How do you become a great leader?

Superbosses was named to Forbes’ must-read list for 2016.

A professor and faculty director at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., Finkelstein is considered one of the world’s top thinkers on leadership and management. His alma maters include Columbia University and the London School of Economics.

Examples of superbosses with contagious passion, Finkelstein says, include Star Wars creator George Lucas, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and the late National Football League (NFL) head coach Bill Walsh. Twenty of the NFL’s 32 head coaches can be traced back to Walsh, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers.

Finkelstein provides his secrets of the superbosses:

1.    An eye for talent. “Superbosses look for talent in unusual places. They look for what I call ‘Diamonds in the rough,’ people who might not enter the typical circles of recruiting.”

2.    Motivation. “They raise the bar and have very high expectations. Superbosses push people to constantly get better at what they do,” says Finkelstein.

3.    They stir a fire. “These are people who inspire others. They make people believe they can accomplish just about anything. While they have high expectations, they instill confidence at the same time.”

4.    Innovation. “While superbosses are very innovative themselves, they unleash the creativity of the people around them. They want to know and hear new ideas. They’re open to any new approaches that will get them to their goals.”

5.    Mentors. “They’re very much teachers in a lot of what they do, and how they interact with people who work for them.”

6.    To be successful, surround yourself with talent. “Superbosses have that core recognition; they have good people around them — people who are innovative — the types of employees who will help them become more successful.”

Finkelstein was a lecturer at Concordia from 1981 to 1983. He says giving a talk at the university brings back fond memories.

“I started my academic career teaching management courses at Concordia,” he says. “I’m thrilled about returning to my alma mater.”

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