Why be a great leader?

Great leaders have a tremendously positive impact on organizations. Here are a few reasons why you need to invest in great leadership.

A players hire A players, B players hire C players
It takes one to know one: great talent knows how to hire other great talent. In addition, great leaders know hiring people smarter than them is a good thing, and are not uncomfortable in doing so. They focus on hiring based on how results were achieved, and less on the "what."

Not-so-great leaders tend to hire sub-par employees, at times preferring those who will take orders and simply just do the job they tell them to do.

Great talent stays with great leadership
The immediate supervisor is the single best variable which can predict how engaged an employee will be. The number one reason why people leave their job is due to them not liking their immediate manager. A great leader helps retain top talent.

Great leadership has a trickle-down effect
Studies have found the effectiveness of leadership diminishes across the organization from top to bottom. Other words, the senior leadership on average is more effective than middle management, and middle management is more effective than lower management.

The key here is what the authors of the book How to Be Exceptional: Drive Leadership Success By Magnifying Your Strengths call the "leadership ceiling." If senior management is only average, then middle and lower management will be below average and significantly sub-par, respectively. Therefore, it is crucial to have an exceptionally strong senior management team, because their effectiveness sets the bar for the other levels of management.

Great leadership drives business results
From the same book above, the authors site a large study demonstrating sales leaders receiving the highest 360-degree feedback had 6 times the sales revenue as compared to the teams being led by the lowest-rated leaders. Top leaders pull out the best in people.