Preparing for Leadership.......

Just when i read in a book about some of the hallmarks of a great leader and posted them in this blog, I was reading Gautam Ghosh's blog gauteg.blogspot.com and was reading his 'preparing for leadership.... ' very interesting and thoughful read.... But most of the hallmarks of a great leader read by me suggest that most of these are sort of personality traits rather than on the job qualities... am sure this is a debating point by itself... in anycase would it be possible to pick up some one who lacks initiative and an ability to reskill his/herself and groom them for a leadership role...... I would request training and OD professionals to opine...