What Do Leaders Really Do? E-Book

Jeff Grout

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 347

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

What Do Leaders Really Do?

An enormous range of literature on leadership and management theory has been produced over the years, some of it highly academic and much of it contradictory. What Do Leaders Really Do? takes the basis of the best-known management theories to see how they fit with the practical reality of leadership. How do leaders spend their time? Are they really preoccupied with strategy, vision and inspiring people? Do they lead by accident, or design? The book challenges the assumption that leaders are born, not made and explores the theory that female leaders are fundamentally different from their male counterparts.

What Do Leaders Really Do? looks into the everyday working lives of well-known leaders in a variety of fields - business, sport and the armed forces - in order to identify the elements that encourage people to follow where they lead. Drawing on the experiences of a wide range of leaders with varying backgrounds and roles, as well as a range of respected academics and management writers, this book will closely analyze the background, experiences and behavior of a diverse set of leaders. A central part of the analysis will be a detailed examination of what these leaders do on a day-to-day basis.

It is not a book about management theory but an accessible, no-nonsense guide to those theories and how they translate to real life. Many people lead effectively without knowing how they do it; this book will isolate and identify the core skills and behavior displayed by effective leaders.

What Do Leaders Really Do? is intended to be a refreshing alternative to the hundreds of academically-oriented leadership books that are available. The tone will be straight-forward, accessible and sometimes humorous, rich with first-person evidence and anecdotes. It will dissect popular leadership theory into the easily understandable basics, with reference to the practicalities of real-life leadership situations. After all, what good is theory if it doesn't work in practice?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgements

PART ONE

Chapter 1 - Characteristics of Leadership

THE CHARISMA QUESTION

A SUBSTITUTE FOR CHARISMA

LEADERSHIP BY OSMOSIS

Chapter 2 - Background

THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILY LIFE

EDUCATION

LEARNING LEADERSHIP

CAREER PROGRESSION

Chapter 3 - Influences

THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTS

THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS

THE INFLUENCE OF BOSSES

MENTORS AND MENTORING

PART TWO

Chapter 4 - Vision

CREATING THE VISION

COMMUNICATING THE VISION

LONG OR SHORT TERM?

Chapter 5 - Decision-making and Risk

MILITARY MISSION ANALYSIS

RISK AND THE MILITARY

RISK AND BUSINESS LEADERS

Chapter 6 - Mistakes and Setbacks

LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

ANALYSING FAILURE AND SUCCESS

Chapter 7 - Change Management

WHY DO MOST CHANGE INITIATIVES FAIL?

COMMUNICATING CHANGE

CULTURE CHANGE

EARLY DAYS, QUICK WINS

PART THREE

Chapter 8 - Empathetic and Authentic Leadership

EMPATHETIC LEADERSHIP

CARING LEADERSHIP

SENSING MOOD

DELIVERING BAD NEWS

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP

THE STORIES PEOPLE TELL

VISIBILITY

KEEP YOUR DISTANCE

Chapter 9 - Motivation, Inspiration and Morale

CELEBRATING SUCCESSES

MORALE

INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP

THE ROLE OF ORATION

Chapter 10 - Choosing and Building a Team

THE POWER OF DIVERSITY

TRUST

DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS

PREPARING FOR SUCCESS

TEAMSHIP RULES AND PROFESSIONALISM

TEAM SPIRIT

Chapter 11 - Communication

TOO MUCH TALK?

AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION

HONESTY AND INTEGRITY

COMMUNICATING OUTSIDE THE COMPANY

DEALING WITH THE MEDIA

Chapter 12 - Looking After No 1

CREATING SPACE TO THINK

SELF-IMPROVEMENT AND LEARNING

RECOMMENDED READING

LEADERSHIP AND LIFELONG LEARNING

KNOWING WHEN TO QUIT

FINAL THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

Appendix - Some popular leadership theories and models

Bibliography and Further Reading

Index

Every now and again a new book comes along which really does add something new to our understanding of what leadership is and what it really means. This is one of those books. The interviews are excellent and we get to understand leadership in new ways from those that are leaders rather than those who just write about them.

David C M Carter - Chairman, Merryck & Co. The world’s leading CEO mentoring organization

I found this book very accessible and full of insightful thoughts on leadership and success. Jeff Grout and Liz Fisher have spoken with an interesting array of proven and successful leaders who have provided the authors with a unique understanding of how they have led others to success in their various fields of endeavour.

Michael Lynagh - Former Australia Rugby Captain

This highly readable book provides a fascinating insight into the influences, experiences and approaches of a diverse group of leaders. Its highly practical approach will appeal to those who are allergic to management models and leadership theory. It confirms that success as a leader comes from being yourself.

David Taylor - Author of The Naked Leader

What Do Leaders Really Do? confirms that there is no single recipe for leadership.The featured leaders have found what has worked for them. Our originalHBR article ‘Why should anyone be led by you?’ concluded with the recommendationto leaders ‘Be yourself - with skill’. That is much harder than it looks.These successful leaders have worked hard at developing their leadership skills.

Professor Gareth Jones - Co-author of Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?

What Do Leaders Really Do? is relevant to anyone who finds themselves in a leadership position. Rather than theorize, it examines the practical realities of leadership and offers real insight from an impressive array of leaders. A great book to recharge your batteries as a leader!

Sahar Hashemi - Co-founder of Coffee Republic

Accessibility is the difference between a useful book and one that just sits on the shelf unread. This book is very accessible and has the added advantage of an impressive and diverse group of leaders offering a variety of practical approaches that demonstrate the key elements of effective leadership.

Dr Chris Brady - Professor of Management Studies and Dean of the Business School at Bournemouth University and author of The 90 Minute Manager

This is a book about experiences. Thankfully, it is not telling us to ‘do’ anything. In other words, it is not a ‘must do/should do’ tract of management speak. It offers insights and philosophies from people who have been in significant leadership positions. I personally found it helpful to check off some of the strengths and weaknesses I have, and simply reflect on the way others approach similar situations that I face. I spent half the time reading and the other half asking myself challenging questions!

Adrian Moorhouse - Chief Executive and Co-founder of Lane 4 Management Group The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to work for 2007 - ‘Best for Leadership’ award

Through in-depth discussions with key leaders this book captures the personal subtleties and sensitivities of dynamic leadership that business school text books overlook.

Professor Richard Scase - Author of Global Re-Mix

This is a book that allows you to share experience of leadership in a much wider sense than purely business. You should keep this ‘experience’ at hand to dip in and out of on a regular basis and you will always find something new and motivational.

Paul Walker - CEO Sage Group

The strength of this book is that it concentrates on living examples of great (and not so great) leadership. For anyone who really wants to understand what effective, practical leadership looks like this is the book to read.

Graham Wallace - Former CEO Cable & Wireless

Oh no, not another book on leadership, I thought! But this one’s different. JeffGrout and Liz Fisher have talked to some genuinely fascinating people - a bookon leadership that won’t be gathering dust on your bookshelf.

Des Gunewardena - Chairman & CEO D&D London (formerly Conran Restaurants)

A very readable book about real leaders in real situations. A refreshing antidote to the usual management textbooks.

Suzzane Wood - Partner Heidrick & Struggles, The world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services

Copyright © Jeff Grout and Liz Fisher 2007

First published 2007 by Capstone Publishing Ltd. (a Wiley Company) The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, PO19 8SQ, UK.www.wileyeurope.com Email (for orders and customer service enquiries): [email protected] The right of Jeff Grout and Liz Fisher to be identified as the authors of this book has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, England, or emailed to [email protected], or faxed to ([phone].

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Grout, Jeff .

What Do Leaders Really Do? Getting under the skin of what makes a great leader tick/ Jeff Grout and Liz Fisher. p. cm.

Includes index.

eISBN : 978-1-907-29352-8

PS3602.U733L54 2007

813’.6—dc22 2006041314

eISBN : 978-1-907-29352-8

Anniversary Logo Design: Richard J Pacifico

Typeset by Sparks in 11 pt Dutch (www.sparks.co.uk)

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

This book is printed on acid-free paper responsibly manufactured from sustainable forestry in which at least two trees are planted for each one used for paper production. Substantial discounts on bulk quantities of Capstone Books are available to corporations, professional associations and other organizations. For details telephone John Wiley & Sons on ([phone], fax [phone] or email [email protected]

Foreword by Martin Glenn

Why do we need another book on leadership? If there is one area of management that is not short of advice from all quarters, it is leadership skills. There are hundreds of thousands of leadership titles in circulation at any one time - put ‘leadership books’ into an internet search engine and you will get over a quarter of a million hits. But if there are so many good books available on leadership, why are so many of today’s leaders still not up to the job?

