How to … Be a great leader

Leadership is not an innate skill but is developed with experience and a willingness to learn.

“I didn’t learn how to lead from a textbook. I learnt it in midnight pitch preps, delayed approvals, hard conversations and the quiet postmortems that followed,” says Leagas Delaney South Africa group CEO Raymond Langa.

“Leadership isn’t a role. It’s a responsibility ... moments [of failure] taught me more than the wins ever could.”

Langa advises:

• A bad decision is better than the ambiguity of indecision;
• Great leaders take honest responsibility — the wins and the losses — own the failures and move on;
• Avoid jargon and the latest buzzwords and use clear, easy-to-understand words so everyone understands what needs to be done;
• You need to pay attention and respect both the big picture and the details, and be able to switch between the two views;
• Emotional intelligence (EQ) will help you know when your team needs support and when they need encouragement; high EQ managers lead good teams; and
• Pay less attention to your title and more to your output and role as leader.