Smart leadership blends hard and soft skills : … and emphasizes the importance of continuous learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of smart leadership and outline how to excel as a leader. Design/methodology/approach – The paper highlights some of the challenges encountered by global leaders, to enable others to profit from their experience. Findings – Emphasizes the importance of articulating one's vision, managing uncertainty, staying calm in a crisis, taking feedback, using time effectively and developing successors, among other things. Practical implications – Stresses the importance of learning continuously and of blending soft and hard skills, to achieve leadership excellence. Social implications – Provides examples of a wide range of successful leaders, carrying out functions ranging from war leadership to nursing. Originality/value – The paper describes how to become an effective leader and outlines some of the pitfalls and blind‐alleys in the quest for success.