How to be an Inspirational Leader

WHAT CAN SIX LEADERS AT ?RSTED TEACH US ABOUT THE 'IDEAL' LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS?

In the Summer of 2020, I was emailed out of the blue by a student assistant who booked me in for a 1-2-1 having heard about me through a colleague. Intrigued and curious, I accepted. I then found out that this intrepid young woman had been booking 1-2-1s with 'inspirational people' across the company. By the end of her short stay, she had interviewed over 15 people, and secured herself two job offers.

And so the inspired became the inspiration.

My focus was on the mystery of corporate 'leadership' – is great leadership nature or nurture? What do great corporate leaders have in common? Could this be summarised in an easy-to-digest form?

The journey started when I asked my mentor who they thought was an example of a great leader in ?rsted. I then interviewed that leader and asked them two simple questions:

• What for you are good leadership characteristics?
• Who is a good example of a leader to you?

I then interviewed the leader they recommended, and so the daisy-chain continued until I had interviewed 6 people.

Why 6 and not 4 or 12 or some other number, I can't say. Nevertheless, 6 people were interviewed and here's what they had to say: