The best leader you ever had

I'm often asked the question, Who's the best leader you've ever had - and why? My response is usually, 'There have been multiple guides and teachers and mentors for me. Each one played a vital role in building up my skills and growth and outlook in different ways and so I can't pick just one person!'

Like most people, leaders too are frequently tested for character, integrity, grace etc. under conditions of adversity. Such stressful conditions often reveal qualities/traits that the person never exhibited before (or you never saw them express before.) Sometimes good and other times not so good.

In my case, early in my career I had two amazing leaders. One of them was/is a truly warm person who always looked out for me. Not only did he challenge me to do my best but also gave me immense autonomy - something I am not sure I deserved having just graduated from school! I learned to be a compassionate leader with a coaching bent mostly due to this influence.

The second one was/is a more focused person - someone who was intent on ensuring everyone was always aligned to clear goals. But this person too had a deeply warm side (she'd invite staff over to her home for New Year's etc.) I learned to be a focused and execution-oriented leader mostly due to this influence.

Over the next several years, I started getting the hang of what 'good' leadership meant (I'll cover more in future posts). My realization was that it always tended to start with the people first and not systems, tools, processes etc.
Start with the human in the picture and you can't go wrong.

Now maybe you can answer this question for me: Who was the best leader you ever had, and why? I'd love to hear from you!

To be continued