You can develop them, if you care enough – Issue #69

There are tens of thousands of books on the subject of Leadership. There are millions of opinions, articles, and research studies on what makes an effective, successful, great leader.

The advice can often seem contradictory, and the list of required leadership traits is overwhelming. What unicorn fits that profile?

Rather than trying to boil the leadership ocean, I’ve distilled my 30+ years of experience working with leaders and becoming a leader into 10 top traits. These are traits that I’ve admired in some of the greatest leaders I’ve known across a wide variety of environments and industries (e.g., Tech, small business, military, academic, etc.).

They are also traits that I’ve strived to develop in myself while attempting to eliminate habits that I feel made me a less effective leader.

The 10 top traits:

1. Visionary

2. Smart

3. Inquisitive

4. Confident

5. Charismatic

6. Decisive

7. Empathetic

8. Respectful

9. Supportive

10. Eloquent

Visionary

This is an essential trait, not because it plays a significant role in the daily life of a leader, but more due to the perception of what separates a leader from a manager.

You may try to dismiss the importance of vision, but it plays an undeniable role in attracting people to a mission in which they can believe and where they will dedicate their working hours.

A leader is responsible for communicating vision, setting direction, and getting the team inspired by a shared purpose and mission. The prominent examples of visionary leaders that spring to mind are people like Steve Jobs, Angela Merkel, Elon Musk, and Salman Khan.

A leader isn’t merely taking orders and passing them down. That’s an operational role. Execution is important. Vision without action is simply a dream. But, action without vision is drudgery.

One of the biggest mistakes new leaders make is to assume that all vision must spring fully formed from within their heads. There is a common myth that all of the vision at Apple came from the mind of Steve, for example. It’s simply not true.

Jobs was brilliant, demanded perfection, warped reality, and had an eye for elegance. But, Apple has a brilliant team of some of the most talented and visionary people in the world.

As a leader, don’t feel crushed by some imaginary burden of being a great visionary for the company. Hire smart, talented, and motivated people, and you will never be at a loss for amazing ideas to bring to life.

Learn how to listen and nurture those ideas. Use your leadership to elevate those ideas to the level of a vision that can be communicated across the company.

Smart

I’ve never met a great leader who wasn’t smart. It doesn’t mean that they must have a genius-level IQ, but they are gifted in some sense.

They are often smart about their domain of expertise, organizational politics, or business strategy. To become a great leader, they have become smart about people and how to inspire and lead them.

It used to be that intelligence played one of the most significant roles in determining who would rise to the top. Now, we are beginning to see that emotional intelligence plays a role just as significant — if not more substantial (more on this later).

However, to remain in a position of leadership, you had better know your stuff. EQ isn’t sufficient.

We’ve all experienced leaders who were promoted due to performance, connections, and political savvy, but just weren’t that bright. Sometimes they hide it very well. But, get into more in-depth conversations and scratch beneath the surface, and you sometimes make the shocking discovery that they don’t have a clue.

I should be clear. I think everyone can learn and become smart about their leadership role if they feel that it is important. As I said, you don’t have to be a natural-born genius.

But, being a lifelong learner is critical for continued growth and effective leadership.

Inquisitive

When asked to name the attribute that leaders will need the most to succeed in our rapidly-changing world, Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, Inc., replied,

“I would place my bet on curiosity”

I don’t know how you can run an organization and be a leader if you’re not profoundly aware of what’s going on in all aspects of the business and asking a lot of questions. It also requires being inquisitive and knowledgable about the broader industry.

A great leader always wants to learn, seek information, and have access to data.

When I worked with Jeff Weiner at Yahoo (now the CEO of Linkedin), he was well known for this. He was very interested and spent a lot of time in our dashboards. He was sometimes aware of product metric fluctuations before the product manager, which isn’t a great thing for the PM, by the way.

