Leadership: What Separates The Best From The Rest?

Leadership is a vital element of success in any organisation, and great leaders are crucial to achieving great results. But what makes a great leader? Is it a combination of inherent traits and learned skills, or is it a natural aptitude for inspiring and motivating others? In truth, the required traits for a great leader differ from organisation to organisation and depend on the individuals being led. In this blog the Fieri team give their opinion on the traits that make a great leader and suggest that the qualities of a great leader are different in every industry.

Harrie:

“A good leader should have the knowledge, not necessarily the experience – although that does help – to make the right decision, at the right time with the right person. I think a good leader can adapt to any situation that’s thrown their way. What I mean by that is a good leader isn’t always someone who is always very down the line and transactional, and it’s not someone who is always very coaching and transformational – it can someone who has the emotional intelligence to identify when they need to be either of those things for individual people in their team. That’s a difficult skill to learn.”

Ella:

“I really don’t take well if there is a lack of authenticity from a leader. Leaders need to be willing to serve. They know that they exist to empower and support their team, rather than putting themselves above the team. You’ve got to be a good role model and be on time and you need to have good and fair communication. Those are the main characteristics for me. People and leaders are our most important resource and if they’re not equipped with the right professional skills, knowledge and tools to succeed then the organisation won’t be as efficient as it can be.”

Adam:

“I worked at Buckingham Palace before joining Fieri, and it was amazing to work under Her late Majesty. She really showed me that a good leader doesn’t have to be the loudest person in the room, but actually the most powerful person in the room can treat those with the least power in the room with respect and humility and do so in a way that brings out the very best in them.”

Rich:

“Good leadership is about being authentic, and about caring about the people that you’re trying to lead. It has to be authentic, because trust is crucial to successful teams. Thinking about the leaders I’ve had – both good and bad – if I don’t feel that a leader really cares about me, then it can be harder to cohesively work for them.”

Kate:

“Getting to know your people is the most important step you can take as a leader. More than anything, leaders should be compassionate, and compassion is really key to knowing when it is appropriate to push your team, and when you need to give extra support. If you don’t know the people you lead you won’t be able to support, challenge and work with them the best way possible, so spend as much time with your team as possible. Humility is also really important. Leaders should understand that they are never going to know it all, and being able to ask your team for help is crucial. Curiosity, again, is really important, leaders should always be willing and ready to learn new things, especially from the team they’ve chosen to work with.”

An important point made by the entire Fieri team was that the qualities of extraordinary leaders can be natural qualities, but they can also be developed over time. Our whole team is dedicated to working with organisations all over the world to establish the expectations of leaders in their organisations, and working with them to develop those qualities in their leaders.

Interested in finding our how we can build extraordinary leaders in your organisation? Contact our team at: [email protected]