Leaders On Leadership — Captains Of Industry Research
New research for DDI suggests that national stereotypes thrive in the corporate boardrooms of Europe and have a direct impact on the way businesses are run. The new report reviews research conducted with Captains of Industry in the UK, France and Germany. The research was coordinated by MORI, with MORI conducting interviews in the UK and Westcombe conducting interviews in Germany and France. The report shows the different leadership styles among business leaders, as they talk about the rewards and drawbacks of leadership.
New research for DDI suggests that national stereotypes thrive in the corporate boardrooms of Europe and have a direct impact on the way businesses are run. The new report reviews research conducted with Captains of Industry in the UK, France and Germany. The research was coordinated by MORI, with MORI conducting interviews in the UK and Westcombe conducting interviews in Germany and France. The report shows the different leadership styles among business leaders, as they talk about the rewards and drawbacks of leadership. Some of the findings include:
- Autonomy is highly prized by French leaders. The best thing about being a leader is the freedom to make decisions with minimum interference, selected as a top three driver by 65% of French respondents, but only 46% of German and 39% of British.
- Leaders in the UK are almost always ready to see their decisions challenged; 96% say they are happy to be challenged. This figure drops to just 52% in Germany and plummets to less than 30% in France where 71% would not be happy to see their decisions challenged.
- One of the worst things about being a leader is that failure at this level is big failure. In Germany, four out of ten leaders cite this as a top concern, twice as many as in the UK.
Ranking The Best Things About Being A Leader
| UK | France | Germany | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| Developing talented individuals | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| Ability to influence | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Freedom to make decisions with minimum interference | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Making a contribution to the economy | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Sense of ambition achieved | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Financial rewards | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Being able to hand-pick my team | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Networking in influential circles | 8 | 10 | 8 |
| Being in a position of power | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| Public recognition for hard work and achievements | 10 | 4 | 7 |
For a copy of The Leading Edge report, contact Yvonne McGowan at [email protected] or download the pdf from www.ddiworld.com
Technical details
This report is based on research coordinated by MORI, combining face-to-face and telephone interviews with chief executives, managing directors, chairmen, finance directors and other board level directors of top companies between 5 September and 28 November 2005. MORI conducted 100 interviews in the UK and Westcombe conducted 50 telephone interviews in Germany and 51 telephone interviews in France. The data were then merged by MORI. Where average figures are shown for the three countries, the data are weighted so that each country has an equal weight.
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