What makes a great leader?
It’s a question frequently discussed online and at professional conferences, especially in learning and development. One way to learn about leadership is to observe great leaders.
Fortune’s fourth annual list of the World’s Greatest Leaders is helpful. It includes leaders from large and small organizations in business and the public sector, and each person has lessons to offer training professionals involved in leadership development.
1. Leadership development is necessary.
Bill Gentry, director of leadership insights and analytics at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), says that Fortune’s list “definitely gives more evidence to what we know from the academic literature, and our own research at the Center for Creative Leadership: When it comes to the age-old question, ‘Are leaders born or made,’ leaders are more made than they are born.”
Effective leadership development programs are critical in any industry, in the public or private sector. According to Gentry, for those programs to succeed, “leadership development should be a learning process for an individual, not a one-time event.” He recommends customizing learning to address key challenges leaders face and “providing accountability partners so that learning sticks.”
2. Support diverse diversity.
Diversity is important, but it’s also important to consider diverse types of diversity. For example, the Chicago Cubs’ baseball operations president, Theo Epstein, is #1 on Fortune’s list. Forbes writes that the Cubs were successful in beating their 107-season World Series drought last year due to “a five-year rebuilding program that featured a concatenation of different leadership styles.”
Ava Duvernay, Haruno Yoshida, Marc Benifof and Frank Mugisha also exemplified the importance of diversity – and for leaders to understand and support diversity. Race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation and sexual identity are all diversity issues represented on this list and supported by these leaders in their companies and on the national and international stages.
Research shows that diverse leadership teams contribute substantially to business success, and simply talking about diversity won’t cut it. Leadership development programs should include diversity training as a key component of their curriculum.
The ability to bridge diverse groups is also a critical leadership skill, as demonstrated by Pope Francis and Katharine Hayhoe (director of the Climate Science Center at TexasTech). Both leaders have connected with groups previously thought to have nothing in common. In Pope Francis’ case, he “reconciles the conflicting demands of traditionalism and modernity within the Catholic faith.” He met with CEOs at a Vatican-hosted meeting convened by Fortune and Time last December, asking them “to do more to reach the billions of people shut out from the fruits of the global economy.” Similarly, Dr. Hayhoe is “a Canadian climate scientist who also happens to be an Evangelical Christian living in Texas.” She uses a “patient and compassionate” approach to appeal to people with diverse beliefs.
3. Character is crucial.
Thanks to “Money Ball,” the impact of analytics on the sports industry is well-known. However, Epstein proved with his leadership of the Cubs that data alone cannot support an effective team. According to Robes, “a deeper understanding of important human qualities among his players – the character, discipline and chemistry that turned skilled athletes into leaders – enabled Epstein to engineer one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports.” Players like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell were picked not just because they were good players but because Cubs leaders believed they also had good character.
Brian Chesky (CEO and head of community at Airbnb), places a high value on relationships with Airbnb hosts. In fact, Leigh Gallagher’s book “The Airbnb Story” quotes Warren Buffett as saying, “[Chesky] feels it all the way through. I think he would be doing what he’s doing if he didn’t get paid a dime for it.”
At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, Janeé Harteau, chief of police of Minneapolis, demonstrates the importance of trust and accountability in leadership. Her MPD 2.0, “a drive to build trust in the community,” seeks leadership development that promotes “a culture of accountability” through performance management, feedback and accountability training. The “exceptional leaders” of the Fortune list, says Tom Rose (head of global innovation and client solutions at AchieveForum), “remind us that being a better leader is about developing competence and character.”
4. Understanding and leveraging technology impactfully.
Several of the leaders on Fortune’s list have record numbers of social media followers. More importantly, they understand how to use those platforms effectively. Shakira is the most-followed female celebrity in the world (with over 104 million followers on Facebook, 43 million on Twitter and 32 million on Instagram), but she is also a philanthropist whose “real leadership,” according to Forbes, “comes in how she has leveraged those platforms on behalf of vulnerable kids.”
Chance the Rapper is the first artist to win a Grammy (three, in fact) for a streaming-only recording. He’s also “a political force as an anti-violence campaigner in his hometown of Chicago.” Like Shakira, he uses his fame and technology to lead. In fact, as a label-less artist, Chance must understand technology to have his voice heard.
Digital and social media literacy is crucial for all employees but especially for leaders. Training on technology should be a component of leadership development programs, and emerging and current leaders should understand how they can use technology to make an impact.
5. Have a clear vision.
Bill Gentry notes that many of Fortune’s 50 greatest leaders “had a clear vision, a clear direction.” Epstein “wanted to turn around a ‘loveable loser’ organization to a World Champion.” Harteau’s goal was building trust. Shakira “sought to help vulnerable youth,” and Raj Panjabi (CEO of Last Mile Health) “wanted to educate and help people in third-world countries.” Tom Rose notes that “the best leaders … engage others in developing a shared vision” and “bring this vision to life by modelling the change they ask others to adopt.”
As Sam Shriver, senior vice president at The Center for Leadership Studies, told Training Industry in an email, “If nothing else the spectrum of leaders identified by Fortune reinforces the notion that high quality leadership is not a prescriptive list of ‘things you do to others,’ but rather a thoughtful, intentional and passionate response to unique and intriguing circumstance.”