The vast majority of leadership books fall into one of two categories, which, in my view, is why so many fail. The first category is what I would call quasi-academic, approaching the subject from too academic a standpoint and trying to force the facts of practical leadership into a unifying theory. The second is the leadership memoir which, with some exceptions, is often little more than congratulatory self-justification.

Anyone who has found themselves in any form of leadership role - which, I would argue, covers anyone who has raised a child through to the chief executive of a multinational corporation - knows that leadership is a life skill. It is a craft and not a science. How do people develop good craft skills? While some of the basic principles can be taught in the classroom, ultimately you learn through observation, emulation and practice. That is why this book is so necessary.

In putting together this book, the authors have asked craftsman’s questions. They have observed and questioned and while they look for commonalities in the leadership approach of this diverse collection of leaders, they are never distracted by the need to fit all of the observations into neat conclusions.

I imagine that all of the leaders who were interviewed for this book found it an extremely useful experience. I know I did. It is inevitable that, given our busy lives, few of us have ever taken the time to think through and analyse what we do every day. For me as a leader, sitting down and thinking carefully about the things that drive my own approach to leadership was a valuable process.

The results of the research in this book should also provide anyone in a position of responsibility with the opportunity to engage in the leadership debate on an entirely different level. It offers great condensed learnings and the views and experiences of a wonderfully eclectic mix of people from a wide variety of fields. Above all, their experiences show clearly that every leader is different and that the best recognize their strengths and weaknesses and adapt their leadership style accordingly.

There is no single, magical recipe for successful leadership. The best leaders have a portfolio of styles and skills and the instinct to know when to use them. Good leadership means knowing when the time is right to change gear.

Introduction

The world of management has, in the words of Financial Times journalist Richard Donkin, a fixation on leadership that borders on obsession. But the business world is not alone in its fascination. On any given day the media surrounds us with stories of outstanding, indifferent or poor leadership in sport, politics, education, the military and any other number of situations.

Leaders are inevitably praised when things go right and invariably vilified when things go wrong. Everything, it seems, from sporting success to the collapse of a society, can be traced back to good or bad leadership. It is hardly surprising then, that we have developed an obsession with what it takes to be a successful leader. Fortune magazine, in identifying America’s most admired companies, made the point that there is no one determining factor that makes a company admirable. But, if forced to search for an answer, most people would plump for leadership. As the American financier and businessman Warren Buffet once said, ‘People are voting for the artist and not the painting.’

Management literature is rife with theories about the essential qualities of an effective leader. Equally numerous are the theories of what leadership actually means. These vary from the infuriatingly vague (‘Managers are people who do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing’) to the straightforwardly simplistic (‘Leaders press for change’).

It seems that today’s leaders need to meet an ever-growing list of skills and personal characteristics in order to be considered effective. Inevitably this list will include words such as ‘passion’, ‘commitment’, ‘vision’ and that most elusive of all, ‘charisma’. But, as Professor Brian Morgan of the University of Wales Institute School argues, ‘despite the ease with which these characteristics are listed in textbooks, in practice things are not quite this simple. There is no consistent list of descriptors that can help us identify outstanding leaders.’

Leadership may be an elusive concept but surely it cannot be that mysterious. After all, many people do it every day, in every walk of life.

This led us to ask, but what do leaders really do? How many of today’s leaders match up to the academic ideal? Does their behaviour as leaders correspond in any way to the various leadership models and theories? Do their everyday actions conform, consciously or unconsciously, to the predetermined standards we set for them? Do any of them take any notice of what a leader ‘should’ be?

