Throughout the world, the mistrust we have for the large, public organisations and their leaders appears to be on the increase. Referring to the American context, Professor Jeffrey Garten, dean of Yale University?s business school, observed recently: ?There is enormous public cynicism about the ability of our business leaders to take the public interest into account.? Similarly, William Donaldson, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington recently mourned the fact that so many Americans think that business leadership has failed them. Jack Welsh is yet another voice that decries the fact that business is steep into what he calls, ?a crisis of confidence?.

In Mauritius, following the Delphis Bank, Air Mauritius and MCB sagas that rocked our business world earlier on, a similar confidence crisis in our corporate leadership can be observed ? compounded by a series of previously unheard problems such as a weak economic performance, a textile industry under siege, rising unemployment, a hesitant tourism industry, the slowing down of direct foreign investment, and so on.

All this implies that either overseas or here, corporate leaders are having a rough time. It is indeed tough to be at the top. In America, a recent Economist survey reports that bosses of big, public companies command only slightly more respect in public-opinion polls than used-car salesmen! They are regarded with deep cynicism and mistrust by a large segment of the population. At the end of the day, we have to ask a fundamental question ? do leaders matter? Would we not be better off without them? The answer, based on the latest research appears to still be an overwhelming yes ? leaders do indeed matter. John Reed, when he was CEO of Citicorp, was adamant: ?It?s all about the guy at the top.? The New York-based Burson-Marsteller consultancy recently found that 50% (an increase of 10% on the previous year?s survey) of its respondents believe that a firm?s reputation can be directly attributable to the status and reputation of its CEO. Similarly, Harvard Business School researchers have found that, on average, the leader accounts for as much as much as 14% of a firm?s profitability. They concluded that a decision to choose a new CEO is almost as important as a decision to switch from one industrial sector to another! Pages and pages of magazines such as NewsWeek and Fortune abound with examples of what goes wrong when leaders fail their companies ? think of organisations such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and so on.

<B> What makes a good leader?</B>

If leadership is that crucial, then what makes a good leader? What does the latest research say? As any student of leadership will tell you, business gurus have put a lot of effort into identifying the desirable characteristics of a successful leader. The author and consultant Charles Handy lists good judgement, strong values and the ability to take tough decisions. Jim Collins, he of the ?Good to Great? fame, found that successful leaders have tremendous ambitions for their companies and above all, the will to succeed at fulfilling these ambitions. Sumantra Ghoshal of the London Business School was recently quoted in an Economist survey for stating that the intellectual ability to create clarity in big, large organisations in order to deal with their inherently conflicting demands, is an essential characteristic. Jack Welch was fond of stating that unless we are able to engage both the hearts and minds of our followers around an idea, we cannot lead them. Authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner found recently that successful leaders can inspire a shared vision. They passionately believe that they can make a difference. They envision the future, create an ideal and unique image of what the organization can become and through their strong appeal and quiet persuasion, they enlist others in the dream. They breathe life into visions and get us to see the exciting future possibilities. Noel Tichy, another well-known guru in leadership, believe that successful leaders can and do teach leadership to others. He writes in his latest book: ?I think I am beginning to understand the essence of winning leadership: building into the future by developing the abilities of others. I have found that successful leaders are those individuals who personally invest time and emotional energy in teaching and expect all other leaders to do the same thing.?

In view of the important role that leaders continue to play and the crisis in confidence that we are experiencing throughout the world in corporate leadership, it is critical that we think deeply and broadly about what we are doing here in Mauritius about identifying, growing and developing leadership talent. We have to join the rest of the world and tackle this issue as a matter of great priority.

Prof Eric Charoux

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