The interview!!!

As said in my earlier post I decided to interview Mr. Jim Johnson who is the president of Interstate Helicopters. His company provides jets and helicopters to people who need to be flown somewhere. It was a very nice interview and I am quite appreciative!
1) Who is an example of a good leader in history and why?
Mr. Johnson responded by saying that he felt president Ronald Reagan was an important leader in history not to mention a role model as well. He felt this for 3 reasons them being that president Reagan "did a lot of good for the country" and made "good decisions". this shows the leadership trait of both competence and the ability to look forward. President Reagan knew what to do for his country (competence) and had the vision and goals in mind to propel it forward (forward looking).
2) What attributes are vital in a leader?
The response that Mr. Johnson gave me for this question surprised me a little i must say. this wasn't because it was different and radical but because it was strikingly similar in some ways to Kouzes and Posner's list of attributes in a leader (them being Honesty, forward looking, inspiring, and competent.) He felt that Honesty, good character, the ability to make good decisions, and being of sound judgment financially are all characteristics of a good leader. As you can see there are many similarities between the two lists for example Honesty and Honesty, Ability to make good decisions and competence, and good character with inspiring perhaps. Both of the lists though relate back to credibility which I asked about in a later question.
3) Should leadership decisions be based on logic or gut feeling?
the main reason i asked this question is because, well... I was curious. MR Johnson very wisely said that it takes both; logic to make decisions and gut feeling to verify and trust them.
4) Is leadership a skill or a gift?
" leadership is a skill developed by personal situations and experiences". this quote is also like Kouzes and Posner's quote that says it is a learnable skill.
5)How does a leader establish credibility?
Credibility is vital to a leader because it shows that one would do what they said they would do (Kouzes and Posner.) Mr.Johnson said that through hard work and example the credibility of every leader is shown and tested.

The Interview

For a class assignment, we must interview a leader in hopes of learning more about becoming one. Being interested in avionics I decided to interview Mr. Jim Johnson who is a leader at a company that does private flights for various people. For the interview I have composed 5 questions:
1) Who is the best leader in history and why?
2) What attribute is vital in a leader?
3) Should leaderaship choices be based on feelings or logic?
4) Is leadership a skill or a gift?
5) How does a leader establish his credability?
Hopefully with these questions i can learn something new. fingers crossed!