Over the last 20 years, I have constantly been intrigued by the responsibility of Leadership and what it takes to build a loyal and engaged team. How do some leaders create teams and organisations that enjoy long term sustainable success, while other leaders build teams that only enjoy short term or periodic success, and suffer from regular attrition and high people turnover? It is a fascinating question and one that was fiercely discussed during a recent Leadership Mastermind session. One of the members of the Mastermind group was sharing a story of a leader in a large not for profit organisation, who was having all sorts of challenges retaining staff – and they could not identify why. The leader believed they were leading the team effectively, constantly seeking opportunities to improve performance, to motivate the team, and to reward performance, but following a detailed analysis, it in fact turned out that his ‘leadership’ was driving his people away. The very things he thought was building a loyal and engaged team, was in fact, building the complete opposite.

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A few days ago I enjoyed a fascinating conversation with a colleague in relation to Leadership, and what actually makes a great leader – how do they think & act, what qualities and attributes do they possess, and what separates a Leader from a Manager? It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect back on the last 20 years and really look closely at the people who had a level of influence over our career and our own leadership, either directly or through observation . We talked about Leaders who lead by example, leaders who were charismatic, who were able to influence people to align around a common objective and lead them forward, leaders who sought to serve others as their default, who would be the first to stand up and take responsibility when things went awry, and would be the first to give others credit for a job done well.

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