If you’re on the path to becoming the best leader possible and want to advance in your career, take note of what successful leaders do. We’ll look at what sets the best business leaders in the world apart from their peers and how you can harness the traits that make them exceptional management material.
The 5 key attributes of leadership
All leaders take charge differently and manage in a style that resonates with their values. The difference between a reluctant leader and a seasoned one comes down to a few essential characteristics. These are the traits that the best leaders in today’s society bring to the table in business.
1. Integrity
According to a study published in 2024, leadership integrity and organisational transparency play vital roles in enhancing engagement among Australian employees. The study found that leaders who demonstrate care for their team and protect their rights, such as dignity, autonomy and respect, are more likely to build an environment where employees feel a sense of purpose, which drives empowerment. When employees are empowered, they would be more motivated to work towards organisational success.
2. Enthusiasm
The enthusiasm of a leader is crucial, but it must be genuine. Being enthusiastic about the organisation’s products and services, the business’s goals and visions and the wellbeing of your staff is central to being a good leader. When done with sincerity, it creates meaningful reverberations.
3. Communication skills
A good leader needs to be able to praise, critique, nurture and motivate their staff. They also need to communicate effectively with stakeholders, customers and clients of all backgrounds. Being an expert communicator allows them to build strong relationships, lead and inspire teams and ensure clarity on business goals, all of which can contribute to organisational growth.
4. Competence
Managerial competence is sometimes overlooked when choosing a leader for the workplace. This incompetence will erode trust if you’re not good at leading a team. Assuming that a good worker will be a good manager is a common mistake, as these skills don’t always translate to a leadership role.
5. Decisiveness
A leader who is unable to make strategic decisions promptly will ultimately struggle, as will the leader who requires constant approval from their team before deciding anything. This decisiveness is vital for taking risks on new ideas and business as well. Without them, the company will struggle to grow.
7 of the best business leaders in the world
There are plenty of examples of good leaders who have significantly impacted business, but few are as prolific as the following. These current and former leaders personify the essential attributes, including decisiveness, influence and enthusiasm, and have successfully led some of the world’s largest organisations into better times.
1. Brian Chesky, Airbnb
CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, has created the world’s largest online accommodation community. His leadership integrity was showcased when the brand had to lay off a quarter of its employees in 2020 due to COVID-19. Although an unfortunate decision, Brian made sure that the terminated staff were paid at least 14 weeks of severance pay and that they were given access to an alumni directory for referrals, as well as career advice and placement support to find a new position.
In 2025, he pledged to provide free, emergency housing for an additional 25,000 people who were affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, demonstrating great leadership to the public in times of crisis.
2. Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, LEGO
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp proved his decisiveness and enthusiasm as a leader when he rescued LEGO from the brink of collapse. During his tenure as CEO, he scrapped underperforming parts of the business like theme parks and video games. He involved adult LEGO fans in creating new ideas for the brand to understand their customers and rediscover the company's core values. Although he now sits as the executive chairman, his 2004–2016 stint as CEO is remembered fondly.
3. Tim Cook, Apple
Tim Cook is famously credited for stabilising tech giant Apple after the passing of co-founder Steve Jobs. His leadership and management style allowed Apple to become the first company in the world to hit a market value of US$3 trillion in 2023. He also believes in creating opportunities and uplifting communities to build a more equitable and fair world. In 2023, Apple announced that its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative had surpassed US$200 million in investments since it was introduced in 2020. The initiative provided aid in economic empowerment, education as well as criminal justice reform work for minority businesses.
4. Andrew Forrest, Fortescue Metals Group
Few CEOs in Australia are as famed and wealthy as Andrew Forrest. The Fortescue Metals Group founder and executive chairman repeatedly proved the scope of his influence and integrity. Forrest is widely known for his philanthropic ventures, such as securing $160 million worth of medical supplies for Australian health authorities from Chinese partners during the height of COVID-19.
He is also vocal on topics like health, pollution and agriculture. In September 2024, he revealed an ambitious climate transition plan for the company to remove fossil fuels from operations by 2030 without relying on carbon capture or carbon offsets.
5. Eric S. Yuan, Zoom Video Communications
Eric S. Yuan is the founder and CEO of Zoom Video Communications. He is constantly praised for his integrity as a leader. Yuan promptly addressed security issues with the Zoom platform and was transparent with customers throughout the process when the world looked to Zoom as the new global workplace during COVID-19.
However, the company grew too quickly and the demand for the platform dropped in a post-COVID-19 world. In 2023, Zoom announced that 15 per cent of its workforce was laid off, amounting to 1,300 jobs. In response to this, Yuan demonstrated accountability as a leader by taking a pay cut of 98 per cent and foregoing his end-of-year bonus. He also helped the affected employees by giving them 16 weeks of severance pay and healthcare as well as other resources such as coaching, networking groups and workshops.
