Kylie Wright-Ford and I researched what good leaders are like for our book, The Leadership Mind Switch (McGraw-Hill, 2017). Through observing hundreds of outstanding leaders, we learned that they generally tend to be more:
- » Personally accountable
- » Informed and curious about the wider world
- » Committed to both their job and the job of the whole organization
- » Emotionally stable
- » Positive in a negative situation
They also have:
- » A combo of competencies, traits, experiences, roles, personality inclinations, and values that ts the needs of their organization
- » An understanding that they must maintain morale, engage stakeholders, and remain trusted
- » The ability to get a group of high-powered individuals to cooperatively interact with one mind, one heart, and one voice.
- » A willingness to engage
- » A comfort with ambiguity
- » An ethno-cultural empathy
- » The capability to easily relate across generations
- » Cognitive flexibility and openness
- » Varied interests beyond the office
- » Willingness to show their true self when the environment allows for it
- » Solid relationships with their work partners, especially their executive assistants
- » A mindset where success is considered a derivative of not only their own efforts, but also the efforts of those around them
That’s a pretty good checklist to reflect on your own leadership style.
