What makes a great leader...?

This morning I had the privilege to join the panel at an ICAEW breakfast event to discuss the 'business of skills' and amongst other things, what makes a great leader?

Skills and specifically the skills gap is a much debated topic around boardroom tables, within educational establishments and also in the national press.

Questions for consideration include:

1. Are the skills we're prioritising and developing today fit for the future?
2. Are our educational establishments creating the skills that business wants and needs?
3. Are businesses cultivating and developing the skills of their existing workforce?

All important questions, which were pitched at the panel during the session.

However question that sparked the most debate was whether leadership skills can be taught and furthermore, what makes a great leader?

The panel included myself, Dawn Conneely (Director at Capital One), Paul Caulfield (MBA Programmes Leader at Nottingham Trent University), and was expertly chaired by Sophie Dale-Black (Regional Director ICAEW Midlands).

Can leadership skills be taught?

Interestingly we all differed in our thoughts on the first question on whether leadership can be taught.

Indeed, there is a challenge here, as leadership is a difficult thing to quantify. One person's definition of leadership could be very different to someone else's. With varying interpretations in meaning, it becomes a difficult subject to teach, and in attempting to do this we inevitably draw on real-world examples of great leaders, many of whom were one-off individuals who varied in their own personal styles of leadership.

Take for example Sir Richard Branson, the charismatic leader of Virgin, compared to Howard Schultz, the more reserved less public-facing figure of Starbucks. Both very different styles, but both extremely effective in their own way, evidenced by their dominating global brands.

My personal view is that leaders are born and that leadership is not something that can be taught. It's complex, experiential and personal to the individual leader. It's either within you or it's not and with the right cultivation or opportunity it has the chance to bear fruit.

With that said what makes a great leader?

In my experience, three distinct character traits are evident in all great leaders:

1. They are visible at the front. They don't expect others to do what they wouldn't do themselves. They're a living, breathing example of the culture in the organisation they wish to create.
2. They are great communicators with the ability to get the best out of people, even when there are differences of opinion.
3. They have unwavering belief and the ability to create and hold the vision of the organisation even at times when this becomes very difficult to do. In manifesting this vision they often take a different and innovative approach to situations and in doing so create a new way of thinking and doing.

There are numerous examples of people displaying these traits. Many will be in the public domain and immediately spring to mind when the topic of great leadership is discussed, but many will not and instead existing under the radar of public acclaim.

In my opinion one of the UK's greatest leaders (and the subject of a recent TV programme) is Lord Horatio Nelson. Anyone given their own statue in central London in a square named after their most famous battle deserves this accolade, but what made Lord Nelson so great?

1. He always led from the front. In battle he led the charge and would always be visible on the deck of his ships in the heat of battle. Nelson set the standard and others followed.
2. Ahead of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 he held a dinner on HMS Victory for the commanders of the British fleet. Few knew each other and were advocates of a very traditional approach to naval warfare, which Nelson knew would not win the day against the Franco-Spanish fleet. In a short space of time he united them behind a common vision and innovative new strategy (see point 3).
3. Nelson instilled belief in his commanders and their crews that victory was certain. He united all in this belief and created an unwavering determination to prevail no matter how difficult things got. What's more, he ripped up the rule book on how naval warfare was carried out and risked a court-martial in doing so. Instead of lining up alongside the enemy fleet, which was the conventional way of fighting, he instructed a pincer movement to punch through their line.

Trafalgar was to be Nelson's last battle, but his legacy endures to this day.

So, I'm curious – what are your thoughts on leadership? Do you think leadership can be taught? Who would you describe as a great leader and why?

Please feel free to leave a comment below.

For support, training and coaching, please visit: https://careercodex.com