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Key Traits of Successful Leaders

  • Publish Date: Posted almost 4 years ago
  • Author:by Emma Woods

​Many of us working in talent management are aware of the saying ‘people leave managers, not companies’.

According to the British Psychological Society’s latest research, 43% of HR Professionals rate ‘poor management style’ as one of the top causes of stress in their organisation. If succession decisions are qualified through aligning the individual to role requirements, improvements will be seen. Consequently, leadership development expenses could be minimised.

Today’s leaders must manage the complexities of a multidimensional workforce. Such complexities involve creating a supportive and collaborative culture within a multigenerational workforce, across virtual workplaces. The complexity of today’s working structure means that leaders should have certain traits. These traits can help them to be successful and drive talent.

Key Competencies of Successful Leadership

1. Resilience

Leaders who have high levels of resilience are extremely important to an organisation’s ongoing growth, to survive major crises and to thrive under uncertain circumstances. As organisations operate in an increasingly competitive and dynamic context, their success is a reflection not only of their capacity to survive, but also of their ability to continually adapt in challenging environments and maintain high levels of productivity.

2. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence encompasses an understanding and management of your emotions and those of the people around you. Individuals with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean and how these emotions can affect other people. Identifying emotional intelligence in future leaders will ensure they are highly composed, emphatic, good communicators and have high-quality work standards.

3. Soft Skills

Soft skills are your behaviour, thinking and the manner in which you carry yourself. In other words, your personal characteristics and cognitive skills. In a globally interconnected world of work, soft skills are fundamental to build company and team morale. Ensuring that leaders are equipped with the necessary soft skills to effectively manage others is vital, for the reason that they can drive team engagement and therefore increase productivity within organisations.

In conclusion, Personality Profiling and Internal Development are increasingly utilised to support selection, progression and succession decisions. Using data to align the individual to a leadership position will identify those of high potential and who have the capabilities to manage and drive talent.

For more information on personality assessments please do not hesitate to get in touch with our People Consulting Team. All members of the Collins McNicholas People Consulting Team are qualified Level A & B Psychometric Test Users, accredited by the British Psychological Society. Additionally, they are members of the Psychological Society of Ireland and CIPD.

Emma Woods - Manager, People Consulting Team
Emma Woods
Manager, People Consulting Team
emma.woods@collinsmcnicholas.ie