Leadership Features of Business Leaders

Abstract

Leadership can be considered as one of the most important topics in human sciences, as it answers the fundamental question of how to organize collective effort. Simultaneously, it poses a key component of organizational effectiveness. This article seeks to identify a common pattern of leadership features among a group of selected founders or CEOs of ground-breaking companies. To do so, an online survey has been conducted in the UK with N = 300 respondents. The results show that the selected leaders can be associated with both transformational and democratic leadership styles. In addition, their pattern of leadership features includes influence, power, and emotional intelligence. Lastly, the findings imply that using power and influence to get things done along with an inspiring confidence are perceived in general as outstanding leadership features.