After a long life spent observing and studying leaders and managers, Peter Drucker decided there was no one leadership style, personality or character that marked an exceptional leader.

He observed that amongst the most effective and successful leaders he worked with or knew, some were shy and others were gregarious, some were excruciatingly vain and others were self-effacing to a fault, some were warm and friendly while others were aloof and stern disciplinarians, some rarely ventured out of their office and others were ultra-gregarious, some were quick and impulsive and others took forever to reach a decision, some were ostentatious and others were austere, some he knew were good listeners while others listened only to their own inner voice.

If there is no one personality, style or character required to be an exceptional leader, what is it that marks someone as a good leader? Peter Drucker believed that all the effective leaders he had ever observed or worked with all KNEW four things. As he said in the forward to the book, The Leader of the Future

1. The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers. Some people are thinkers. Some are prophets. Both roles are important and badly needed. But without followers there can be no leaders.
2. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone whose followers do the right things. Popularity is not leadership. Results are.
3. Leaders are highly visible. They therefore set examples.
4. Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles or money. It is responsibility.

So how do you measure up? Do you accept the responsibility of your position as a leader? Are you setting the right example? Are your people generating maximum results? Do your people resist or follow your lead?

How well do you know, and do, these four key things? Please let us know what works for you.

More on what leaders know in the Quick Tips below:

QUOTE OF NOTE

‘Knowledge is the action of the soul.’
Ben Jonson (1573-1637)

QUICK TIPS

* Drucker was also a believer in action. He hoped to inspire every leader to ask ‘What in my organization could I do that would truly make a difference?’ and ‘How can I truly set an example?’ And then he hope you would do it! I hope you do too.
* Peter Drucker also firmly believed that while there are some ‘born leaders’, they are too few to rely upon, and for most of us, leadership not only CAN be learned, it MUST be learned!
* If you want to learn more about how to fulfill your leadership potential, have a look at our brand new online Leadership Coaching Club starting in mid September. It is the outcome of months of work translating our highly regarded live leadership programs such as Mentor Magic’ into a format that is available to leaders around the globe, thanks to support from the Victorian Government’s Telematics Foundation. Sign up now and reserve your place at a special discounted rate. We guarantee you will be glad if you do.

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YOUR FREE TELESEMINAR INVITATION

The Manager’s Mission: How to take all the complexity out of management and replace it with simple success

Join me as I interview the author of Success with Simplicity, David Brewster, for a free live teleseminar next week. You’ll discover:
* Why management doesn’t have to be so complex and how to make managing people look (and feel) easy, even when it isn’t
* The secret to dramatically improving your performance as a leader and manager and feeling better about what you do by understanding the role of reality and the control continuum
* How to apply the three critical dimensions of the Manager’s Mission so you can relax and start managing ‘in the zone’ from tomorrow
* The top 3 mistakes 99% of people make and how you can avoid them.
You can get more details, and register here right now

There are only a limited number of phone lines available for the teleseminar so don’t delay your registration.

If you are not sure what a teleseminar is, it is simply a seminar by phone. All you have to do is dial in to a special phone number that you receive when you register. And you can join us from where-ever you are located, whether you are in Bourke Street or the bush, on Fifth Avenue or an island in Fiji, all you need is a phone. For more details about teleseminars read our Frequently Asked Questions.

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