What makes your leaders tick? Getting a personal perspective on the people at the top
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390980000997 |
| Date | 21 October 2007 |
| Published date | 21 October 2007 |
| Pages | 20-23 |
| Author | Ros Taylor |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
20 Volume 6 Issue 5 July/August 2007
HAT MAKES LEADERS TICK? To
answer this question I interviewed 80
business leaders – I analyzed their skills,
their attitudes, their backgrounds and
their working habits. And yes, they do work hard, but
the compensation is that they just love it. They adore
the accompanying limelight and recognition, and they
seem to have a lot of fun being in charge.
I decided to ask questions of CEOs themselves,
taking a face-to-face approach. I was interested in
seeing their offices – the size, the décor and the art on
their walls – and their secretaries were a fund of
interesting information as they escorted us along
corridors and into lifts. Their body language and often
their replies spoke volumes as to whether the captain of
industry I had just seen was a sweetheart to work for or
a swine.
I was able to make contact with a wide range of
leading executives, far more than I had expected, and I
found them to be generally accessible and helpful.
When they were not, I still attempted to talk to them to
ensure that the results were not based purely on a self-
selecting sample of “nice” directors. In general, I aimed
at the top of the organizational tree and spoke to
established chief executives, chairmen, managing
directors and the like.
Who and what?
There were 59 men and 21 women in the sample – a
73 to 27 percent split. The average age of the group was
52 years, although the women appeared to be slightly
younger, with an average age of 46 years. Sixty-six of
our sample were based in the UK and 14 were
American. The group included Dawn Airey at Channel
4, Nicholas Coleridge from Conde Nast, Charles
Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse, Sir Rocco Forte of
RF Hotels and Lord Gordon of Strathclyde from
Scottish Radio Holdings.
I asked these leaders a number of open-ended
questions, which delved into the following topics:
•
Interests outside work
•
Emotional intelligence
•
Family background
•
Financial awareness
•
Health
•
Sense of humour
•
Self-awareness
•
Ability to network
•
Problem solving
•
Risk taking
•
Self-confidence
•
Goal setting
•
Teamwork
•
Training
•
Education
•
Work experience
•
Drive for success
What makes
your leaders
tick?
Getting a personal perspective
on the people at the top
Psychologist Ros Taylor interviewed 80 leaders,
including chief executives, chairmen and managing
directors of some of the leading organizations in the
UK and US, in her bid to discover what makes leaders
tick. In this article she shares her findings, which cover
everything from health and fitness levels to gender
differences, and puts forward a top-ten list.
by Ros Taylor, Ros Taylor Group W
© Melcrum publishing 2007.For more information visit our website www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.com
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