impact on the economy of a nation.

Intolerance fosters further intolerance from target groups. When the majority begins to show poor tolerance levels towards the minority, the minority group retaliates with a similar measure of intolerance. Thus, society gets into a vicious cycle of negative emotions and drain of energy that can be constructively used for the progress of mankind.

Intolerance prevents us from looking at the big picture. It prevents us from thinking about the millions of underprivileged citizens of the world who have do not have access to two square meals a day, sufficient clothing and basic amenities such as drinking water and electricity. It dissuades us from harnessing the collective energy of men and women to work on initiatives to improve the quality of life of fellow human beings, a key facet of human existence.

Class struggle and consequently any struggle between peoples of different segments is inevitable. However, just by limiting the amount of time spent on antagonistic thoughts, emotions and actions, mankind has a lot to benefit. Hence, the need of the hour is to increase our tolerance levels in society.