Our research has been heavily influenced by writers who have concentrated on practical observation of leadership, such as John Kotter, and by the work of Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, authors of Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?, who argue that the best leaders are ‘authentic chameleons’ who adapt their behaviour according to circumstances, but remain true to themselves throughout. This view is born from our discussions with the leaders in this book. Each had different personalities and different strengths and weaknesses but had learned, generally through trial and error, how to get the best out of their people and their organization.

The results of our research are a fascinating insight into the minds of a set of leaders from a wide range of fields. What struck us the most was how many of these people were instinctive leaders, with little or no formal training and very little reference to any form of leadership thought or literature. They just did what they felt was right. Some even found it difficult to accept what they do as leadership, as Sebastian Coe told us: ‘I never, ever think of myself as a leader. I just do what I do.’

Others modestly take the view that their role is unimportant as long as the organization is functioning well. Gail Rebuck of Random House says, rather disarmingly, that she ‘doesn’t do anything’ as a leader. ‘My job is only to think and occasionally act as trouble shooter.’ The rugby player Martin Johnson echoes this view: ‘Being captain is almost like a managing director’s role. If the team is working well you don’t really need to do anything much.’

Effective leaders, in other words, are able to get their organization to a position where it is able to run smoothly with the minimum of intervention from the top. Dame Stella Rimington, who was the first female director-general of MI5, puts this view very clearly:

‘There are actually very few things, if you analyse and put them all into boxes, that a leader does. But from the leader flows everything. He or she dictates the culture of the organization and its direction. Leadership also means looking ahead to see where the next challenge is coming from. And that, actually, is all you have to do.’

These leaders recognize, though, that with success comes the danger of complacency. As Ron Dennis, the chairman and CEO of McLaren says, ‘the biggest barrier to continued success, is continued success’. A good leader is constantly pushing their organization and their people to be the best that they can be. Charles Dunstone, CEO of the Carphone Warehouse told us that he saw his main role as leader of the company as ‘to be unreasonable’:

‘Big organizations tend to become more and more reasonable as they grow. The IT project may run £2 million over budget and may be eight weeks late on delivery, but the view is that everyone will be paid so it’s not the end of the world. That’s not good enough. I’m not a tyrant but I try to push the business to do better than it thinks it can and never to take the easy option. I love the quote that Roger Bannister gave when he ran the four-minute mile when he was asked how he had managed to do it. He said that it was about the ability to take more out of yourself than you have got to give. That’s what you try to do as the leader of a business.’

Above all, the leaders we spoke to all have a common characteristic: an unbridled passion for what they do. ‘I know what I want. I want to make a difference in sport,’ Sue Campbell, the chair of UK Sport told us. ‘I want to make a difference in a world that I understand, and which has made a difference for me.’

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We could not have written this book without the help of many people. Particular thanks go to Gareth Jones, Fellow of the Centre for Management Development at London Business School and co-author of Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?, and Professor Graham Jones, co-founder of the business consultancy Lane 4, who both provided invaluable guidance during our research, and Professor Brian Morgan, director of the Creative Leadership and Enterprise Centre at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.

We would also like to thank the 17 leaders who provided their time and support in sharing their experiences of leadership for the book:

• Sue Campbell CBE was appointed Reform Chair of UK Sport in September 2003 and confirmed as chair of the high-performance sports agency for a four-year term in March 2005. A former member of the England women’s netball team and manager of the England women’s basketball team, she was chief executive of the National Coaching Foundation between 1985 and 1995 and chief executive of The Youth Sport Trust between 1995 and 2005. Sue was elected chair of the Youth Sport Trust in 2005.

• Sebastian Coe (Baron Coe) is chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. During his career as an athlete he set 12 world records and won 11 gold medals at major championships, including two Olympic golds. On his retirement from athletics, he was elected a Conservative MP and was Private Secretary to William Hague. He was appointed chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Bid Committee in 2004.

• Nasser Hussain was captain of the England cricket team for 45 test matches between 1999 and 2003.

• Martin Johnson CBE led the England rugby team to its historic World Cup win in 2003. While he was captain of the Leicester Tigers, the team won back-to-back Heineken Cup victories and won the league six times. He was named captain of England in 1998 and has captained the British Lions on two separate tours.

