So much has been written on this topic that I hesitate to add more words – we’re in danger of a verbal burn-out! Yet it needs to be said, so let me be as brief as possible.

In regard to business leadership, we’ve got it all wrong!

It came to me a few days ago when I was reflecting on Colin Powell shortly after he announced his intention to stand down from the Bush cabinet. Powell is a man I can really admire because he is not only highly competent, articulate and influential - he’s also consistent, reliable, practical, humane and wise.

For all that he’s a military style leader (and I have no problem with that). He has clear principles and articulated standards that deserve respect. He doesn’t appear to drive people but rather to draw them to a better place.

He responds to challenge and threats without losing either his dignity or that of those who would challenge him. I was impressed by the way he handled the reporter who confronted him with assertions of his wife’s mental illness. He spoke from principle and deflected an otherwise inflammatory situation far more effectively than any politician. This inspires me.

He has published a competent treatise on leadership which is well-considered and thought-provoking. This too, inspires me. To my best knowledge, he’s never suggested that I should actually do anything, yet he has been the stimulation for a number of important initiatives, this article being one very small example.

So what does this mean? Effective leaders are those who inspire people to rise to challenges, to overcome, to steer through adversity and to bounce back after disappointments. The key word here is ‘inspire’.

They do not motivate, drive, impel, compel, provoke, manipulate, intimidate, teach, guide or direct. They are not necessarily high profile, charismatic and impressive individuals, although Powell does border on this in my estimation. They are not so much a ‘man for the moment’ as a ‘man for all seasons’. They wear well over the long haul.

One sure test of leadership that I often use is ‘would I voluntarily follow this person into a life threatening situation if the need arose?’  For me to do this, having been a military officer on active service and therefore in the full visceral and cognitive knowledge of what that scenario actually means, I know I would need more than confidence, more than loyalty, more than simple altruism. I’d need to be inspired!

Very few, if any, business leaders I have encountered have been able to reach me at this level. Colin Powell has the principles, the consistency, the humanity and the wisdom to reach me – and, I suspect, millions of others too. He has the power to inspire.

Let’s learn from his example before it’s too late.