Walk through a bookstore in any high street, airport or train station anywhere in the world and you’ll see whole shelves given over to titles on leadership.
It seems there’s a real hunger to learn everything possible about this elusive quality – what great leadership looks like, how to be a great leader, the difference leaders make in business and in the world.
Of course, there isn’t one answer; there are a million ways to be a leader. For me, as a former CFO and current president of ACCA, leadership begins with listening. Top-down diktats don’t work in 2026, and I’m not sure they ever have. You need to take people with you.
Great leaders set their people free; they encourage them to learn new skills, to develop their talents, and to share their ideas freely and openly. Give them the knowledge, and they’ll have the desire to make the changes that you need.
I see many governments with ambitions to grow their economies but little idea of how
I often wonder why some leaders go to all the trouble and expense of hiring talented people only to stifle and discourage their skills and creativity once they start. It makes no sense. On a global level, I see so many governments with great ambitions to grow their economies but with little idea of how to make it happen.
They forget that you don’t get growth by order. You need great people – great leaders – to inspire and to build capabilities, to build successful organisations, to dream the ideas and innovations that accelerate economic activity.
When I talk to people from governments, my message is always the same. It’s that you get great leaders from great business education – and I make sure to describe the specific areas where an ACCA education can make a difference in their countries.
What I know about great leaders is you know one when you see one
It’s a point I discussed just last month with Dr Michael Atingi-Ego, the governor of the Bank of Uganda. He explained his desire to bring more sustainability skills to his organisation. I was able to outline the impact that our Professional Diploma in Sustainability is making all around the world. It’s a practical and immediate way to inject precisely these qualities into a workforce and a business community.
These issues really matter to ACCA members because skilled leaders are in enormous demand everywhere. We all have experience of brilliant leaders who have raised a business or a community to new heights of excellence. The opposite is true, too; we know toxic leaders who have killed an enterprise stone dead.
Global inspiration
I am writing this just after a trip to Pakistan, where I enjoyed the honour of speaking at ACCA’s Pakistan Leadership Conversations in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. It was a joy to spend time with so many ambitious and talented young members – including many women – who have been empowered to lead in their organisations and their communities.
I saw the same at our Africa Members Convention in Kenya, where the venue was abuzz with our members’ exciting plans for the future – especially in the area of sustainability, and in how they can lead businesses into a new era where impacts on people and planet matter as much as profit and loss (see AB coverage of the key issues – sustainable workforces and sustainability reporting, and the CFO awards announced at the convention).
We also see it in ACCA’s forward-looking Leaders of Tomorrow project. It gathers young members from across Europe in a series of inspirational events designed to build their knowledge and expertise as they set their sights on careers where they can make a real difference in the world.
I wouldn’t presume to tell those young business talents how to lead. They will each develop their own style. I don’t suggest there’s one right way. What I do know about great leaders is this: you know one when you see one.