• Sir Clive Woodward OBE coached the England rugby team to its World Cup win in Australia in 2003. During his rugby career he played for Leicester Tigers, gained 21 caps for England and toured twice with the British Lions, while also forging a successful career at Rank Xerox and later launching his own leasing business. He was appointed coach to the England team in 1997 and was head coach for the British Lions tour to New Zealand in 2005. In 2006 he was appointed Director of Elite Performance at the British Olympic Association.

• Charles Dunstone founded, with David Ross, the mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse in 1989 and is chief executive of the multinational company.

• Ron Dennis CBE is chairman and chief executive of the McLaren Group and principal of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. Dennis was chief mechanic to Sir Jack Brabham before launching his own racing team in the 1970s. The company’s merger with Team McLaren marked the beginning of a highly successful racing career, including seven constructors’ and nine drivers’ world championships.

• Greg Dyke was director-general of the BBC between 2000 and 2004, when he resigned in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry. He started his broadcasting career in London Weekend Television before moving to TV-am, where he was instrumental in reviving the show’s ratings. He was appointed director of programmes at TVS before returning to LWT before its acquisition by Granada.

• Martin Glenn was appointed CEO of the Birds Eye Iglo Group in November 2006. A marketing specialist, he joined Walkers Snack Foods in 1992, becoming president in 1998, before becoming President of PepsiCo UK, one of the UK’s leading soft drinks and snack food manufacturers, in 2003.

• Heather Rabbatts CBE worked as a barrister before moving into local government. She was chief executive of the London Borough of Merton before rising to prominence as chief executive of the London Borough of Lambeth authority between 1995 and 2000. On leaving Lambeth she founded and was chief executive of iMPower, a public sector consultancy, and was later managing director of 4Learning, Channel 4’s education programmes and business. Rabbatts was appointed executive deputy chair of Millwall FC in May 2006 and executive chair of Millwall Holdings plc in October 2006. She is a former governor of the BBC, and current non executive director of the Bank of England and of the UK Film Council.

• Gail Rebuck CBE is chair and chief executive of Random House, one of the UK’s leading trade publishing companies with over 40 imprints and publisher of many of the world’s best known authors. She was founder director of Century Publishing, which merged with Hutchinson in 1985 before being acquired by Random House Inc. in 1989 and Bertelsmann in 1998. She was a member of the government’s Creative Industries Task Force and is currently a Trustee of the Work Foundation, a member of the Council of the Royal College of Art and a non executive director of BSkyB.

• Kevin Roberts is worldwide chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi. Born in Lancaster, he began his career as brand director to Mary Quant in the 1960s, before moving on to Gillette, Procter & Gamble and Pepsi Cola. He was chief operating officer at Lion Nathan Breweries in New Zealand before joining Saatchi & Saatchi in 1997. He is CEO in residence at The Judge Business School at Cambridge University and chairman of the USA rugby board.

• Dame Stella Rimington was director-general of MI5 between 1992 and 1996. She was the first head of the service to be named publicly on her appointment and during her tenure she oversaw a new policy of openness at the service. She joined MI5 in India in 1967 and during her career worked in counter-espionage, counter-subversion and counter-terrorism. She was appointed to one of two deputy director-general positions in 1990.

• Major General Patrick Cordingley commanded the 7th Armoured Brigade Group (the Desert Rats) during the first Gulf War in 1991. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his courage and leadership.

• Field Marshal Peter Inge (Lord Inge) was chief of the general staff between 1992 and 1994. He became chief of defence staff in 1994 until his retirement in 1997. During his army career he was Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Green Howards, serving in Northern Ireland and Germany. He was Director General, Logistics Policy at the Ministry of Defence and Commander of NATO’s Northern Army Group. He became a privy councillor in 2004 and was a member of the Butler Committee.

• Colonel Bob Stewart DSO commanded the 1st Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment and was the first British Commander under UN command in Bosnia between 1992 and 1993. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and later became Chief of Policy at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

• Commander Nigel ‘Sharkey’ Ward DSC AFC commanded the 801 Naval Air Squadron (based in HMS Invincible) during the Falklands War in 1982 and was senior Sea Harrier adviser to the Command on the tactics, direction and progress of the air war. He flew over 60 war missions, shot down three enemy aircraft and was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry.

