As we all know, the best businesses are led from the front by the very best leaders. There have been some seiously good leaders in the last sixty years or so. In the days when you started at the bottom and worked up to the top. There was a time for learning and a time for sharing that learning. Good leaders are born, not always made. They have emphathy with their staff and know how to maintain friendly but formal relationships with their workforce. They instinctively know how to communicate and get messages across, however difficult the news has to be. A good business leader has to earn the respect of everyone – be they on the ‘shop floor’ or the office, or up in the board room. They will be passionatw about their work, the business and their role in it. They don’t always worry about the popularity card. If the job needs hard graft, the ‘top banana’ will ensure the graft gets done, whatever the cost in time and energy. They don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t let the pettier things about a job get them down. They respect their colleagues and underlings and show that respect by giving their force a voice and time to use it. The ethos of a good leader is to ensure the employees are on board and fully in tune with any changes made and support new ventures as they are found to be necessary. The employees will be as proud of their ‘baby’ as the boss is. The most suitable folk are ones who raise and maintain enthusiasm and energy – they encourage growth and prosperity in their manner. A striving business leader is the thriving business leader. From the front and even in the most fraught of times. They are there.