Here's what makes a great CEO — do you have what it takes?

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Eric Kayne

Former energy CEO Al Bolea and University of Houston professor Leanne Atwater teamed up to study what makes great business leaders.

Jordan Blum

Reporter- Houston Business Journal

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Al Bolea has seen it from all angles and determined that a great energy CEO is someone who has developed strong leadership skills and who communicates well with colleagues and employees.

Bolea, a former CEO/GM of the Dubai Petroleum Co. and BP PLC (NYSE: BP) executive, is now mostly Houston-based and has teamed up with Leanne Atwater, a University of Houston professor of management, to write a book on the topic, "Applied Leadership Development: Nine Elements of Leadership Mastery," which comes out in December.

"A CEO is not someone who is born," Bolea said. "You become a CEO, and you're nurtured into that role. … Great CEOs are great leaders. You have to be a great leader to be a successful CEO.

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"A CEO is not leading a dogsled," Bolea added. "They're leading people. When you get right down to it, a CEO's job is talking to people."

The most important CEO characteristics to Bolea are courage, integrity, self-awareness and, even though it sounds like a negative, intolerance.

"A leader does not tolerate what's inconsistent with what they stand for. They stop it," Bolea said. "You get the lowest level of behavior that you tolerate."

While taller, charming people may be more likely to become CEOs, Atwater said the most important quality is that a person be "aspirational."

"You can be short, not very smart, not likable" and still lead a company, she said.

Humility and authenticity are key traits for strong leaders, Atwater said, "but a little bit of narcissism may not be a bad thing."

To see more, check out the Oct. 31 weekly edition of Houston Business Journal on "The CEO Psyche: What Makes a CEO," available to print and digital subscribers. Click here to subscribe.

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Jordan Blum covers energy for the Houston Business Journal. Read the top Texas energy news in our free weekly newsletter, Energy Inc. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Inc. newsletter.