PART ONE

Chapter 1

Characteristics of Leadership

I have no special gift. I am only passionately curious.

Albert Einstein

What does it take to be a leader? What skills, strengths and personality traits do you need? Leadership literature is certainly not shy on suggestions - and you can guarantee that words such as ‘charisma’, ‘determination’, ‘commitment’, ‘passion’ and ‘vision’ will crop up frequently. But, as Brian Morgan of Cardiff Business School points out, in practice things are never that simple. ‘There is no consistent list of descriptors that will help us identify outstanding leaders,’ he says. Morgan quotes the views of the business theorist Peter Drucker on entrepreneurs: ‘Some are eccentrics, others conformists; … some are worriers, some relaxed; … some drink quite heavily, some are total abstainers; … some are people of great charm and warmth … some have no more personality than a frozen mackerel.’

Drucker’s entertaining observation is equally true of leaders. As Martin Glenn says, there is no right or wrong way to lead, there are just different ways.

‘When I first got into management I used to think about the right way to behave and I think that came from a lack of self-confidence. The conclusion I’ve come to over the years is not that anything goes, but that there are a vast variety of effective leadership styles. There is no cookie cutter for leadership.’

Goffee and Jones agree with this view: ‘Books on leadership persistently try to find a recipe for leadership,’ they write.1 ‘Beleaguered executives are invited to compare themselves with lists of leadership competences and characteristics - against which they always find themselves wanting … In our view, there are no universal leadership characteristics. What works for one leader will not work for another.’

The leaders we spoke to would agree. All had contrasting views about the characteristics that make for a great or successful leader. Honesty, integrity and moral courage were words that cropped up frequently. As Charles Dunstone, chief executive and co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse puts it: ‘There’s quite a lot of bullshit written about leadership but at its core, leadership is about integrity. If people believe in you and what you are trying to do, they will follow you. If they don’t, they won’t.’

Leaders consistently make the point that they can form a clear vision and have all the skills necessary to communicate their plans throughout the organization, but they will get nowhere unless people recognize that they believe in what they are doing. ‘Underpinning everything is your values, it is what drives you,’ says Sue Campbell, chair of UK Sport. ‘Your sense of fairness and honesty.’

This viewpoint reappears over and over, irrespective of the field in which the leaders operate. Nasser Hussain, who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, says that honesty is ‘absolutely key’ to good leadership. ‘Players have to believe in you and trust you in order to play for you. Michael Atherton [who captained the side when Hussain first joined the team] was as honest as anything and I would have played for him forever.’ Military leaders make this point most forcefully, saying that morale is the first thing to suffer if soldiers are not convinced that their cause is right and that their leaders are fully committed to it. ‘It’s terribly important that you believe in what you are doing and what you are asking your people to do,’ says Major General Patrick Cordingley. Field Marshal Lord Inge agrees, saying that the soldiers have to trust in the ability of their commander and in his belief in them. They also have to trust that in the event of war, the leader will not put their lives unnecessarily at risk. Kevin Roberts, the worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, describes the business world equivalent as ‘loyalty beyond reason’.

Closely linked to this need for integrity and belief in the shared vision of the organization, is passion. ‘You need to have passion about you,’ says Nasser Hussain. ‘That might mean wearing your heart on your sleeve, as I did, or having an iron fist in a velvet glove, which is the Michael Vaughan way. Outwardly he is smiling but inwardly he has a great passion to make things happen.’ Gail Rebuck of Random House says that ‘100% commitment to the organization is absolutely essential; a passion for what you are doing’. Lord Inge characterizes this phenomenon of good leaders simply as ‘love’ for their organization:

‘When I left the army I joined the board of Racal Electronics, which was run by a remarkable man called Ernie [Sir Ernest] Harrison. He loved Racal. I think he was the 15themployee ever to join the company, and he clearly loved it. As well as having a detailed knowledge of how the City worked, how the products worked and how the organization worked, he clearly loved Racal and I think that’s very important. If someone is in a company only to make money, it won’t be a great comfort to anyone who works there.’

One of the most challenging aspects of leadership for many people is striking the right balance between making decisions as a leader and encouraging a creative atmosphere in an organization where innovation and ideas can develop. Inevitably, this will involve developing a working environment where people feel able to question and challenge decisions. ‘Leadership is about not taking yourself too seriously, in my view,’ says Colonel Bob Stewart. ‘It means understanding that even the most humble person can help you, and can lead too.’

Colonel Stewart tells of the advice his father, a Royal Air Force officer, gave him when he was about to enter Sandhurst for officer training at the age of 17.

‘I was terrified about what I was about to go through and overawed by everything I saw. As I approached the Grand Entrance Dad said to me, “Remember, Robert, the Queen gets diarrhoea and always looks downwards before you look up”. That’s leadership in one sentence, in my view. It describes how an officer and a leader should behave. You engender enthusiasm, confidence and trust by clearly backing your subordinates.’

Many leaders make the point that one of the fundamental requirements of a good leader is that he or she is good at the underlying job, and not just at leadership itself. Major General Patrick Cordingley makes the point that even if a leader is not actually doing what he is asking his followers to do, it stands to reason that he has to understand exactly what he is asking of them.

‘It sounds ridiculous but if you are a brigade commander of 150 armoured tanks, you have to know how they work. You will have an adviser alongside you but you still have to be an expert in the range of the guns and how they fire. And when you come to a minefield and a sapper tells you that it is 100 yards wide and looks as though it has anti-tank mines, you have to know how you get through it. You have to have all of that knowledge, you really do.’

The fighter pilot, Sharkey Ward, adds that it is vital, in his sphere, to be good at the job. ‘You can still be a leader if you’re not, but it makes life a whole lot easier if you are top notch.’

Sporting captains are, of course, on the field because of the quality of their own playing talents. Nasser Hussain says that he was told by the selectors after being appointed captain to make sure that he looked after his own game. ‘There’s nothing better than having your leader out there, fighting from the front and getting runs himself,’ he says.

Decision-making lies at the heart of any leader’s role (Ron Dennis, chief executive of McLaren, argues that taking decisions is the leader’s primary function). Martin Glenn believes that this demands the clarity of thought that characterizes a good leader. ‘It is possible to have leadership in chaos but it’s hardly ideal,’ he says. ‘You have to be able to simplify complex situations so you can create a hierarchy of things that are important.’ Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, agrees: ‘You do need a clear mind. One of the dangers of being a leader is that you can get cluttered up with things. You have to be able to sort out the important stuff with clarity from everything that is coming at you.’ Keeping sight of this vision while an organization copes with the change that inevitably goes on around and within it is a constant challenge for today’s leaders, demanding flexibility and foresight as well as a steely resolve and a willingness to take risks. It is also why leaders can be in a painfully lonely position.

John Kotter argues that while management is about coping with complexity, leadership is about coping with change. ‘Management is about doing things right. Management is survival,’ agrees Kevin Roberts of Saatchi & Saatchi. ‘If all you do is management, you will survive but that does not provide competitive advantage in today’s environment.’

The distinction between management and leadership is a key issue in understanding what makes a good leader. According to Professor Brian Morgan of the University of Wales Institute, leadership and management are different and distinctive but they share some complementary skills. Both are necessary to run complex organizations but the key difference is that management is about planning, coordinating and putting appropriate performance systems in place. Leadership, on the other hand, is about being visionary, proactive and anticipating change - or even responding positively to change. Managers can be inspirational but leaders create the capacity for people to do something different - to do more than they would normally do.

These skills are harder to pin down and the leaders we spoke to put forward a number of different theories. ‘A leader has to have perspective on the business, and has to be able to see around corners,’ says Martin Glenn. ‘A leader also should be able to challenge convention and be open-minded and creative. Should you always take rules literally?’ Colonel Bob Stewart agrees that leadership is about ‘challenging the status quo. Don’t just accept the rules. If the rules say it can’t be done, bend them or change them. A leader is someone who makes things happen and takes risks.’

It is an interesting reflection of the more ‘modern’ style of leadership that is prevalent today - empathetic and authentic leadership, rather than the command and control model - that many of the leaders identified emotional skills as one of their key characteristics of leadership. ‘I think leadership is more about emotion than it is about logic,’ is the view of Field Marshal Lord Inge. ‘If you can get hold of a man’s or woman’s emotions, you have the key. All the great leaders have this gift.’

