Leadership skills … lessons from business leaders.

Leadership Skill development Uncategorized No Comments

Leadership skills are a key requirement for many professional careers … but what makes a good leader?

I came across an interesting article “10 leadership lessons from the world’s biggest business leaders” by Raj Tulsiani,  in the journal Recruitment Grapevine (December 2015).  Raj cites adaptation as the key to success, along with learning from your peers and those who have been there and done it already.  With this in mind he presents one piece of advice from 10 global business leaders. A summary of this advice follows below:

  1. Look at the big picture:  Think deeper and rather than focussing on the day-to-day issues look at the bigger picture. (Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO Microsoft)
  2. Be passionate:  If you do something you are passionate about, you are naturally going to succeed. (Mary Barra, CEO General Motors)
  3.  Create valuable networks:  Surround yourself with only positive people who are going to lift you higher. (Oprah Wimfrey,  talk show host and business woman)
  4. Find Focus:  Focus on consumers and professionals. (Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO Apple)
  5. Hire Smart: You don’t need another you! Creating a diverse team with people from different backgrounds can give you  a well-rounded approach when it comes to decision making. (Claire Watts, CEO QVC)
  6. Inspire your staff:  Leadership is the ability to inspire others. (Jeff Weine, CEO LinkedIn). Jeff is said to inspire his staff by encouraging them to take time out from their work everyday just to think!
  7. Listen: Lead by listening – to be a good leader you have to be a great listener.(Sir Richard Branson, founder and CEO Virgin)
  8. Never give up:  Even when the going gets really tough – never give up! (Anne Mulcahy former CEO Xerox)
  9. Be compassionate:  Show you care. If your team think you don’t care, it can be a rocky road. (John Shilifske, CEO Northwestern Mutual)
  10. Embrace change: It can be hard for business to keep up with the scale of changing products and services … but what’s dangerous is not to evolve. (Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon)

The original article by Raj Tulsiani, CEO and co-founder of Green Park Interim and  Executive Search, can be found on Recruitment Grapevine, December 2015, p40/41, via the following link:  Recruitment Grapevine