I do get there eventually, but I take longer – and it shows.

Then we start talking about people and those same people rate nil – in fact minus nil – on emotional intelligence. They don’t know how to deal with people unless they are the same kind of people as them, motivated by the same things, worried by the same things.

This weekend my daughter was talking about me getting older. She told me that now I need to start riding, what she calls, a push button horse. This means a horse that has no will of its own, it turns left or right or stops or starts or eats or sleeps as it is told.

It made me think that the colleagues I have been working with can only lead push button colleagues (or people who choose to be push button at work), not that they are not bright or lacking for ideas. But when you push their buttons they do what you know they will do. Without emotional intelligence you have to stick to leading push button colleagues.

When will emotional intelligence be understood? When will schools, universities and business schools start giving it equal importance. Why do I think it ranks up there? So that we have diverse, difficult, creative teams and leaders who can cope with stakeholders who operate differently from them. Please may it be soon.

Shall we focus on what these three men have to say on policy? Or the issues? Or will we scrutinise their competency? Or the strength of their ambition?

To me – above all – the focus should be on leadership. Who do we think will be the best leader with the best team?

The UK is in quite a mess. No secret there. We can get out of its mess, but the danger is that we will slide and all the difference will rest on the brave decisions and the national mood one of these three people will create.

We have huge assets for such a small country – in land mass and population – compared to existing and emerging world powers. But we will have to play a clever game to succeed…and to continue to prosper.

So what will I be looking for as I switch on the telly tonight? The leader with some policies I’m sure to disagree with. The one to lift a country from the recession blues and give it confidence. The leader who names the beast, who doesn’t pretend that there is no mess to speak of and confronts the hard questions. The one who can attract and keep talent around him and ensure they perform at their best. The one who speaks in a way that makes you listen.

This year its not just the end of a year but of the first decade of what was  the eagerly anticipated New Millennium. And what a decade it has been – a great anti-climax. All those big aspirations and bold targets just didn’t hold water. The worst of it for me has been the collapse of trust in leadership at a rate that makes climate change look like it’s dawdling.

I am now wondering what leaders will need to think about, the challenges they will face and the triumphs they will celebrate in the coming decade.

So I would like to hear your views. What is your wish list is for our leaders as we welcome 2010. Will they need to be…

1.    Brave?
2.    Enlightened?
3.    Bold?
4.    Humble?
5.    Networked?
6.    Entreprising?
7.    Ruthless?
8.    Collaborative?
9.    Cautious?
10.    Authoritative?

Tell me which one is the most important and why in the comments below.

And have a very happy holiday season and New Year.

The difference that strong, confident leadership produces is wonderful and its biggest impact can be on the leader; a leader who does not need to resort to arrogance or bullying from a distance to express themselves.