INTRODUCTION

Many academic tomes have been published on the subject of leadership, all attempting to determine the common attributes of great leaders. And while many common threads have been identified, most would agree that a great leader is defined by their own unique set of skills and the environment in which they operate. Traits such as passion, foresight, adaptability, and drive are often mentioned when considering the question of leadership. With such a diverse set of circumstances and attributes to consider, how does one determine a great leader, a great CEO?

This question and many others were considered by the Finance Monthly research team when tasked with identifying the most talented CEOs from around the globe.

Markets are stochastic by nature and even more so since the crash of 2008; in such times the strong survive and respond to the new market conditions - in short, a great leader delivers commercial success in times of adversity, but perhaps the

most defining quality of a CEO is how he/she adapts their business model and leadership style to suit the challenging market – it’s this that separates the great from the good.

The ability to adapt and respond unites all those listed within these pages and by definition those featured are some of the most successful CEOs in the corporate world today.

Finance Monthly CeO AwArdS 2013 7