http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju__z4sdeaE&feature=related
Jack Welch said that to be a great employee and leader, one must first over-deliver the boss' demands. Also, the employee has to look at things from a broad picture, from a different perspective. This is to enable the boss to see things from a different angle, and more importantly, learn something new from the employee.
Second, a boss should find employees with a positive attitude. Nobody wants a black cloud hanging over them. This is very intuitive because a bad apple affects the whole team. Nobody wants to work with an overly negative person.
Third, bosses should look for ambitious people. Employees should have personal goals and a vision for the organisation. However. they should be humble enough not to rub others' off the wrong way. Great employees and future leaders are team players and are often helpful to others. There is constructive ambition and there is destructive ambition. I really like the former and dread the latter. I definitely deslike naked ambition because it almost always drives a person to do wrong things.
I would like to add another advice; I will always prefer intelligent people over sociable people. I am suspicious of people who are very eloquent but are weak in thinking and problem-solving. A great leader surrounds himself with technocrats, not politicians. Technocrats have the best brains to solve problems at hand. They are trained to do the job and recommend the best course of action. I don't need a bunch of "yes-men / women" or people who praise me all the time, although from time to time, I do not mind being complimented. Hence, I generally look first for people with relevant job experience, with proven track records. Second, I will look for people with a Finance degree, a CFA, a Masters in Finance or Economics. Third, I will look for the attitude of the candidate. The candidate must have a positive attitude, a team player, be a problem solver and look at things from a macro perspective. He / she must teach me things, make me smarter.
Hence, it is often difficult to find candidates with the right balance. Some are more form than substance. Others all substance and no form, too raw to hire. Finding the gem in a haystack is always difficult; that candidate who's intelligent, unselfish, mature, business minded. That is a leader in the making.
