Gresham College Symposium 29 October
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Integrity
Energy
Effective communication
Financial literacy
Ability to deal with ambiguity, uncertainty and
paradox
EQ
Take the team with you
Empower others
Do what you say
Inspire and motivate
Passion
Risk taker
Demonstrate ethics
Intellectual awareness
Multiple technical skills
Grow and develop others
Create added value
Seize opportunities
Sponsor talent
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A global view
Decision making and make the right
decisions
Strategic thinking
Change management
Stakeholder orientation
Future direction
Flexibility and adaptability
Think out of the box
Trust
Social skills
Understand others’ values
Transmit confidence
Vision
Persistence
Facilitate a virtual environment
Make things simple
Cultural awareness
Team work
Role model
Listen
2
Seeing and trusting the person inside the role
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Do you understand that you are alone? Are you willing
to be the one to stand up, take the difficult decisions
and the big risks?
Do you realize that nothing will happen until you move?
Can you take the first step without thought for your
personal consequences?
Can you take people with you and ensure you won’t get
so far ahead that you look like the enemy?
Can you keep a good healthy dose of self doubt? Can
you keep listening despite the tumult you create by
making change happen?
Are you brave enough to fail? Are you resilient enough
to try again?
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Can you live with grey, rather than the immediate certainty
of a black and white answer and take a decision without
data?
Can you learn to love ambiguity and not become frozen by
uncertainty or driven to repeat earlier routines?
Can you resist the temptation to close down the debate and
decide? Can you create and hold the tension to reach a
better answer?
Can you retain the power of surprise? Can you hold your
mind open to new ideas and change direction in a way that
creates more value?
Can you hold up and speak to an exciting future vision,
even if the way forward isn’t crystal clear?
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Do you have an inner compass? Do you live your
life according to clear personal values, including
integrity?
Do people know what these values are and can
they see how these values guide your decisions
and actions?
Do you have an internal sense of the right thing
to do? Can you rise above the politics?
Are you authentic? Do you know that this is not
just the same as being yourself?
Do you show humility? At the same time, can you
retain a strong ego? Do you have the courage not
to surround yourself with cronies? Can you keep
open to others’ real opinion of you?
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Do you respect the history of the organization?
Can you deal with the tyranny of the present,
without being enslaved to it? Can you avoid
getting trapped into constant crisis management?
Do you spend enough time thinking about the
future? Can you delay gratification and sacrifice
instant reward so that you can build the future?
Can you juggle living in three time zones and
integrate the stories without getting jetlag?
Can you accept and pass the baton of leadership
seamlessly, from and to the former and next
generation of leaders? Do you worry less about
your legacy and more about your stewardship?
Do you have the energy it takes for sustained self
management? Are you always on?
 Can you selflessly bring what the enterprise needs?
Do you love the place? Can you become the place?
 Do you understand that you can represent the
enterprise and shape it, but only at the edges? Can
you accept the responsibility of the ‘I’ in leadership?
 If you are coming into the organization from
outside, can you land well, so that it doesn’t reject
you as a foreign body?
 If something goes wrong, are you prepared to take
it on the chin? Can you step forward and accept the
responsibility?
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