6. Dr Lisa Su, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Dr Lisa Su became the CEO of AMD in 2014 and has been responsible for leading the chipmaker away from the brink of bankruptcy. Her managerial competence and decisiveness meant AMD’s share price rose nearly 50-fold since she took over. Her incredible feats were recognised when she was announced as the TIME Magazine CEO of the Year in 2024.
7. Satya Nadella, Microsoft
Satya is the chairman and CEO of Microsoft and arguably one of the most influential leaders in the world. The company's stock has risen by more than 1000 per cent since he took over the leadership role in 2014. Credited with raising the software company’s market cap to over $4.6 trillion in 2024, Satya is also responsible for changing the work culture at Microsoft. Where employees once competed, he urged them to collaborate and focus on learning and growing.
How postgraduate study can cultivate a leader
As the influential CEOs of the world have shown, there are shared attributes that make a good leader great, and thankfully, these can be learned. Studying a postgraduate degree in leadership is a great path to career development and acquiring the skills that are so important in leadership.
Many of the leadership programs offered today are flexible and the syllabus is delivered online, so there’s no need to put your career on hold. The courses teach leadership insight, critical thinking, risk management, networking, communication and other crucial leadership skills.
This qualification can help to fast-track your career development and shape you into the best type of leader, CEO or managing director you can be. You’ll graduate with skills that are indispensable for leading an organisation and be able to combine them with your style of leadership to make your mark on the world.
Depending on your personal and professional circumstances, you can choose to do a graduate certificate, a graduate diploma or a master's program in leadership. Discover some examples of leadership courses below.
The Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management is designed to suit the professional development needs of middle-level managers in industry and government, enhancing existing practice and preparing for more senior leadership roles.
Developed and taught by industry professionals in active leadership roles, this degree is focused on practical organisational challenges.
You'll develop an understanding of the different types and purposes of teams, and learn how to boost team performance through effective leadership. You'll hone your creative thinking skills and be equipped to convert great ideas into reality through collaboration and positive risk-taking. As a graduate, you'll have the skills and knowledge to translate vision and strategy into action and effectively manage transformation in your organisation.
This graduate certificate explores the importance of developing effective strategies and discusses the legal, managerial, and ethical issues that affect corporate governance.
You’ll immerse yourself in real-life scenarios and issues from various industries, including government, corporate, and community sectors, and formulate creative, sustainable solutions. You’ll also discover how to communicate persuasively and insightfully with diverse audiences, including corporate executives and board directors.
If you have less than three years of leadership experience, you’ll learn how to analyse leadership critically and unpack leaders' roles in building sustainable organisations. If you’re an experienced leader, you’ll explore how to make responsible decisions during periods of crisis and recovery.
The Graduate Diploma in Business (Enterprise Leadership) is designed to help you become an ethical and informed decision-maker who inspires and leads effective teams within complex environments. This program encourages leaders to work on behalf of the whole organisation as well as on their own business unit or team. It is suitable for leaders in corporate, public and non-profit sectors.
UniSQ’s Graduate Diploma of Business (Leadership) will equip you with the leadership skills to effectively lead, build valuable professional relationships, manage teams and enable businesses and organisations to thrive.
Become a leader the valuable skills in adaptability and problem-solving, and understand how to balance the competing tensions of organisational stakeholders, society and environment.
Available as a full-time program across 18 months (or the equivalent of part-time study), The Master of Leadership will provide you with the skills necessary to secure a leadership role in your chosen field, profession, or industry.
You will complete nine compulsory courses focusing on leadership, strategy and a project and have the option of specialisation in business, liberal arts or three general elective courses.
Each course is developed and offered by a team of respected leaders, combining a solid academic framework with strong commercial and industry experience in the degree program. The Master of Leadership program is a unique blend of class tutorials, networking, mentoring and interacting with guest lecturers.
The Master of Leadership is an opportunity for you to hone your skills alongside other senior leaders in strategic roles. You will focus on developing contemporary knowledge, and real experience, to ensure you graduate as a business leader.
Through integration of theoretical investigation and professional practice, you will learn to recognise and harness the capabilities of pivotal leaders. You will also put theory into practice through a workplace-based research project. This unique learning opportunity will require you to identify and define a problem, review relevant literature, design a study method, present findings, interpret results and present conclusions and recommendations with the support of a mentor who is expert in the field.
As a graduate, you will be primed for leadership roles in all sectors, including corporate, not-for-profit, government, IT, mining and education.
Learn the skills that make a good leader great
Leaders aren’t simply born great; they put in the hard work, learn new skills and gain real-world experience to get there. A postgraduate degree in leadership can equip you with the tools you need to do all this and more to guarantee your success. You can find plenty of postgraduate courses in leadership offered by leading institutions in Australia.