On February 28th, I attended the Ivey Leadership Summit. The focus was on the characteristics that make leaders successful. In a time of uncertainty like we are living in today, the learnings from this Summit seems even more important. The Ian O. Ihnatowycz Leadership Institute presented a Leader Character Framework that outlines characteristics that create successful leaders.
The Institute’s research identified the above characteristics that are key to successful leadership. As we look at leaders around the world today, who are dealing successfully with COVID-19, we see these characteristics highlighted daily.
On the world stage, we have seen leaders exhibit incredible character. In Ireland, Premier Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivered a national address, on St. Patrick’s Day, that exhibited Integrity, Humility, Courage, Humanity and Accountability, all signs of strong character-driven leaders. Angela Merkel, not known for televised speeches, showed all the signs of a character-driven leader when she spoke to her country about the pandemic. Prime Minister Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Friedland have both shown examples of character -riven leadership on our national stage. Governor Cuomo has shown similar character-driven leadership in New York State.
At the Leadership Institute, the speaker who had the most impact on me was Michael Friisdahl, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. He is a character-driven leader who gave example after example of the leadership characteristics that are required for strong, effective leaders. Most impactful were his personal stories of how he has evolved as a leader. His most important message was that leaders are nurtured and developed, not born. He has grown significantly in his leadership capabilities as he has worked on his “character” traits over the years. He is very humble and honest in telling his story and how he has changed to become a stronger leader.
During the Q&A I asked what the difference was between the Leader Character Framework and the Emotional Intelligence Framework. Mary Crossman, a Professor of Strategic Leadership at the Ivey Business School, explained that the Leader Character Framework is the next evolution of the Emotional Intelligence Framework. It contains more detail and substance and provides leaders with a clearer framework upon which to base their leadership development.
The main message that I took away from this Summit on leadership is that all leaders must become aware of their own leadership characteristics, those they are strong in, and more importantly those they need to further develop if they wish to continue to grow and become even stronger, more effective leaders. More information on the Leader Character Framework can be found here.
