I attended a breakfast this morning where leadership guru - Avril Henry - was speaking.

After interviewing 110 of Australia’s finest leaders (from non-profit, SME, corporate and government) she identified 9 characteristics that these leaders believed “made” effective leaders:

Great leaders……

1. have an appetite for learning and development - they see it as a core focus, not the first thing to be cut when money gets tight
2. are change enablers - they are comfortable with change themselves, and can lead others successfully through it
3. coach people - they understand that their most significant contribution is transforming and developing others
4. are great communicators - they listen more than they speak
5. have courage - they do the right things not the popular things
6. have integrity - which is on view for others
7. inspire and motivate people - they show how things could be, not how they are
8. lead by example - they provide personal evidence that they are committed to doing what they ask others to do
9. value diversity - they don’t look for carbon copies of themselves, they look for people who will challenge their thinking and the status quo

You can read the detail of these interviews in Avril’s book - Leadership Revelations.