Many business books assume that potential leaders are a blank canvas onto whichmust be hurled a particular set nf habits and characteristics in order to form the per-fect chief executive of the future. Others assume that to become a better boss execu-tives need do no more than ape other corporate high-flyers or draw inspiration fromleaders in other walks of life. In this vein, for example, there is the Jack Welch modeland the Richard Branson model.Military commanders are a favourite——military metaphors still abound in the corpo-rate world——and Napoleon and Alexander feature frequently. Alexanders record onglobalisation, however, is the more appealing in the current business climate. Failureto make it in Moscow and being offshorcd on St Helena are not to be found on theCVs of potential business leaders of today.Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, two British academics, eschew the notion that effectivebosses can be constructed piecemeal. Their implicit message is that bosses are born,or at least made before they delve into books on management. Rather than suggestingthat high-quality leaders can be constructed from what they dismiss as an "amalgamof traits", they stress that there are "no universal leadership characteristics". The tal-ent that the pair thinks most vital is "authenticity".<br> ……
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