What Kind Of Leader Was Tony Blair?

With Tony Blair’s book just published there has been renewed focus on what kind of leader he was. We thought it was timely to allow you to judge Blair as a leader against our 4SL™ model of leadership. Have a read through the overview of the four dimensions below and make your own judgement.

4SL™ examines 16 success input drivers grouped under the four headings of:

'Point of View', 'Drive', 'Integrity' and 'Empathy'

Point of View
Effective leaders know what they are trying to do and can contextualise the environment in which they are trying to do it. This gives others a compass bearing in deciding whether their leader is offering them a compelling sense of direction.

Drive
Effective leaders make things happen. They cause movement through their energy and focus in getting things done.

Integrity
Effective leaders are trusted. They behave consistently and are values driven. They have clear ‘lines in the sand’ which they will not cross. They are reliable in their support and clear about what they stand for.

Empathy
Effective leaders connect with people. They give people time and communicate in ways that others can relate to. They have a genuine interest in others views and are good listeners.

What do you think? How many out of ten would you give Tony Blair on each of the four criteria?

Often we find when looking at famous leaders they do well on one dimension but less well on others. Or they have three out of four but have a fundamental weakness on one dimension which really undermines their efficacy as a leader.

How would you compare Brown to Blair on the four dimensions?

Another conviction politician was Margaret Thatcher, how would she rate on against the four criteria and what about more pragmatic Prime Ministers like John Major or David Cameron?

If you are able to put your political/personal preferences to one side, the rating of them relative to each other is a really interesting pub or dinner table discussion.

If you would like to find out more about how 4SL™ and its 16 success drivers can be used to develop higher levels of effective leadership in your organisation please contact us.