Leadership: the Role of the Exemplar

Attempts to define the qualities which make up leadership probably go back beyond the invention of writing: certainly, to the orally transmitted poetry of Homer and his peers. Yet satisfactory answers have been elusive. This article reports on a two-year survey which attempts to refine the grounds for debate further by benchmarking the features of leadership identified in the Exemplar Model against the competencies associated with high performing managers. The survey covered 105 senior executives and the perceptions of them by over 1,000 of their colleagues.