Great Leaders -- How Are They Different - By Rick Williams
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What is different about great leaders? What makes them successful?
Partners with McKinsey & Co surveyed and interviewed leaders of top 200 global companies and compiled their findings in a new book, A CEO for All Seasons. The leaders included Michael Dell of Dell Technologies and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone.
Here are descriptions of these leaders and their approach to successful leadership.
- Mindset of learning and curiosity
- Humility
- Looking for feedback
- Willing to hear challenges to their own thinking
- Taking time to get to the best answer
- Being part of the team and not just the leader of the team
- Confidence
- Audacious vision
- Deep perspective on their company and its world
Popular culture characterizes leaders as driven Type A personalities who order people around. McKensey’s research paints a very different profile of great leaders. The most successful leaders have strong convictions and a vision of the future. They are open to learning from others and hearing feedback. They build trust within their team and are willing to change direction.
The leadership concepts in my book, Create the Future, align with the key characteristics of top leaders that McKinsey identified in their study. Create the Future is a “how to do it guidebook” with leadership team exercises for making difficult decisions. In the book, I encourage you to take time to get it right, be open to different points of view, engage with your team, and create a vision of success.
Yes, I am making a connection between what McKinsey found were the characteristics of great leaders and the principles of leadership I recommend in Create the Future. The McKinsey study tells you why you should adopt those leadership principles. Create the Future gives you tools and practical steps you can use every day to become a more successful leader of your organization. If you are like me, you pay more attention to/learn from the experiences of others — what works and does not. The McKinsey study will motivate you to use the leadership tools in Create the Future.
For more on Create the Future and why you should have it on your desk as your guidebook of making better decisions for your company and yourself, check out its website HERE.
Sailboat Racing – A Season Championship Trophy
The Massachusetts Bay Sailing Association is the regional organization for yacht clubs and other sponsors of sailboat racing from Cape Cod to Portland, ME. The Association just gave my sailboat CHARIAD and its racing team the #2 place award for the overall season championship. I am excited and proud of our team for this accomplishment. We race against very competitive boats, often with professional crew on board. Finishing anywhere near the top is an enormous achievement.
The CHARIAD team’s 2025 racing season is over. Some members will be frostbite racing over the winter, and some, including me, will find opportunities to sail in warmer waters like the Caribbean. I will spend the winter thinking about the 2026 sailing season only a few months away.
In case you missed it, here is the link to my article, “Everything I Know About Leadership I Learned on my Sailboat,” which was recently the front-page article for CEOWorld Magazine.
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