You can become “smart” in your role by being a curious, inquisitive leader with a thirst for data gathering and learning. Surround yourself with talented people who can educate and advise you. Seek out knowledge to proactively create a vision for your organization, instead of reactively responding to inbound issues.

It does require a shift in your perception of what leadership means. We are often raised in a culture that extols the virtues of the extroverted, confident leader who knows everything.

I know that when I was a new leader, I thought that it meant that I should always have the answer. People would be coming to me for my advice, feedback, and guidance. I had better know it all.

The reality is that none of us can always know everything necessary to lead.

The best leaders are humble and honest. They will say, “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you” instead of pretending to know.

The best leaders know how to surround themselves with people who are smarter than they are, especially with the multiple specializations that it takes to run a complex organization now.

Confident

Have you ever met a true leader who wasn’t confident? That’s part of leadership and making your team feel comfortable.

When you’re calm and confident, they know that everything is going to be ok.

You may not have all of the answers, and you may not have all of the information. But, you will make the necessary decisions to move forward and be confident about taking the team with you.

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Yes, someone can also be overconfident and make mistakes when he or she hasn’t taken the time to be inquisitive and fully informed. You do need to be sure that your confidence is warranted.

But, I’ve never found it easy to trust and follow a leader who continually waffles. One day they tell you that this is what you should be doing. The next, they’ve flipped and reversed their decision.

This can occasionally happen as strategy changes and new data comes in, but constant flip-flopping shouldn’t be the norm.

You may naturally be a confident person, but that isn’t true for everyone. Some of us have to earn and develop our confidence. I’ve found that “writing your story” is an excellent first step.

“When you take the time to write down everything you’ve done in your life, you realize how far you’ve come. You start to see patterns in your talent, skills, knowledge, and experience. Once that is all laid out in front of you, your confidence grows. You may still have a long way to go, but you now understand how far you’ve come.”

As Vince Lombardi said, “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” You need the confidence to be an effective leader. Your team needs your confidence to have trust in you, the company, and the mission.

Charismatic

Charisma comes up a lot in leadership discussions, and it is a bit controversial. There has been a backlash against charismatic leadership that goes too far. There are some successful leaders who you wouldn’t probably label as traditionally charismatic.

But, most of the leaders I’ve met and admired have been quite personable, could turn on the charm when necessary, and inspired devotion from their employees. They were genuine with their joy, passion, and praise, and could make you feel like the most important person in the room.

“Charisma depends on a unique mix of passion, an ability to transmit that passion to others, the ability to convey a message in a simple way that people get…” — Dr. Richard Wiseman

For better or worse, the truth is that people are drawn to charismatic leaders. The Steve Jobs “reality distortion field” wasn’t just a myth. He really did have that effect on people. His passion and energy made you believe everything he was saying, and that anything was possible.

I was working at Apple at the time of the NeXT acquisition and Steve’s return. I still remember our first all-hands meeting with him.

I will admit that it was a bit of a fanboy moment, so I made sure to get a seat near the front to see if Steve was everything that I had heard. He didn’t disappoint.

It was exciting, inspiring, and he made us feel like we were going to be part of something amazing: the turnaround of Apple. And, he was right.

Decisive

All of these traits make for an interesting blend. Considered in isolation, you might mistake a charismatic leader for a weak leader since they seem so agreeable. However, while they can be charming and persuasive one minute, they can also be ruthlessly decisive and firm the next.

I witnessed this first hand in a meeting with a C-level executive. My interactions with him had always been positive. He was friendly, charming, and everyone in the room always seemed happy to see him walk in.

But, in one meeting, an executive in the room was responsible for a serious failure. To make matters worse, he had tried to cover it up, then made excuses, and even dared to ask for more resources.

The smile left the C-level exec’s face, and the temperature in the room dropped 20 degrees. He proceeded to rake that exec over the coals, and it did not end well for him.

You will never have all of the data and information that you need to decide with 100% certainty. Strong leaders make decisions while others are stuck in analysis paralysis.

