Respondents to the Beilby May survey ranked being an excellent communicator and having confidence and decisiveness as the most important attributes of good leadership, having ambition was ranked as the least important quality.

When asked about communicating decisions made by management, the survey revealed that 71% said their company had articulated a change in strategy since the onset of the economic crisis, but only 17% believed management had clearly communicated decisions that affected employees.

So does being a good communicator and knowing how to keep employees informed come naturally to leaders, or is it a skill to be developed?

Developing leadership capability in many of today’s Australian companies is a critical need, yet top management can get distracted by focusing on numbers rather than investing in creating tomorrow’s leaders. Moreover, leadership development is often thought to be needed at the top, when in reality, it is needed throughout the senior and middle executive levels of an organisation.

Former CEO of Medtronic Bill George, author of the best-selling book, Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value warns of the dangers of equating power with leadership. His book champions values over greed, long-term stewardship instead of short-term opportunism and the significance of character rather than shrewdness.

“Leaders gain respect by being authentic, being real, being interested in others, being concerned, and empowering those around them in bringing people together around a common purpose,” Bill said in an interview for the Gallup Management Journal.

“If you don't practise courage and integrity, something's going to go horribly wrong…if you don't tell the whole truth sometimes, it becomes harder to tell the whole truth any time,” he said.

In his book, Bill demonstrates that authentic leaders of mission-driven companies will create far greater shareholder value than financially oriented companies.

When your main goal is to appoint the best person for the job, Beilby can carry out a rigorous interview and assessment process via our tailored Executive Recruitment process. Short-listed candidates are required to undertake a series of objective reasoning tests and in-depth psychological appraisals, which provide a reliable profile of an individual’s personal qualities and determine how well the candidate will fit the featured role and your all-important business culture.  To find out more, click here,