Jeffrey Gedmin, President and CEO of the Legatum Institute in London, in his article on "What's to be learned from ousted Leaders?" (HBR, August 23, 2013) click here, believes that "The central and most fascinating pieces of the leadership puzzle are judgment, wisdom, character, and emotional intelligence. So simply stated. So elusive time and again."

The traits that support these puzzle pieces have been identified by Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford Professor of Organizational Behaviour. Erin Barker reports that Professor Pfeffer has identified 6 traits that were keys to the success of senior leaders... click here:

They include:

1. Energy and physical stamina to enable long hours and hard work that will inspire others
2. Focus to ensure thinking and decisions are aligned with future goals
3. Sensitivity to others - emotional awareness and capability to effectively communicate and influence others
4. Flexibility - changing direction or approach and accommodating different interests
5. Comfortable with conflict and capable of making progress
6. Knowing when to shift your outcomes and ego in favour of building alliances

The above traits require a leader to a have vision for themselves into the future and clear goals in their roles, that are communicated to others regularly. They make time to connect with others and build relationships. They don't just rely on relationships and know when to be authoratitative, always keeping the vision and goals in mind. In Daniel Goleman's article "Leadeship that gets results"(HBR), he reinforces that is importance that leaders to have effective social skills. This includes having "Visionary leadership: the ability to take charge and inspire with a complelling vision".

What can you do to become a visionary and successful leader?