Astute Leadership: Can It Be Learned?

A recent article in the Australian Financial Review focused on IQ and EQ – well-known elements of business management.

I suggest that leadership today demands more than intelligence (IQ) or emotional awareness (EQ).

What distinguishes enduring leaders is what I’ve called XQ — the Astute Leadership Quotient: the ability to read the room, anticipate change, and influence with integrity.

But recognising the concept of XQ is only the beginning. To become an astute leader requires developing critical skills that translate awareness into action. And at the centre of these skills lies one constant: communication.

The Traits of an Astute Leader

1. Self-Awareness

As noted in the AFR article, astute leadership begins with knowing who you are — your values, your biases, and your impact. Without self-awareness, communication risks being unanchored. Leaders who are clear about their identity and purpose communicate with authenticity, and that builds trust.

2. Situational Awareness

Astute leaders are students of context. They know that leadership is never “one size fits all.” Reading the room means listening for more than words — observing tone, timing, tensions and interactions between people and groups ≈. Veterans, for example, understand this intuitively. In civilian leadership, it becomes the skill that creates situational relevance, connection action and impact.

3. Communication as the Core Skill

High-XQ leaders influence through clarity, not control. They de-escalate conflict not by silencing voices but by reframing issues, listening intently, and guiding towards shared outcomes. In the AFR article, it describes leaders you trust in a crisis not because they dazzle with answers, but because they communicate calm, confidence, and purpose. That is how communication occurs with astute leadership.

4. Resilience & Restraint

Anchored leaders inspire trust during uncertainty. They remain calm not because they know everything, but because they model steadiness and thoughtful action. For example, people who are involved in emergency services, military and first responders can carry this trait from service into civilian life. Here too, communication matters: steady tone, clear message, and presence that reassures.

5. Curiosity and Feedback

Astute leaders never stop learning. They seek feedback openly and listen without defensiveness. This curiosity expands their knowledge and insight, underpins their leadership foresight and muscle and keeps them relevant. Communication transforms feedback into shared understanding, creating environments of growth and innovation.

6. Courageous Decision-Making

Leadership is not about avoiding risk, but about assessing the risk appetite and integrating values-based choices. The easy option may be silence. Astute leaders communicate their decisions clearly, explaining not just what decisions they have made, but why. This alignment of words and actions builds credibility.

Why Communication Matters Most

Each of these traits — self-awareness, situational awareness, resilience, curiosity, and courage — depends on consistent and clear communication. It is communication that turns awareness into influence, resilience into trust, and courage into credibility.

The future belongs to the astute leader: those who can navigate ambiguity, build trust, and lead with relevance and authenticity.

But the bridge between awareness and impact is communication. Without it, leadership can seem inconsistent, performative, reactionary.

The Call to Leaders

Astute Leadership is not a gift; it is a discipline, developed deliberately over time. IQ and EQ provide the foundations, but XQ — built on critical skills and powered by communication — is what ensures leaders stay trusted, relevant, and real.

In an era of attention overload and fragile trust, leaders will not be remembered for the information they knew, but for the clarity, courage, and authenticity of the foresight and courage they exhibited and how they communicated over time.

Astute leaders don’t just speak — they connect. And through that connection, they leave not just results, but a lasting, positive legacy.