‘The classic statement is that you can’t lead unless people follow so you have to have that ability to understand what makes the people around you tick,’ says Dame Stella Rimington. ‘I think it goes back to genuinely listening and trying to understand what is really going on, and then moulding that into something that will take you in the direction you need to be going.’

The leaders who naturally adopt an empathetic style of leadership - most notably Greg Dyke, the former director-general of the BBC - say that it seems obvious to them that employees who are respected, trusted and treated well will perform to the best of their ability.

‘I don’t do detail, I never have done, and I have the concentration levels of a peanut so I am very happy to just believe that people will come up with the results if you let them get on with it.’

Sir Clive Woodward, who coached the World Cup-winning England rugby team, believes that people develop respect for a leader that cares about them and their well-being.

‘You can’t demand respect, you earn it through the quality of your actions. There’s no shortcut. Leadership is about respect and it comes from the quality of what you do and how you conduct yourself. It comes from taking an interest in each individual person and helping them improve.’

The military leader Colonel Bob Stewart echoes this view:

‘The first principle of an officer is that you lead by example and care for the people below you. I learned when I was a platoon commander that the key is to get the respect of the soldiers. Little things matter, like visiting them if they are ill. You don’t need a pip or a star on your shoulder in order to lead. You want people to follow you because they wish to do so.’

Greg Dyke adds that effective leadership can only happen when the leader is not only respected but loved within the organization:

‘I came across someone recently from the London Business School who had been teaching leadership for years. She said she had always taught that you don’t need to be loved as a leader but you do need to be respected. But over the past five years she has changed her mind. She now says that the only way you can move and change organizations is if you are loved. Bill Gates is loved. Phil Knight of Nike is loved. Jack Walsh was tough when he was at GE - he got rid of about 10% of the workforce a year for a while - but the people who were left loved him. I would really like to go and talk to the people at Marks & Spencer about Stuart Rose. I suspect that they love him because he saved them. They had spent the previous 10 years being told the organization was rubbish and suddenly they are good again.’

There are many other characteristics that make for a successful leader. Heather Rabbatts, who became chief executive of Lambeth Council after replying to a job advertisement for ‘possibly the worst job in local government’, understandably says that leaders should be willing to take personal risks:

‘You have to be brave. I couldn’t go to Lambeth and not be brave, so I think you do need strength of character and resilience. I am quite driven and I want to see things work. I’m like an adrenaline junkie. The more pressure you put me under, the better I am.’

The one element that is completely out of control of leaders, though, is luck, both in terms of their journey up the leadership ladder and in terms of their career at the top. ‘There is a story about Napoleon being presented with several candidates for promotion to General,’ says Colonel Bob Stewart. ‘All of them knew their trade and were outstanding leaders. And Napoleon said that they were all clearly good candidates. But he asked which of them was lucky!’

THE CHARISMA QUESTION

John F Kennedy had it and Bill Clinton has a great deal of it. So, on the other hand, did Hitler. Charisma - variously defined as extreme charm and grace, or a magnetic quality, or an uncanny ability to charm or influence followers - is a source of endless debate in the field of leadership. Do leaders need it? Can you be an effective leader without it?

In a command and control model, a charismatic leader is not strictly necessary. In a leadership model that depends on inspiring and persuading employees to follow, it can be a positive bonus. That said, an overly charismatic leader can occasionally hide some deep-rooted problems within an organization, as the pensioners of Robert Maxwell’s Mirror Group will testify. Some organizations perform poorly with a charismatic leader, others perform mercurially with a leader that has, as Peter Drucker puts it, the personality of a frozen fish.

Some of the leaders we spoke to have that quality that could be defined as charisma - Kevin Roberts, Sue Campbell, Heather Rabbatts and Sharkey Ward would certainly fall into that category. Others have more ‘quiet’ personalities but are nevertheless strong and effective leaders.

It is possible to fake charisma and many leaders agree that there is an element of conscious drama to their role, and that at times they must ‘act’ as leaders. Unsurprisingly, the leaders we spoke to are split on whether charisma is a necessary quality for leadership. Sir Clive Woodward does not believe that charisma is necessary at all: