Leadership can be best defined as the ability of a person to motivate a group of people to try and achieve as a team all that is beyond the realm of individual accomplishment. Good leadership is the ability to recognise all the factors that would make the leader succeed in motivating the group. Some of these factors are, for instance, leading by example and empathy towards team members. While leaders must instruct and lead the team from the front, what makes them great is their ability to surmount hierarchical differences and act like one of the team. Again, merely doling out suggestions does not ensure that the team will go the way the leader wants it to, good leaders know that practicing what they preach makes all the difference.

The most important part of any business is its customers. Those who fail to work in tune with the demands and expectations of their customers are less likely to evolve into successful leaders. Leaders-triumphant ones at that-focus relentlessly on their customers, listen to them effectively, and constantly tend to their interests in all that they do.

Other key attributes that go on to make a leader extraordinary are long-term thinking or farsightedness, strength of character and commitment towards the organisation. Character manifests itself in various ways-passion, ethics, and values-that elevate a leader above the rest of the team. Together, a futuristic vision and strength of character, act as inspiration for the rest of the team and provide team members with a role model worthy of emulation. And yet, leaders must keep their feet planted firmly on the ground and leverage their inter-personal skills to be a part of their teams' successes or failures.