Leadership

BRITAIN’S BOSSES LEARN TO LEAD AT AN EARLY AGE
An ILM Research Survey Report
Today's business leaders got their first taste of leadership long before they reached the workplace - on the school sports field, in the music room and even in the great outdoors. A survey of 500 UK business owners and managers by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) revealed that many were marked out as future leaders from an early age with 44 per cent having been school prefects, nine per cent head boys or girls and 22 per cent captains of a school sports team.
The sports field proved a valuable learning ground for today's leaders with 69 per cent having competed as part of a school team.
The survey also suggests that extra-curricular activities played a role in the development of future leaders. One third of male leaders (34 per cent) were once members of the Scouts while 42 per cent of their female counterparts were Girl Guides. Sixteen per cent were once members of the school choir and one in ten (11 per cent) played in the school orchestra.
Kim Parish, chief executive of ILM comments:
'This study shows that many young people learn about leadership at a very early age. Activities often seen as childhood hobbies - such as being a member of the Scouts or Guides, or playing on a school team, members of different clubs and societies - actually furnish young people with skills such as team ethos, ambition, goal setting and many of the other qualities that we associate with good leadership.'
Thirty per cent of business leaders felt that holding a position of responsibility at school was the most important indicator of a good future leader. And despite the social bias towards higher education, today's business leaders believe that academic qualifications aren't a prerequisite for success. One third (32 per cent) said that academic performance at school was the most overrated indicator of a good leader and only one third (32 per cent) left education with a university... [continues]

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