Ep. 10— Twenty Leaders, 10 Words to Lead Better
Just last week I had connected two dear friends and was chatting with them about how I lucked out and am surrounded by the best network of women in leadership. Because I am working on a project for leaders and thought I need to work through this project by grabbing some wisdom from these experts I know. And while that project is still under wraps, I decided I need to share what I found with you - NOW.
We all know that characteristics of a leader are important. Trait theory has been studied for a long time in the leadership space and basically focuses on traits that are corollary to successful leadership throughout different situations and across contexts. But we know that trait theory doesn’t account for the whole picture and because we are in wild times right now in the United States, I figured things could potentially look different than the research I’ve seen before. Even more relevant is the fact that I work with women in leadership and as I am working from home in Covid19 (as are so many of the leaders in my network), I found myself pondering what those leadership characteristics that we want from others would be right now.
So I asked. I sent out a message to 20 leaders across industries - entrepreneurs and consultants, educators, women in business and the nonprofit sector, and I asked them to thing of the top 5 words that they immediately think of for the following prompt:
“A leader is ___________.”
Between the 20 leaders, I had compiled a list of over 70 words in under an hour. All had positive association, meaning that all 20 women immediately thought of a “good leader” when completing the sentence, and the words were deeply insightful.
I had read an peer-reviewed journal article published in 2014 where two leadership researchers studied traits and conducted an experiment where individuals could purchase traits in leaders with tokens. They were working to answer the question: Do individuals desire different traits in leaders dependent on the leader's position in the organizational hierarchy? Overall, they found that trustworthiness and intelligence were desired in leaders across all levels of an organization. They were the most important characteristics to people.
But 2014 looked nothing like 2020, and honestly it is a wild time for leaders at any level in any organization given the fact that we are only halfway through a year that will go down in the history books for a multitude of reasons. Right now, we are all trying to navigate the current spaces where we lead because we know there is no leader handbook for right now. So I sent the message and I gathered the characteristics of leaders these women are willing to follow, striving to be, and hoping to meet. And out of 70 words, 10 were repeated multiple times, again and again. Are you ready?
Empathetic
Honest
Humble
Self-Aware
Vulnerable
Transparent
Intentional
Authentic
Brave
A Learner
I want you to look at that list. Reflect on that list. Add your context to that list. When I field questions from people who find out I study leader development, I often avoid the question for the perfect formula that they want and instead point it back at them, “What do you think makes a good leader, and why?” I have leaders dig into values and transformational experiences to uncover the deeper needs they have in leaders and the standard of excellence they have for themselves.
As I sat in hundreds of interviews for leadership positions over the years, I would always ask applicants, “What do you need from a supervisor or leader?” and I was never sure there was a perfect answer (while some were better than others for sure and 25% of the time I was just making sure I wasn’t building out a team that would implode). I still don’t think there is a perfect answer - but when we are grappling with change unlike anything we have ever experienced, I am holding pretty tight to this list.
I want to invite you to look, reflect, and define and contextualize that list for yourself, dear leader.
Today, am I empathetic?
Today, am I honest?
Today, am I humble?
Today, am I self-aware?
Today, am I vulnerable?
Today, am I transparent?
Today, am I intentional?
Today, am I authentic?
Today, am I brave?
Today, am I a learner?
This is not an exhaustive list of leader traits. In fact, there are key words missing in this list that research show us are crucial for transformational leadership. However, I was looking for words to act as a springboard for you in this season. Let these words be the starting point for your leadership practice.
One last thing - if you are willing to send me your 5 words in response to the prompt, “A leader is __________.” then please send me an email at hello@leadership.coffee — I would be so grateful to know your response.
Cheers!