A leader is someone whose actions have the most profound consequences on other people's lives, for better or worse, sometime forever and ever.

Almost without exception, members of great groups see themselves as winning underdogs, as a feisty David hurling fresh ideas at a big, backward-looking Goliath. They always have an "enemy."

Unlike top management at Enron, exemplary leaders reward dissent. They encourage it. They understand that, whatever momentary discomfort they experience as a result of being told they might be wrong, it is more than offset by the fact that the information will help them make better decisions.

The new leader is one who commits people to action, who converts followers into leaders, and who may convert leaders into agents of change.

Great Groups need to know that the person at the top will fight like a tiger for them.

The ability to plan for what has not yet happened, for a future that has only been imagined, is one of the hallmarks of leadership.

A passion for continual learning, a refined, discerning ear for the moral and ethical consequences of their actions, and an understanding of the purposes of work and human organisations