Judie Lannon, Annual Conference report – J Walker Smith

J Walker Smith

In his presentation, Smith developed an often overlooked aspect of the popular view of leadership: leaders don’t exist without followers, and followership is as important as leadership in what he described as the “ecosystem” of management.

Smith also offered a critique of the conventional ‘leader as hero’, an idea that separates an individual’s personality traits from the context in which the individual operates. Instead, it is the practice of leadership that matters.

This is reflected by people’s own views, according to The Futures Company research, of what makes a “great business leader”:

“Essential to being a great business leader…”

(27 different characteristics rated on 10-point scale where 0 means “not essential in any way” and 10 means “absolutely essential.”  Percentages shown below are top three box agreement, i.e., ratings of 8, 9 or 10)

1.       Being a good communicator 74%

2.       Being willing to take responsibility for good and bad decisions 74%

3.       Identifying the most important actions needed by the business 71%

4.       Having a firm grasp of the facts 69%

5.       Being effective at organizing people 69%

6.       Focusing on what is best for the business 66%

7.       Being able to evaluate a situation quickly and make a decision 66%

8.       Being undeterred by setbacks 62%

9.       Having a clear vision of what the future will look like 61%

10.    Focusing on opportunities rather than problems 53%

As a researcher, Smith’s experience is that ‘we can’t predict the future, but we can be prepared’ and, in this respect, the most important characteristic of a leader is a ‘connection with the future’ with a vision that is inspirational, helpful and clear.


Judie Lannon, editor of The Marketing Society’s quarterly journal, Market Leader, was reporting on the Annual Conference for Warc.

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