THE SKILLS OF THE LEADER
INTRODUCTION
It is not enough to have the right personal qualities to succeed as a leader. A good leader is also a skilled leader.
Most leadership research asks leaders what makes great leaders. That is an exercise in flattery which achieves little beyond soothing the outsized egos of a few CEOs. But for real insight you need a fresh perspective. In this case, the perspective came from interviewing not just the leaders, but their followers as well. What the leaders thought of themselves and what their followers thought were often very different, and not to the credit of the leader.
The results from thousands of followers around the world are fairly consistent. There are five consistent answers. Followers want a leader ...
