Do companies get the leaders they deserve?

Everyone has their own idea of what makes a good leader. But while leadership has long been linked to corporate success, many see it now as a critical boardroom element if public faith in the integrity of business is to be restored. What should business leaders do? Do we expect too much from them? How does academic research help form new models? What style is appropriate at this stage in the cycle? Will 21st century leadership be different from what has gone before? Is there a distinct European approach?

These and other questions are addressed in this edition of EBF by a distinguished panel of business people, advisers, academics and other experts, starting with Deanne den Hartog, Professor at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, who skilfully reviews the literature and what scholars are currently preoccupied with, followed by a powerful condemnation of the ‘celebrity’ CEO by the leading international authority Warren Bennis. Two highly respected voices of business – Nani Beccalli, CEO of GE Europe and Daniel Vasella, chairman and chief executive of Novartis – then offer their observations on what’s required of those at the top, after which Meredith Belbin, widely known for his influential work on team roles, finds inspiration in insects for a typically stimulating contribution.

Academic writers then provide a variety of insights – Andrew Kakabadse, Professor at Cranfield, on leadership ‘fit’, Hans Hinterhuber, Professor at the University of Innsbruck on family firms, and Heike Bruch and Wolfgang Jenewein, both from the University of St Gallen, on the need for willpower – while Owain Franks of PricewaterhouseCoopers reflects on the key question of succession. The debate concludes with three contributions on the role of executive education by Instituto de Empresa’s Dean Ángel Cabrera, Insead Professor Herminia Ibarra and Marshall Young, Vice-President of Templeton College, Oxford.

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