A client asked me if I could describe the stand out characteristics of THE most impressive leaders I had ever worked with.
“Give me your top 5 and what makes them exceptional”.
Having the opportunity to meet so many amazing people it is hard to pick a top 50 but I did conclude that there were common traits that all had. There are successful people who don’t have these traits of course, but these are are some of the stand outs for me.
1. Natural Charisma – the well researched Harvard formula of Charisma = Warmth + Competence. They are engaging, warm and give an air of confidence and competence.
2. Curiosity and Interest – they take a genuine interest in people and their work. Usually a polymath and like to engage on wide range of topics – they seek to understand them all and continually challenge their thinking and develop their knowledge.
3. Attention to Detail – doesn’t mean they are always in the detail but they care about it, sweat the small stuff and care that others do. Like Anna Wintour says “God is in the details”. In meetings they are well prepared, well researched and know how to ask the right questions to check people are (or are not) on top of their brief.
4. They Remember Stuff – they know what you spoke about before (business and personal), they can hold people to account and have incredible recall. They are also good at quickly triangulating information.
5. Obsess about Talent – this is not just because our conversations are so often talent related; amazing leaders obsess about having the very best people around them. They invest a lot of time in this area and don’t compromise.
