Bar Rescue's Jon Taffer: This One Thing Makes a Great Leader Either you have it or you don't, Taffer says. 'Leadership is a trait; it's not a skill.'
By Jason Fell
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So you've started a business and you're looking to grow. It's time to hire a team to take your company to the next level. But do you have what it takes to lead a team -- and be great at it?
I recently asked service-industry authority Jon Taffer what he thinks makes a leader great. "The greatest gift of leadership is a boss who wants you to be successful," Taffer says. Successful employees help make a successful business, right?
In case you aren't familiar, Taffer is the no-nonsense host of Spike TV's Bar Rescue, where he helps desperate entrepreneurs turn around their failing bars and restaurants. Taffer is also the author of the book Raise the Bar: An Action-Based Method for Maximum Customer Reactions (New Harvest, 2013).
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"If I'm your boss, and I truly want you to be successful ... I'm inherently going to teach you, I'm inherently going to correct your mistakes, I'm inherently going to spend time with you, I'm inherently going to lead you," Taffer says. "If I don't care about you, the leadership is bull. It's fake."
And when Taffer says "inherently," he means it. "Leadership cannot be taught," he says. "Either you're a leader by the time you're 12 years old or you never will be. Leadership is a trait; it's not a skill."
Though, that inherent trait can be improved, he says. Even natural leaders can be taught how to lead better.
For more on Taffer's thoughts on what makes a great business leader, check out the video above.
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