Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.

Walt Disney, of all people, did a good job of describing his own netony. "People who have worked with me say I am 'innocence in action,'" he wrote. "They say I have the innocence and unselfconsciousness of a child. Maybe I have. I still look at the world with uncontaminated wonder."

See the long view: By all means "plant the corn, milk the cows, and feed the horses" but always keep the eventual "harvest" in mind.

This is more than just having a vision. You can see the difference in the often-cited way in which Steve Jobs brought in John Sculley to take over Apple. At the time, Sculley was destined to be the head of Pepsico. The clincher came when Jobs asked him, "How many more years of your life do you want to spend making colored water when you can have an opportunity to come here and change the world?"

People who know what they want and why they want it, and have the skills to communicate that to others in a way that gains support

The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.