“If you’re a leader and you’re the smartest guy in the room, you’ve got real problems” – Jack Welch

What makes a great leader and how can we achieve the same?

John has spent his life interviewing some of the world’s most successful leaders, not only in politics and business but also in the armed forces, sport, film and fashion.

If you were to bottle the science behind this success, what would it be? Is it as simple as discipline, determination and drive? Or do you also need the courage to take risk, the skill to delegate, the wisdom to hire people smarter than yourself, the EQ to spot an opportunity and leverage it, have the stamina to live off little sleep, the hunger to never be satisfied and the strength to bounce back from failure? Many would argue you also need a ruthless streak and a Machiavellian edge.

“There are three ingredients for success – aggression, timing and skill – and if you have enough aggression at the right time, you don’t need that much skill” – Howard Marks, Oaktree

If we are all born with ‘tabula rasa’, a clean slate, what forges us – as individuals – and how do we turn negatives into positives? Understanding how and why some reach this zenith has been John’s fascination and the underlying thread running through his interviews. What drives you? What separates you from the rest? For Sir Richard Branson, it was the University of Life and embracing risk. For Jack Welch, a fierce desire to succeed. Everyone is different yet the result is the same: success.