Nigel Nicholson shares his thoughts on leadership, worth a read for every leader. This was first published in Business Strategy Review Volume 24. Issue 2-2013. Subscribe today to receive your quarterly copy delivered to your home or work place. http://bit.ly/BSR-subscribe

1. LEADERSHIP DISTILLED
by Nigel Nicholson, Professor of Organisational
Behaviour at London Business School
© Copyright 2013 London Business School

2. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 1
Pure dominance will not work, except under
desperate circumstances. Leaders who
would dominate need to consider what is
the currency of reputation in their domain.

3. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 2
Whatever model of leadership you want,
expect people to want you to display what
they consider to be integrity; some vision
of possibilities; evidence of your
competence; and to show you are
confident of your purpose and decisions.

4. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 3
Leadership is a distinct role with special
responsibilities, but the precise nature of
these depends upon the context.

5. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 4
The job of leader is, at one level, to help
institutions and organisations stand in a
“correct” relationship between human nature
— the needs of the people — and the times
and circumstances they are living in.

6. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 5
Remember leaders can make the
rules that make the game. This is
potentially very powerful.

7. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 6
One of most effective models of
leadership is a low-power, low-
dominance model of fluid and flexible
democratic guidance and action.

8. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 7
How leaders get to their positions
matters — it affects the risks and
opportunities of leadership, and also
the preconditions and narratives
needed for success.

9. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 8
Leaders need to take responsibility
for helping members understand
the nature of the reality around
them and to help shape it.

10. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 9
Leaders need to see their place in
history — local and global — and be
ready to communicate this as part
of their narrative.

11. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 10
This means reading the times of one’s
business — its journey to the present
and its path into the future.

12. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW
This was first published in Business Strategy
Review Volume 24 Issue 2 – 2013
Visit www.london.edu/bsr for more on leadership
and more from Nigel Nicholson