What three questions would you ask one of the world’s foremost leadership thinkers? Here are John Adair’s answers to mine…
What are effective leaders magnificent at doing?
JA: What effective leaders do well is to enable their team or organisation to achieve its task, maintain and build the common teamwork, and to help each individual member to develop their full potential.
Are modern day leaders too detached from their people/followers?
JA: True leaders should be among their people, especially when it comes to sharing dangers and hardships. Otherwise a social distance develops and understanding (which literally means to stand among people) goes out of the window. While this presents no problems to most leaders who aspire to excellence (or for senior leaders in olden days), security problems make it difficult if not impossible for national leaders to move freely among their people in today's environment. Even so, the best leaders avoid this threat of becoming detached by using their creativity in order to ensure that they do stay in touch.
What is the most overstated aspect of leadership?
JA: People in leadership roles (who are not always leaders in terms of having the necessary leadership ability) tend to overstate achieving the task at the expense of building the team or releasing the creative potential of the individuals that work with them.
John Adair has written many books on leadership, including ‘Effective Leadership’ and ‘The Leadership of Muhammad’. You can find out more at johnadair.co.uk.
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