That’s the lesson I took from the article on Robert Iger, CEO of Disney in Sunday Morning’s New York Times, “Is Disney’s Iger Having a Cinderella Moment?”  History - and boards - reward the brave and audacious.

• $7 billion to purchase Pixar?
• Reorganize the movie studio and lose a dozen top execs, including a very popular leader?
• Do the opposite of everyone else?When retailers were cutting back due to the recession, Iger doubled down, spending $1 million on each of 340 Disney stores.
• Swap a CFO (finance) with a division head?  Crazy!

One other factor I see as key here - Strong People skills, namely relationships, fence-building, listening intently.

The successful executive is an audacious risk taker — who’s also skilled with people. Use that in looking for your next leader.

What do you think makes a successful leader? We love comments and respond to every one. You can also subscribe to the Fearless Competitor in a reader, via email or even on the Kindle.

Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is President of Find New Customers “Lead Generation Made Simple.” He’s also the author of two highly acclaimed white papers,How to Find New Customers and Definitive Guide to Making Quota, as well the ebook, Prospect Driven Marketing.

Find New Customers helps business develop and implement programs to improve the way they find and acquire new customers using best practices in lead generation.