Who is a good leader?

LEADERSHIP obviously matters. Its importance varies with the context. But how do you determine effective leadership and identify leaders to emulate? The answer matters a great deal. There are many views and competing theories, much of which is grounded in dubious research.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, said Leonardo da Vinci. The massive leadership industry is anything but simple. Part of the complexity is due to the thinly disguised self interest of those in the leadership business. Every self-proclaimed guru or author, typically with no significant leadership experience, seeks to define effective leadership in a manner that plays to their particular solution or orientation. An effective leader undoubtedly has to be able to create impact. But what type of impact? One simple way is to look at the two domains in which most leaders operate - external and internal to the organisation.

External impact relates to financial results, market share, customer experience, share price performance and the like. The standard modus operandi is to study these externals and to attribute the outcome to the leader under question. It's generally observed that when things go well leaders are quick to take credit. The favourable tail winds are conveniently ignored but they matter greatly. This ignores the myriad macro reasons that influence performance which often make most of the difference. Correlation gets confused with causality. This process of identifying effective leaders is riddled with flaws.