---
title: Have you ever wondered what makes leaders truly great?
description: Great leaders lead with empathy, not ego. Insights from our exclusive roundtable and a conversation about The Gentle Art of Leadership.
image: https://donovanleadership.com/hubfs/Peter%20McMullin.jpeg
---
[Skip to content](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-makes-leaders-truly-great#main-content)
- [Home](https://donovanleadership.com/)
- [Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/executive-coaching-transform-your-leadership-style-donovan-leadership)
Show submenu for Coaching
- [One on One Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/one-on-one-coaching)
- [Group Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/group-coaching)
- [Blog](https://donovanleadership.com/blog)
Show submenu for Blog
- [All Posts](https://donovanleadership.com/blog)
- [Research](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/research)
- [Books](https://donovanleadership.com/books)
- [About](https://donovanleadership.com/about)
Show submenu for About
- [Contact Us](https://donovanleadership.com/contact)
Open main navigation
Close main navigation
- [Home](https://donovanleadership.com/)
- [Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/executive-coaching-transform-your-leadership-style-donovan-leadership)
Show submenu for Coaching
- [One on One Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/one-on-one-coaching)
- [Group Coaching](https://donovanleadership.com/group-coaching)
- [Blog](https://donovanleadership.com/blog)
Show submenu for Blog
- [All Posts](https://donovanleadership.com/blog)
- [Research](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/research)
- [Books](https://donovanleadership.com/books)
- [About](https://donovanleadership.com/about)
Show submenu for About
- [Contact Us](https://donovanleadership.com/contact)
- [Influence Curve Quiz](https://influence-curve.lovable.app/)
[Influence Curve Quiz](https://influence-curve.lovable.app/)
Oct 9, 2025, 6:11:53 PM
# Have you ever wondered what makes leaders truly great?
[Brian Donovan](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/brian-donovan)
Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-makes-leaders-truly-great) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-makes-leaders-truly-great) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-makes-leaders-truly-great) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-makes-leaders-truly-great) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://donovanleadership.com/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-makes-leaders-truly-great)
It’s probably not what you think.
This week, at an exclusive leadership roundtable hosted by [Peter McMullin AM](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-mcmullin-australia/) at Cornwalls, we explored that very question — and the answers were surprising.
A big thank you to Peter and everyone who joined us for a deep dive into our book, [The Gentle Art of Leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/books), which [Dean Phelan](http://linkedin.com/in/dean-phelan-26170747) and I co-authored.
The book challenges the old idea that great leaders must be loud, forceful, or ego-driven.
Think about the leaders who influenced you.
Who believed in you.
Who encouraged you to step up.
Who cared enough to listen.
They were practising the gentle art of leadership.
Our research and interviews with 50+ leaders from around the globe found that:
👉 The most effective leaders lead with empathy, not ego.
👉 They build great leaders around them.
👉 And they achieve stronger results — because people \*want\* to follow them.
Hearing from some of those leaders brought the book to life:
[Peter McMullin AM](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-mcmullin-australia/): 'Giving and advocacy is good for business and personally rewarding.'
[David Lloyd](https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-lloyd-027a9922/): 'Be the right answer for the question your organisation faces.'
[Fi Slaven](https://www.linkedin.com/in/fi-slaven-b65abaa/): 'Employees are more engaged when they’re having fun.'
[Graham Hodges](https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-hodges-a772541b4/): 'Listen to understand and reconcile differences.'
[Gavin Slater](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavin-slater-32726a89/): 'You are an open-water swimmer, with no lanes to guide you.'
[Denis McGee](https://www.linkedin.com/in/denis-mcgee-9b02039/): 'Role models teach us things we can pay forward.'
[Chris Stevens](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-stevens-9121a01/): 'Change the game for yourself and others.'
[Tony Arnel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-arnel-0b93b277/): 'Learn what makes people tick to get the best from them.'
