Quite a few books, articles, papers and courses have been written identifying the top traits that great leaders posses. Even the most basic search of the internet for "top leadership traits" results in a plethora of information. Recently, I read the book Think Like a CEO by D.A. Benton. In it, Benton outlines 22 traits that make the difference between good leaders and what she terms near-perfect (because, she insists nobody is perfect!).
In aggregating the many traits and qualities I researched, several common themes emerged allowing me to create this simplified version. Thus saving you the hassle of dredging through mountains of information. Building a list such as this is subjective, but not without proven research. For example, Benton put together her list after comprehensive research and interviews with over 100 CEO's. Multiple university and MBA program studies have attacked this subject as well.
In a nutshell, if you want to get to the top and stay there, you should strive to be:
- Self confident and secure with oneself
- Honest, Ethical and Trustworthy
- Calculated risk taker
- Humorous
- Tenacious
- Great Listener
Now, maybe you do not want to be the CEO. That's ok, because if you just want to be better at anything you do, this list will apply to that, too !
\Mike
Posts
