A reputation for honesty and integrity tops the list in new research by business and financial advisers Grant Thornton which also showed more business leaders think that IT competency is a better quality for success than risk taking. The surprising results indicate that the traditional image of what makes a successful leader may be changing.
Asked to choose from 18 possible attributes to distinguish themselves from others, risk taking surprisingly came last with just 19% of respondents selecting it, yet IT competency was chosen by 43% of business leaders. The most popular leadership qualities were integrity, honesty and hard work, a marked contrast from the last Grant Thornton survey in 2003 which saw articulating a vision as the top leadership quality.
Jim Rogers, Head of Growth and Strategic Services at Grant Thornton, commented, "These results clearly indicate a move away from the traditional entrepreneurial environments, where courage and risk-taking drove success, inspired by leaders with creativity, vision and charisma. The spate of recent high profile business scandals, which have seen the demise of brands that most had considered unassailable, may well have played its part here. But it's much more fundamental than that - an organisational culture that incorporates integrity and puts its people first seems now to be recognised by business leaders as essential to delivering competitive advantage in the 21st century. It's a new world now."
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