The feedback from attendees reinforced the value of hearing the perspectives of other leaders:
‘It was an amazing room of leaders, with valuable insights from their journeys — which you’ve captured so well in the book.’
'The leaders in the room really embodied The Gentle Art of Leadership — their focus on people and mission was incredibly inspiring.’
‘It’s always a great experience to hear the thoughts of others and consider how similar they are.’
Thank you to everyone who shared their perspectives so generously. It was a day full of insight and inspiration.
What’s one small act of kindness or understanding from a leader you’ll never forget?
Best regards, Brian
[The Gentle Art of Leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/the-gentle-art-of-leadership), [Leadership Roundtable](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/leadership-roundtable), [Peter McMullin](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/peter-mcmullin)
## Related posts
[](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/walk-together-rather-than-follow-me)
[The Gentle Art of Leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/the-gentle-art-of-leadership), [Peter Watson](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/peter-watson), [Dr Sunnie Giles](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/dr-sunnie-giles)
## [Walk together rather than follow me](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/walk-together-rather-than-follow-me)
[Brian Donovan](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/brian-donovan)
Sep 18, 2025, 3:30:00 PM
Peter Watsonrecalls a time when he was CEO of Transfield Services when they were entering the...
[Read more](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/walk-together-rather-than-follow-me)
[](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/product/the-gentle-art-of-leadership)
## [The Gentle Art of Leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/product/the-gentle-art-of-leadership)
[Admin](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/admin)
Feb 15, 2017, 4:00:00 PM
Home / Books / The Gentle Art of Leadership The Gentle Art of Leadership $39.99 Have you ever had a...
[Read more](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/product/the-gentle-art-of-leadership)
[](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/the-bottleneck-crisis-when-your-greatest-strength-becomes-a-leadership-trap)
[The Gentle Art of Leadership](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/the-gentle-art-of-leadership), [Leadership and AI](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/leadership-and-ai), [The Bottleneck Crisis](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/tag/the-bottleneck-crisis)
## [The Bottleneck Crisis: When Your Greatest Strength Becomes a Leadership Trap](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/the-bottleneck-crisis-when-your-greatest-strength-becomes-a-leadership-trap)
[Brian Donovan](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/brian-donovan)
Jun 11, 2026, 4:05:57 PM
Most technical leaders are promoted for the same reason: they're the best problem-solver in the...
[Read more](https://donovanleadership.com/blog/the-bottleneck-crisis-when-your-greatest-strength-becomes-a-leadership-trap)
[facebook-f icon](https://www.facebook.com/DonovanLeadership/) [linkedin-in icon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfdonovan1/) [Twitter icon](https://x.com/Briandonovan1)
- [Privacy Policy](https://donovanleadership.com/privacy-policy)
- [Disclaimer](https://donovanleadership.com/disclaimer)
- [Contact Us](https://donovanleadership.com/contact)
---
PO Box 536 Camberwell
VICTORIA, 3124
Australia
[](https://donovanleadership.com/)
Copyright © 2025,
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@type" : "BlogPosting",
"author" : {
"@type" : "Person",
"name" : "Brian Donovan",
"url" : "https://donovanleadership.com/blog/author/brian-donovan"
},
"dateModified" : "2025-10-09T07:38:44.137Z",
"datePublished" : "2025-10-09T07:11:53.000Z",
"headline" : "Have you ever wondered what makes leaders truly great?",
"image" : [ "https://donovanleadership.com/hubfs/Peter%20McMullin.jpeg" ],
"mainEntityOfPage" : {
"@id" : "https://donovanleadership.com/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-makes-leaders-truly-great",
"@type" : "WebPage"
},
"publisher" : {
"@type" : "Organization",
"logo" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject",
"url" : "https://donovanleadership.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/cropped-cropped-DON_LongRGB01-Apr-17-2025-10-42-20-2134-PM-Jun-18-2025-10-42-41-2821-AM.jpg"
},
"name" : "Donovan Leadership"
}
}
```