Tag Archives: traits

Unusual Leadership Traits an How to Use Them

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These traits are not the typical ones we see listed over and over when speaking about the traits of leaders–but perhaps these means they are all the more important.

Calmness. Be calm when making hard decisions. It may be easy to make a decision but not always easy to make a good decision. If a decision is tough and emotion-filled, try to wait a while or sleep on it. Let the emotion melt away before coming to a final decision.

Grace under pressure. This is related to calmness. The still mind can more easily analyze a situation, a person or a plan. Try not to get agitated too quickly or unnecessarily. Handle stress effectively.

Consistency. Be consistent in your behavior. Employees want leadership they can count on and trust. Clients like to know they are getting the same person every time they come to you. No one likes a wildcard in business.

Persistence. Not everything is accomplished easily on the first try. Perseverance after disappointment may be hard to come by but will help. A leader who gives up is no leader at all.

Judgment. This may seem the most unusual trait and is not meant in the negative way one might first assume. Other synonyms for this may be experience, seasoning, or business savvy. These all add up to judgment. This is used by leaders to make decisions to yield positive outcomes not to punish or admonish.

It Only Takes One Inspiring Trait to be a Leader

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The mysteries of inspiration may never be fully unraveled but one quality most leaders aspire to have among their team members or staff is to be an inspiration. We may not all have it in us to be the students of The Dead Poet Society’s “Oh Captain My Captain” but as science has proven great leaders are made, not born. So, what is it you can do to inspire your team?

Having one admirable or inspiring trait can be all it takes to be a go-to guy for your team. There are many traits that can work and these might all fall under a few umbrella categories. Any trait you can foster as “your thing” that will help with one of the following will go a long way in making you an inspiring leader. No leader has it all and figuring out your leadership “super power” will help you push that to the forefront of your style.

If you trait helps others develop their inner resources that’s a great one. One good thing all leaders do is help others be their best.

Connecting with others; if what you do is speak to people, empathize, sympathize, see things from their perspective you can be the person who helps the group understand itself as a set of individuals who are also more than the some their parts.

Maybe what you do well is “set the tone;” however you do that. No one is asking this kind of leader to be an actor; this kind of leader reads the room and knows the kind of pep talk the majority of the team needs.

Finally, many leaders are good at, simply said, leading. You are great at delegating, mitigating, negotiating. Every organization needs someone who is simply good at logistics and planning.

While it is certainly admirable and desirable to be more than one of these traits no persons journey as a leader need begin with a fool toolbox.

The Science of Discipline in the Workplace

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Most organizations and teams are not pure democracies, in the end there is someone who is in charge. More often than we like to think this person in charge is asked to discipline a peer in cases of insubordination. Though we don’t like to think about it, insubordination does happen.

Whether it’s simply the character of a selected team member’s temperament or somebody simply having an instant of rebellion however will a front runner influence insubordination adult to adult?

First and foremost having a standard in place with dealing with general and/or specific types of insubordination is key. In the corporate world this often comes in the form of an employee handbook—a document like this can be invaluable even for a very small business, that may be run more casually. It is far easier to have rules in place then to try to enforce something without precedent.

Some leaders, managers and bosses will accommodate successful team members who have rebellious personalities if they are getting the job done and fundamentally respect the leader, other team members and the organization.

However, leaders ought to recognize that some team members could also be aggravated or resentful by the accommodation vogue and leaders WHO use this vogue might loose their credibleness with different team members if they are too loosey-goosey.
At the opposite finish of the spectrum there’s a strict leadership vogue during which propriety is of the top importance to the leader—sometimes to the purpose wherever any questioning of the leader is considered insubordination.
Team members usually recognize precisely wherever the road is once this vogue is used, however leaders will loose out on honest, critical feedback and may foster an atmosphere of fear and low morale.
While both these extreme styles have potential benefits and drawbacks, staying consistent is important.Inconsistent treatment of insubordination can inevitably cause chaos, low morale and loss of respect. Playing favorites or permitting one thing on Tuesday, but then not on Thursday is a quick way to lay waste to any respect or credibility a leader as earned from her team.
Some believe the most effective thanks to handle insubordination, adult to adult, in a very leader-to-team-member relationship is thru immediate constructive criticism.

Address the behavior politely, but firmly. Be as objective as possible about the transgression. While for many this will feel like the most uncomfortable and difficult option in the short term, in the long term this style may reap the most healthy team environment.

Habits of Exceptional Leaders

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The Victor Crew came across an article on LinkedIn offering insight for leadership.

Dr. Travis Bradberry, coauthor of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, offers these essential traits for better leadership:

Courage
Effective Communication
Generosity
Humility
Self-awareness
Adherence to the Golden Rule +1
Passion
Infectiousness
Authenticity
Approachability
Accountability
Sense of Purpose

You won’t necessarily incorporate all these traits at one time but you can focus on a couple and build from there.

Read his full article.