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What makes a good leader?

What makes a good leader?

March 3, 2015 at 12:00am


The Center for Leadership has graduated more than 600 individuals through its leadership training programs. FIU Magazine caught up with a few of them to ask about their experiences in the program and what makes a good leader.

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Ben Mollere
Corporate Vice President
Hospitality and Business Relations
Baptist Health South Florida
attended: Senior Executive Leaders Program

Ben Mollere

What makes a good leader?

Effective leaders are aware, empathetic, and have the ability to both analyze and execute.  Good leaders exhibit creativity, passion and focus.  They readily admit they don’t have all the answers, so they openly ask questions and have a keen sense of curiosity. A good leader knows when to have – and convey – a sense of urgency, and must have the ability to drive results. Good leaders surround themselves with the smartest and most capable people.  They are devoted to delivering exceptional customer service and inspire that same devotion within their team.  They have a healthy blend of strong decision-making, risk-taking and compassion. A good leader leads the way he or she would like to be led.

What part of the CFL program had the greatest impact for you?

The program’s real-world scenarios, diversity of topics and time for valuable reflection and feedback were terrific.  Another aspect that the center facilitates is in learning how best to deal with ambiguity.  This was enormously helpful.  But perhaps the most valuable aspect of the program was the number of relationships that it cultivated. Our entire class developed a bond and remains close and in contact with one another to this day.

Why should companies invest in leadership development?

This program is a very beneficial career tool, and for participants to gain the maximum benefit from it, they should apply what they’ve learned in their day-to-day work environment, and always strive to perfect the outcome.  Leadership development is a dynamic process, and one that evolves over time.  What is important today may be less so tomorrow. This is where situational awareness comes into play – using your instincts and leveraging your personal radar every day.  Among the many attributes of the program is how it expands your mind.  It’s a very meaningful experience.

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Solana Cozzo
Senior Business Leader MasterCard Worldwide
Latin America and the Caribbean Prepaid Cards
attended: Women’s Leadership Program

Solana Cozzo

What makes a good leader?

Passion: If you are a leader and you have no passion for what you do, people won’t engage. Passion inspires people.

Trust: People will follow and commit to you if they trust you and they know you have their best interests in mind.

Courage: It is important for leaders to stand up for what they believe in – even when this means making hard choices or creating controversy.

Vision: It is critical to lead the way towards a clear, simple north so that people can feel inspired and understand how their roles contribute to the common goal.

What part of the program had the greatest impact for you?

The power of the pause. It is OK to give ourselves a pause throughout the day. In other words, to take a brief moment, especially when we feel we’re short on time, attention or temper before we react, dive in, get upset or make the wrong choice. Such a simple concept, yet so easily overlooked!

Why should companies invest in leadership development?

As an organization, we are our people. Great leaders attract and retain the best talent and inspire them to achieve a great vision. The best talent, working consistently towards a common goal in a passionate way, is the best equation to achieve results.

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Kimberley Spence ‘07
Portfolio Marketing Director
Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida

Kimberley Spence ‘07

What makes a good leader?

Effective leadership is truly multi-faceted but the core competencies would be a visionary with the ability to effectively communicate, engage and inspire not only the team, but varied levels of the organization to achieve the goals.  There are also core values such as excellence and integrity that define us as individuals and ultimately determine how we lead.

How is your leadership different as a result of attending the program?  

The program is filled with sessions that provided practical guidelines to develop the best leader within me.  One of the greatest impacts was recognizing the dynamics and almost scientific “ABC” approach needed to develop and maintain effective teams.  During the program, I learned that on the average eight-person team, only three people do 70 percent of the talking.  Innovation and go-to market strategies are important elements to my team. One of the key factors to innovation is via authentic collaboration, which means no idea is crazy, instead it’s crazy not to share your idea!  Therefore, it is important to challenge participation through shared knowledge, combined with clearly defined roles and accountability, which will inevitably produce positive results.