Regardless of style, of the area or the moment of the company, There are some skills that every leader needs to master. These are skills that do not belong to an “ideal type”, but which form the minimum basis for any leadership to function with consistency. Without them, the leader may have good intentions — but he will not have clarity, influence or direction.
The first of these is the ability to read the environment and the political forces that operate in it.. Leadership is, before everything, know where you are stepping. This requires active listening to the organization’s internal movements, of power dynamics, cultural noise and market signals. Those who don't read the environment make decisions based on illusions — and this is costly for the team and the business.
The second competency is building a business vision. A leader can be at the head of a team, of an area or the entire organization, but at any level you are expected to be able to see a horizon — and to know how to translate that horizon into action. Vision is not about predicting the future, but about making sense of the present with direction and intention. A team without vision can even deliver tasks, but it hardly generates value.
The third, and perhaps more visible, is the ability to engage people around a vision. This isn't just about charisma or communication. It involves the ability to generate trust, align expectations, mobilize efforts and create belonging. Engaging is transforming vision into collective will. And that requires consistency, clarity and genuine listening.
These three skills — reading the environment, building vision and engaging people — these are what we call the backbone of leadership. They support both the leader who innovates and the one who keeps the operation running. These are the foundations that allow any profile to perform its function strategically., aligned with the business and connected to people.
The most common mistake companies make is not choosing the “wrong leadership profile”, but in promoting people to lead without ensuring that they master these skills. This is how leaders with good CVs are created, but without direction. Or well-intentioned leaders, but disconnected from reality. Or even leaders with presence, but without vision.
Training leaders is much more than identifying talents. It is about building these skills with intentionality and monitoring their practical application in everyday life. A leader who understands the environment, builds vision and engages people may have different styles — but he will never be an unprepared leader.
It doesn't matter if you lead through innovation or stability. Without that backbone, leadership is not sustained.