>What was it that made the great leaders great?
>Analyse the great leaders of history and you’ll learn about the positive traits that enabled them to find success, whether it be wit, oratory skills, strength, or any number of different abilities. Yet in all the world many people have these skills. So is it more about being in the right place at the right time? Or would the right person always find their way to the top irrelevant of what structures they’re pitted up against?
Battison's Blog 
>Last question first, will the right person always find their way to the top ?Stalin was not a great leader but found his way to the top, and Churchill found his way to the top of the military on two occassions, one was not successful and one was successful.Therefore i don't think it is valid to say that those who can make it to the top necessarily make good leaders.Second, a very large piece has been missed in the question. The quality of the people being led.Perhaps what makes great leaders is a collection of great followers. The top "leaders/coaches" at football clubs do not stay at the top with average players underneath them. I think if you put alex ferguson in charge of a poor team with limited cash at their disposal you would find he achieved very similar results to the other managers who led those teams.Either matin johnson or lawrence dallaglio have said that they felt the winning of the 2003 rugby world cup was 90% the players at 10% the coach. clive woodward's perception of his contributionis markedly different.The crux of the question is, how much of the achievements of a group can be put down to the contribution of its designated leader ?i think that it depends on how the group is structured. if it is an autocratic group, then most of the power and responsibility must rest with the leader. if it is a less hierarchical group then compliments will need to be divided out more fairly.