I’ve just listened again to a podcast about the top six leadership qualities which is included in the Level 6 Marketing Manager Apprenticeship. The podcast was produced by Cambridge Marketing College where Kiran Kapur interviews Daryl Fielding – formerly a senior marketer at Vodafone and now a portfolio Non-Executive Director. Daryl Fielding | Sales & Marketing Speaker | Booking Agent (champions-speakers.co.uk). So what do you consider to be the top six leadership qualities?
Fielding argues that there are six qualities of a great leader;
- A vision or plan
- Bravery and courage
- Determination (what the author of “Good to Great” calls “fierce resolve”)
- Motivating others. I like the quote from Steve Jobs who said “Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could”.
- Humility – “A genuine belief that you don’t have all the answers and that others are experts” as well as curiosity What is curiosity and why is it important in business relationships? (Video) (kimtasso.com)
- Operational competence – The ability to put plans into practice. She made some insightful comments about “doers” and “the negativity trap”. It made me reflect on the need for both visionaries and aggregators in the leadership team (which I refer to as magpies and pigeons Leadership teams: Maverick Magpies and Predictable Pigeons (kimtasso.com))
She places the first three in the heroic narrative and the second three as enablement qualities.
Personally, I think emotional intelligence (EQ) – particularly self-awareness – and the art of communication to promote collaboration should be in the list. In this rapidly changing world, what would you consider the essential leadership qualities?
Other perspectives on leadership qualities
You might wish to compare this list with some of the other perspectives over the years
Connected leadership – How professional relationships (kimtasso.com) March 2023
Soft skills revisited – with a leadership perspective (kimtasso.com) November 2022
Book review: The Management Shift by Vlatka Hlupic (kimtasso.com) October 2022
Classic management book reviews – The McKinsey way, Good to great (kimtasso.com) May 2022
Book review: The Awareness Code – The secrets (kimtasso.com) February 2022
Research on leadership and emotional intelligence (EQ) (kimtasso.com) September 2021
The GC Index® – a Leadership and Board Assessment tool (organimetric) (kimtasso.com) February 2021
Book review: Legacy – What the All Blacks can teach us (kimtasso.com) January 2020
Leadership: Authenticity, values and culture – an overview (kimtasso.com) August 2019
Leadership masterclass by Luan de Burgh – reviewed by Kim Tasso October 2014
Book review by Kim Tasso of “Leadership” by Dr Peter Fuda August 2014
Leadership: Lessons from Star Trek and Neuroscience – Kim Tasso June 2012
You might also be interested in the 2023 Leadership Development Programme from the Managing Partners’ Forum (kimtasso.com) which offers modules on: emotional intelligence, strategy and vision, organisational transformation, Board simulation and digital transformation.
