Many people ask, "what makes a successful leader?" From Henry Ford to Bill Gates and other leaders that Michael Maccoby, Richard Margolies and I have studied, Strategic Intelligence is what creates sustained success for innovative leaders.

Strategic Intelligence is an integrated set of five qualities that empower a leader to shape the future. The strategically intelligent leader envisions a forward-looking strategy and then engages others in the implementation of that strategy. By consistently engaging others, they are able to sustain results over time. The five characteristics of a Strategic Intelligence are:

• Foresight
• Systems Thinking
• Visioning
• Motivating
• Partnering

The most recent Harvard Business Review includes the article "How Leaders Create and Use Networks" by Herminia Ibarra and Mark Hunter. This article discusses the importance of networking to leaders' development and the three types of networks that support continued success. It also discusses the personal and organizational barriers to developing these networks.

As I think about the most successful leadership development programs, they include the opportunities to build networks, though this may not be the stated goal. When delivering multi-day leadership development programs for my clients, the most consistent, positive feedback we receive is about the opportunities provided for participants to build relationships and learn from people they otherwise would not have made the effort to seek out or felt comfortable approaching. By structuring interactions around business issues, participants establish productive networks that impact their long-term effectiveness.