Robert L. Joss remembers the not-exactly-official organizational chart he received when he was hired as Business School Dean 10 years ago. The box representing the Dean’s job was at the bottom, not the top, connected with boxes representing alumni, faculty, students, staff and the advisory council. Beneath the diagram was a four-word note: “And everything runs downhill.”

Dealing with tough economic times and managing through a recession, as we are currently experiencing, requires a drastic change of attitude. It is not a time for a "heads in the sand" approach. It is not a time to carry on as we always have or to do things as we have always done them.

What distinguishes a good leader from a mediocre one? That is the question. Is it their leadership ability, their leadership style, their character, integrity, knowledge, ability to make profit, clarity of vision and so forth? Whatever answer you come up with, the important thing to realise is that great leaders can be developed. They are not necessarily “born leaders” as many would have us believe.

Leaders are great people. Leaders can have a great influence over the lives of the people they lead. Great leaders challenge their people to attempt great things they would never try on their own. They inspire their people to go places they never would go on their own. They inspire their people to think thoughts they never knew they had. W. H. Cowley said, “A leader is anyone who has two characteristics: First he is going someplace: second, he is able to persuade other people to go with him”.

A leader becomes great because he or she leads from the heart. They are themselves and are not trying to be what others want them to be.