What makes a great leader?

I am what I call a “leadership nerd”. The definition of that (purely by my definition only) is someone who googles YouTube leaderships speakers regularly and quite often with wine in hand.

We often speak about leadership and different people have varying perspectives about what makes a great leader. Personally, I believe a great leader is someone who is genuine and authentic. Someone you can trust and who can share their vision and passion. That works for me!

A while back, I was binge watching leadership clips and I came across “The Dancing Man”. If you haven’t already seen this clip, do yourself a favour and watch it (right after reading this blog). This clip gives a very different perspective (but no less true) about what makes a great leader. The clip talks about the first follower that makes a “lone nut into a leader”(their words not mine).

The credit for creating a leader goes to the first person who decided to follow them, for without that, they would merely be an individual standing alone.

So, to all the leaders and managers out there, remember you would not be where you are today without your team backing you. They are what makes you a leader. So, be genuine in your recognition of that loyalty and never take it for granted. Behind every great leader or successful business is an amazing group of people.

Share your vision, empower them and trust that they have your back, and they will do their best to reach your shared goals. It may not always be smooth sailing, but the waves are much smaller when you have the right team by your side.