"Experience is the greatest teacher" - a beautiful sculpture is made out of being hit time and again by the sculptor.  Orelse, it is just a stone.  A "man" is made over a period of time.  Book give you the knowledge to understand and judge.  Working through that understanding and judgement makes a perfect professional.

 I agree. Thought leadership is a intellectual journey & growth , result of very concious and consistent efforts of an individual. And management education can train you in working towards that goal . It may not necessarily lead to one turning into a thought leader. But good exposure & proper training can work as useful tools in any area of life!

True leadership is gradual and more of experiential.

•   experiential learning system  can be adopted.
• No need to join a management institute  for formal mgt. education

A thought Leader is not just a professional . She is a person who is aware of the context in which she works , is sensitive to society's concerns , deeply cares about the well being of all and has an intensly personal point of view about " what can & needs to be done

How can the two questions about essentiality of management education, be derived out of the above statement?  In fact it teaches a management professional what extra qualities he/she has to inculcate in him/her.  And it just does not either support that a management education is necessary or unnecessary. 

If we go deeper, if we look at management as a profession, it says training in management could only be a part of the overall charater of a thought leader.  Rather, it says that a genuine thought leader need not strive hard to become a management professional too!!

If the statement was made to management professionals themselves (contextually), it says what you are at present is not enough but go and acquire much better traits!!

The attempt to draw attention to management education is fine but the effort could have been at least to find the right supportive statement!

Today I see this debate and I could not resist myself to participate in this. I understand from the debate article, whether formal education is required to become a leader.

As mentioned in the article few great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela etc. didn't go to management school but they were great leaders. I would like to say here that only going to management school can't make leaders. Lead ship can be acquired by doing lot of reading by himself. I think these guys have learned a lot during their upbringing and acquired a trait of a leader. 

Going to management school will harness you skill further. But leadership quality can be developed by reading, watching individual how they behave and learning experience of your childhood.

Just for an example a person who doesn't know about leadership will get lot of information about leadership through this article or through any other articles or books and start possessing quality of leadership. 

For thought leadership, formal management education is not necessary. A loving heart, compassion and  a strong will to serve people around are sufficient. I cite an example of one illiterate woman who rose to a prominent position in serving girijans in Nellore district in A.P. She belongs to Yanadi commuinty and women from this community mostly do maid - servant jobs. This lady, (Munemma), alive to the problems of lakhs of poor  women suffering from the alcoholic husbands, took up their cause and was succesful in getting thousands of liquour shops closed. She  is a great organiser and has amply demonstrated her leadership qualities and was instrumental in bringing many welfare measures for girijans. She made a thundering impact when she addressed educated woman leaders in a conference organised by Chiranjeevi's ( Telugu cine hero) Prajarajyam party recently at Hyderabad. In fact she is the first candidate, identified to contest in the forthcoming assembly elections from Prajarajyam party. 

Names of great leaders listed in the article like Dhirubhai Ambani, Mother Teresa & Mahatama Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln to name a few suggest that formal management education may not necessary to become a Thought Leader. Leadership is a personal trait and most of the times its not tought. Thought leader would already have the values described in this article. Gandhi didn't need to learn about care, love &  compession. They were part of his personality. Each year so many graduates successfully pass out from management institute including famed IIMs. A large number of those become good managers but only a few go out and provide leadership in their chosen field.

Management education teaches about correct application of management tools that would help a thought leader to use it to its maximum effet.