Home featured Expert Featured Let's Talk Expert Let’s Talk: Leadership James Harkness November 8, 2017 At the helm of every great company is a great leader. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson… Home-grown heroes like Melanie Perkins, Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes… All are wildly successful, their praises sung far and wide. However, each runs a business that’s underpinned by their own unique vision. It makes one wonder… what, if anything, do these leaders and others of their ilk have in common? That’s the question we put to 30 entrepreneurs and industry experts, this week, for our exclusive “Let’s Talk…” feature centering on leadership. As more than a few commentators pointed out, the best leaders possess a high level of emotional intelligence, acknowledge and account for their limitations, and focus on empowering the people around them. Other universal traits, identified by this week’s line-up, included integrity and focus as well as resilience and the ability to make hard decisions – they won’t take ‘no’ for an answer (or they can shrug it off) and they’re not afraid to say ‘no’ to people or idea. Read on to find out what this week’s commentators – many of whom are leaders in their own organisations – had to say. “What do all the best business leaders have in common?” Tammy Butow, Co-founder, Girl Geek Academy: “ A good business leader understands that the people are the heart of an organisation. They spend time and invest in developing their team, which involves