Once they’ve made their decision, they relentlessly stay the course while others lose faith and give up.

Empathetic

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist who frequently writes and speaks on the importance of emotional intelligence. He believes that it plays a much more significant role than IQ for success as a leader.

Indeed, leaders are often promoted for their intelligence, talent, and experience, but then fired for reasons related to a lack of emotional intelligence.

Empathy is one of the 12 leadership competencies in his Emotional and Social Intelligence Model. He believes that there are three types of empathy.

1. Cognitive empathy. This is understanding how other people think, their point of view, what is important to them, how they communicate, etc. This enables you to improve your communication and collaboration with peers and superiors. But, it also allows you to understand better how to communicate with your team and motivate them.

2. Emotional empathy. This is understanding how other people are feeling. It requires being able to tune into facial expressions, body language, tone, and more. This is what we often call “chemistry” or the ability to create rapport with others. I believe that this plays a significant role in the charisma trait, mentioned earlier.

3. Empathetic concern. Being able to understand what someone is thinking and how they are feeling is only part of the leadership puzzle. You also must have an authentic concern for others. Do you really care? Do you actually do something about situations when someone is experiencing a challenging situation (vs. thinking, “Sucks to be you”)

Research conducted by The Center for Creative Leadership found that empathy plays a significant role in leadership and correlates highly with perceived successful performance.

“Our results reveal that empathy is positively related to job performance. Managers who show more empathy toward direct reports are viewed as better performers in their job by their bosses. The findings were consistent across the sample: empathic emotion as rated from the leader’s subordinates positively predicts job performance ratings from the leader’s boss.”

Reflecting on the leaders in my life, I was most committed to those who clearly cared. They observed, listened, and actually did something when we were suffering.

The worst leaders lacked empathy. They were either unable to pick up on the issue, or they simply didn’t care (e.g., “Suck it up, buttercup”).

I do know that there is a degree of innate empathy that you are born with. We’ve all interacted with people who are naturally more empathetic than others. We’ve also spent time with people who clearly lack it.

However, there are skills that you can develop to ask, listen, and pick up on the clues that people are either doing well or not. If you’re not naturally empathetic, then it’s time to develop these skills to improve your leadership capabilities.

Respectful

Harvard Business Review conducted a study of nearly 20,000 employees around the world and found that being treated with respect by leadership was more important than any other factor, even though 54% claimed that they don’t receive it:

Those that get respect from their leaders reported 56% better health and well-being, 1.72 times more trust and safety, 89% greater enjoyment and satisfaction with their jobs, 92% greater focus and prioritization, and 1.26 times more meaning and significance. Those that feel respected by their leaders were also 1.1 times more likely to stay with their organizations than those that didn’t.

I experienced this in the military. There was certainly a lot of fear-based leadership, rigid hierarchy, and expectations of a one-way street for respect. Fear and respect your leader, even as he insults, degrades, and punishes you.

But, I encountered one memorable leader who I spent a day working for on base. He started the day by saying, “We’re going to work hard today. I’m not going to curse at you, hit you, or disrespect you. But, I expect the same respect back. We’ll be good as long as that stays true. But, if you don’t…”

He didn’t have to finish the sentence. It was the first time a leader had offered the same level of courtesy and respect to us, and I remember it to this day.

The best leaders realize that respect is a two-way street. They expect and command respect, but they are respectful to everyone in the organization.

Anyone can behave respectfully. Anyone can learn how to treat others with courtesy, civility, and dignity. A great leader doesn’t have to be rude, cruel, or oppressive to get things done.

Supportive

There is nothing like knowing that a leader has your back and is going to take care of you. In many ways, this ties into the concept of “servant leadership.”

“A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.” — Source

A great leader is nothing without a great team. Amazing things are only accomplished by a group of people with a shared vision and purpose. So, the best leaders realize that their employees aren’t merely there to take commands and do their bidding.

