What makes a great leader?

At a recent lunch with Gail Kelly, Westpac CEO, we found that we had similar views on the qualities and characteristics that make a great leader;

Positive attitude

If you want to be effective as a leader choose to respond to situations positively

Do what you love and love what you do

It means you care about it and are making a difference

Courage

Dig deep, when confronted with failure have a go and back yourself

Select the right people

Select for cultural fit first - skill set second

Generosity of spirit

Effective leaders need to have this gene - you need to believe in people, give them challenges they can succeed at and back them when they make a mistake

Ability to thrive on change

Big shifts are happening in the world today. Embrace in change and look at opportunities – old rules don’t always work moving forward just because they worked in the past

You need to be able to communicate

In a world of social media and immediacy you have to be authentic and back what you said yesterday

Distil the vision and purpose

You must communicate the ‘why’ of your business

Be resilient

You need to have character and mental toughness