As an admissions counselor and former Dean of Students at Columbia Business School, my eyes and ears were always searching for someone in the cohort who was prepared to take on a leadership role. While I encountered many with the loudest voices and forceful personalities, very few had that ephemeral aura that said, “Come with me, we will be successful.” To me, that’s a true leader. Having met and worked with many such leaders, I recognized that this type of influential leadership often comes with three powerful traits — humility, fearlessness and a touch of madness.
