Ask an executive or senior leader in most organizations to describe what the characteristics of a great leader are and you’ll get your answer in an instant. Most lists include the universal qualities of any competent leader like “great business sense,” “an excellent understanding of people” or “expertise in our markets.” It is likely the list would also include “great motivator,” “charismatic,” or “the kind of person others are willing to follow”—characteristics often thought to be innate. These crucial qualities, it is believed, can’t be taught. But do you really have to be born with them?

No. Just because something cannot be taught does not mean it cannot be learned. If you want to learn to lead, learn how to become a better leader, or help others to learn leadership, The Five Insights of Enduring Leaders is for all of you: active, interested learners and teachers alike.

Learning is an active process that may or may not involve a teacher. But learning does require a student who has to be actively interested in enriching, advancing or deepening him- or herself.

Most companies list a lot more than just five competencies when describing their picture of an ideal leader. It’s a lengthy, diverse set of skills that is tough to categorize. But when I distilled the list, I found that the skills all fit into five key traits—innate gifts, hard to get, but absolutely vital characteristics of leaders. These unique gifts were so innate and so absolutely essential, I began to call them insights. And when a leader has these five insights, in spite of other deficits or strengths, she is able to add significant value to her business. These leaders inspire and bring out the very best in those around them, and they have the means to change the world—at least their part of it—for the better. So I began to call this group of highly talented people enduring leaders. Their innate, overarching ability to lead is effective not just in a flash or in a moment, but over the long term.

This book is about these five insights, and how one may begin to acquire them. It is also about enduring leaders—how they act and behave, how they think and feel—and ultimately, how you too can become one.

My colleagues and I have used the five insights to help aspiring leaders develop the talents they need to move to the next level in their careers. We have successfully used the five insights again and again with senior executive teams in both the public and private sectors, with project leaders, and with high school football coaches who learned better ways to motivate players and strategize winning seasons. The program has been successfully applied to non-profit board leadership and to develop internal coaching models for organizational development departments, talent searches, leadership due diligence, and leadership interviewing.

Not too long ago, influential thought leaders in the field of leadership argued over who was right and who was wrong about how to develop a leader. Which approach works? Can leadership be learned or is it innate? Is it more reliant on education or personality? Is it more about business acumen or the ability to communicate? What I have learned is this: The magic of leadership lies not in whether someone is charismatic or a whiz at shrinking costs, but in his ability to connect these five essential insights in his own way.

Discovering the attributes that make leaders effective is straightforward. Finding ways to help people learn to embody them is daunting, but we are untangling new threads of understanding and discovering new pieces of the puzzle all the time.

The Five Insights of Enduring Leaders takes those tangled threads of leadership and weaves them into a tapestry that is simple, possible and usable for aspiring leaders and for those who want them to be successful. I believe enough research has been done on the subject of leadership to make sense of it. The problem with developing leaders isn’t a lack of data, but a lack of perspective. The Five Insights brings that perspective into sharp focus so we can start growing leaders who can and will tackle the tough issues. These leaders will also add value, inspire others and ultimately change the world.

So let’s get to work. We have lots to learn. And then, we have a world to
change. Find out how: