my type of business leader...

...is Haruka Nishimatsu, the CEO of Japan Airlines.
here's why

...(He) who takes the bus to work.
...Nishimatsu knocked down his office walls so people can walk up and talk to him, and he works from a desk with an old-fashioned wooden in-and-out box.
Got an idea? Tell him at lunch in the company cafeteria because he wants people to share.
"I go there," Nishimatsu said, "to raise morale and motivation."
How does Nishimatsu treat himself? How about buying his suits at a discount store - wearing Armani, he says, puts his people at arms-length.

hierarchy, duh...

"There's no one person being on top," he told us, "and one person being on bottom, in an organization such as ours."
And he motivates one-on-one, regularly popping into planes, chatting with flight attendants, even helping sort the newspapers.
"I'd like to just find what is going on at the front line," he said.

buck stops at him

All CEOs say that service is important, but Nishimatsu goes a step beyond. He says that if you're having a bad experience, don't get angry with the people you're dealing with … blame the person in charge.

and salary,

For running the world's 10th largest airline Nishimatsu doesn't make millions. One year his pay was $90,000 because when he had to cut salaries, he also cut his own.
"My wife said, 'What?!" he laughed.
Does it work?
"Yes," he said. "The company is doing better, and so are its people."

hat tip: daily good