As their leader, you are there to help them be more successful. They depend on you for guidance, feedback, and career development.

Importantly, they need you to help them navigate treacherous political waters, break through barriers that are hindering progress, acquire resources to operate effectively, and be their champion.

When your team feels like you have their best interests at heart, they will give you their loyalty. They will often follow you from company to company.

I have been lucky enough to have reported to a few leaders who truly were supportive like this. They believed in us, went to bat for us, and shielded us from harmful situations that would sometimes rain down from above.

As you develop your leadership philosophy, being the champion for your team should be high on the list. Your job isn’t merely to pass down orders from above and make sure the work is getting done.

Take care of your team, help them grow and receive recognition, and protect them from the inevitable chaos the plagues many organizations.

This does come with risks, which is why weak leaders so rarely step up to be a real champion. It will sometimes require pushing back on the leadership above you.

It will require taking a stance and doing the right thing, even if it puts your own career growth at risk.

Just remember, you have to live with the decisions you make for the rest of your life. Also, your industry is smaller than you think, and people never forget.

Eloquent

The most influential leaders I’ve known are also excellent public speakers. They can communicate their vision and passion with complete confidence and clarity.

They understand that delivery is just as important as the words that are spoken. A strong leader commands attention with their vocal style, eye contact, and body language.

For inspiration, you can watch leaders and pay special attention to how they speak, their body language, their use of the “pause,” and more. TED has an excellent playlist of their most popular talks from speakers such as Ken Robinson, Amy Cuddy, Simon Sinek, Brené Brown, Tony Robbins, Susan Cain, and more.

It is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Do people who are naturally talented at public speaking tend to rise into leadership?

Or, do people who have been playing leadership roles become great public speakers because it is such a large part of the job? I’m sure that both are true.

But, as a leader, you will be required to speak in front of your team and in larger meetings quite often. You will be presenting to senior executives, investors, and the board.

You will need to be clear, confident, compelling, and persuasive.

I know that most people loathe public speaking. I did at one time, as well.

However, with training and a great deal of practice, I overcame my fear of public speaking and grew to love it. It is one of the best investments that you can make in yourself as a leader.

Investing in your own leadership development

I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the leaders you’ve encountered in your lifetime.

Who did you admire and want to emulate?

Who behaved in ways that you swear you never will as a leader?

You have lessons to learn from both the good and the bad.

Capture the traits that you admire most and decide where they fit into your definition of great leadership. My framework is certainly subjective since it’s based on my own experiences and leadership philosophy.

You need to define a style of leadership that you can live with.

But, one thing is true regardless of where you end up with your leadership philosophy and framework: no leader is perfect, and we all must continue to learn, adapt, and grow.

You can’t learn real leadership from a book. Nothing beats real-world experience.

While it is true that you will learn a great deal from observing and interacting with other leaders, you will learn just as much from your teams. There are more profound lessons within the feedback they provide and the way they respond to you.

Pay attention and continually tune your leadership style to the environment, the people, and the context.

I wish you the best of luck with your pursuit of great leadership!

We’ve had our fill of the damaging, traditional styles. It’s time for a change. The world desperately needs more amazing leaders.

Quick Tip

You can learn a great deal from reading literature on leadership. I have a stack of books in my office and a big list on my Kindle. But, you shouldn’t feel like you are on your own if you want to develop your leadership skills.

Ask for leadership development opportunities at work. Most companies offer some form of management and leadership training. Take advantage of those benefits!

At eBay, we had internal trainers and workshops, but we also brought in an outside expert to improve our public speaking skills. At Yahoo, they invested in an external leadership coach for me a couple of times. It helped me considerably.

However, if your manager won’t invest in you or there are no training opportunities in the company, look for leadership support on your own. It’s an excellent investment in your future.

The skills you develop can help you get ahead more quickly. They can also help you land a better leadership job somewhere else.

I provide leadership coaching services as well if you’d like to learn more.

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