Tag: leader

Not a University degree

What makes a good leader?

Sorry if that title upsets a few but that’s exactly how it is in my view. I’m in a business where we actively take on graduates who have come from universities who instantly come into these roles where many years experience is normally the requirement, prior to proceeding in that role.

I’m not knocking the student, but just because you’ve been in study for a number of years and now have a degree in political history, this does not help you in an engineering rich environment. It’s wrong. A leader needs life experience, and I think it is unfair to place an individual with no such experience in a role that needs this expertise along with long gained trust. They need to wait a while, get comfortable and get a few years experience under their belts.

I guess this is my companies fault for pretty much setting these individuals up to fail, but to be honest my company is pretty good at doing this with anyone it employs.

Apparently, and depending on where you search there are a number of traits that make a good leader, here are just five that I believe to be the basic qualities required.

  • Calmness
  • Clarity
  • Objectivity
  • Empathy
  • Decisiveness

I’d also add to that, “Common sense” you can be the brightest button on the earth but have not a single ounce of common sense. I have this in my own family circle it’s not a thing that can be taught, it’s a life learning event, some people have quite a bit of it still to do. It will come with age and experience.

That said we will always assist individuals parachuted in to these roles, however it can be hard on the individual and sometimes tough for them personally. So let’s expand the above list now to seven by adding these two further traits and calling it a day.

  • Common sense
  • Experience

I’ve experienced this now in excess of thirty years within my role. In that time I have had many Managers but I can count the good leaders on two fingers of one hand.

Anyone can be a manager, absolutely anyone it’s just an excuse to throw extra work and responsibility at someone with little remuneration, but only a rare few can be a good leader.

Have a peaceful and pleasant day.

Napoleon – a life, by Andrew Roberts

What book are you reading right now?

Nice and simple. I am currently reading this 900+ page book by the author Andrew Roberts. I have an absolute thirst for history, and as a child at school history lessons touched on people such as Napoleon but that was it, they never really delved deep into the characters of these individuals and you only ever heard about particular successes or failures. In this case Napoleon was only ever mentioned as someone that the Duke of Wellington defeated. However the real story is very different.

Napoleon was very much an old style Micro manager if you like, a very complex and fascinating individual who was an extremely talented military and social tactician. Winston Churchill looked upon him as one of the most influential tacticians and military leaders of modern history, he was an extremely talented individual. The book covers his entire life and not just the battles, and that is what is different. You get to read what encouraged and influenced him and how his humble upbringing shaped his life. A great book, for lovers of history.