Most Admirable Leaders

This is a very exciting moment for me as I have the privilege to praise and share with you who I admire most as an organizational leader. However, I have to admit that different people ranging from my parents, brother, grandparents, friends, college professors and mentors influenced me in many different ways and shaped me into who I am today.

As a kid, I grew up in a small war-torn country in the Balkans, Southeastern Europe. While trying to run away, I was facing many challenges – challenges that seemed very simple to solve but were yet complicated. At that time, I was 11 years old. I needed a strong leader – a leader who had a vision and was on a mission (to get us out of the country). I was looking for someone who was a good listener, communicator, and negotiator that would provide the necessary guidance, direction, and consultation while making a strategic decision in order to maintain the composure and competitive advantage. Yes, while one may argue that those challenges were “environmental challenges” over which I had no control, don’t you see the same challenges in your organization? Wouldn’t you want a leader in your organization that is a good communicator providing the necessary guidance, direction, and strategic decisions in order to maintain the competitive advantage while fully engaging the workforce?

In this challenging situation, I found three great leaders that had the competence to collaborate with one another and compromise on the strategic direction. Those leaders led the company (the family) out of the crisis and they were my parents and my brother!

Due to the fact that I was really young at that time of those challenges and because I didn’t have the true exposure to a real organization, those were my true leaders that established a long-lasting legacy and transformed the organization into “my” FORTUNE 10 Company.

Now that many years have passed and I have had the opportunity to experience “organizational leadership” firsthand as well as study about remarkable leaders with memorable impact, it is no secret that former GE CEO Jack Welch is the true business leader that I admire most because of how he transformed GE. One of the most remarkable achievements under his 20 years of leadership was that he increased the value of the company from $13 billion in 1981 to $500 billion in 2000. How did he do this? Management by LEADERSHIP.

Are you ready to manage and apply your great leadership style and who do you admire most?