Leadership Traits: How Do You Measure Up?

by Sharon Michaels (Read about her here.)

 

 leadership Traits [5:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Whether you are building an online marketing team, own a storefront with employees, or organize a monthly professional networking group, your leadership skills can often mean the difference between success and failure.

What are the traits of a great leader?

Interestingly enough, in 1954 Raymond Cattell developed a Leadership Potential Equation. This equation was based on the common basic qualities of the top military leaders of World War II. In fact, this equation is still used today as a guide for defining the traits of effective leadership. Here are a few traits from Raymond Cattell’s Leadership Potential Equation:

1. Self-confidence – Self-assuredness, self-confidence and resiliency are common and important traits among top leaders. They trust their own judgment and instincts and do not necessarily need the approval of others to make well thought out decisions.

2. Healthy energy – A leader is well aware that good health is a prerequisite to good leadership. With leadership comes the need to take care of oneself in mind, body and spirit. Healthy energy begins in a healthy body.

3. Enthusiasm – People want to follow positive, energetic, upbeat, optimistic leaders. They want their leader to enthusiastically look for and focus on solutions to day-to-day challenges.

4. Knowledge – A powerful leader should know what she’s talking about. There’s nothing worse than a leader who doesn’t walk her talk. The most charismatic leaders lead by example.

5. Emotional stability – Good leaders handle stress, anger, frustration and disappointment in positive and empowering ways. Emotional maturity is a must for effective leadership.

6.  Empathy – Personal power and recognition must take a back seat to the well being of the team. Empathy builds trust. Without a leader who is trustworthy, there is no team.

7. Charisma – A charismatic leader can rally a team to be and achieve their best. A leader with charisma can paint a vision of the future that her team will want to build upon and aim toward.

8. Goal oriented – Leadership means knowing how to set group goals—goals that will motivate and excite the team to grow and thrive personally and professionally.

I doubt if anyone is born a great leader. It is how a person handles the circumstances they are given that often determines true leadership qualities. Looking through these traits, how do you rank yourself as a leader? Remember, you can learn to lead.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

On our website, WomensMedia you should read these excellent articles:

7 Steps to the Best Leadership Style and

Leadership Skills: Boost Your Business Acumen! and

5 Things Leaders Must Do to Stop the Gossip Mill

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here, or SharonMichaels here.

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By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)

 

 Standard Podcast [6:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”  Carl W. Buechner

Have you ever attended a comedy club where the comedians had you laughing constantly? When the lights come on, you were wishing for more because you had a great time and the comedians made you feel good.

Have you ever participated in a meeting, conference call, presentation, or face-to-face conversation feeling the complete opposite? You feel like time isn’t moving. You can’t wait to walk away and you’re bored to tears. Because the speaker is ineffective, you don’t remember the key points or ideas and there is nothing to quote.

Being memorable and quotable requires you to:

• Grab and keep the attention of listeners.

• Be clear, concise and to the point.

• Communicate a message that meets your listener’s expectations.

• Manage the amount of information you share.

Whether you are delivering a presentation, facilitating a meeting of having a face-to-face conversation, you’re objective is to influence action. When you are memorable and quotable, your listeners will remember more of your message for a longer length of time.  As a result, you’ll have more impact and influence on them.

Most of us never get close to being memorable and quotable because we frustrate our listeners. We communicate too much information and our message imparts information overload. Our listeners become frustrated because they begin to feel overwhelmed, confused or exhausted. In most cases, their reaction is to stop listening. They may be nodding their heads, giving you the impression they’re listening, but in reality you have filled their cup to capacity and it is now overflowing.

To make sure your listeners remember and retain the information you are communicating, create your content following “The Rule of Three,” which states that the human mind remembers in groups of three. This explains why we remember our phone numbers and Social Security numbers. When you offer more than three key points, your listeners are busy trying to remember each key point; they walk away with none of them. Keeping your key points to three or less will also help you remember what you came to communicate.

Identify up to three key points that will support your objective, meet your listener’s expectations and influence them to take action. Your key points serve as a road map that provides direction. Key points establish the framework for the action you want your listeners to take as a result of your message.

Always state your most important key point first. I know this sounds obvious, yet how many times have you saved the best for last? If you begin to run out of time, you end up racing through your most important key point, throwing it at your listeners and hoping they will cling to the idea. Often they will miss it!

When you state your most important key point first, you don’t need to worry about running out of time and failing to communicate a critical piece to your message. It’s not a make or break if you don’t have time to communicate your least important key point. Remember, your listeners don’t know what your key points are until you share them.

Leave your listener wanting more. You’ll have more impact on your listeners when you follow the rule of three because they will be able to make a decision to take action. When they walk away feeling frustrated, they end up with nothing!

The more memorable your message becomes, the more quotable you will be. Apply the following elements to your message to make it easier for your listeners to quote you.

• Use stories and examples relating to the experiences of your listeners.

• Speak their language. What phrases or acronyms do they use that you can apply to your message?

• Invite your listeners to connect, engage and interact with you. Ask them questions, have them repeat key take-aways, or restate your key take-aways at least three times throughout your message.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here, or StaceyHanke here.

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On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Add Confidence and Credibility to Your Presentations

or you may enjoy this: 10 Tips From Gretchen Rubin on How to Be Happy at Work

It may help to listen to:

How To Get Motivated —5 Steps For Motivation
or read it here.

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by Suzanne Doyle-Morris, PhD  (Read about her here.)

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 First Impressions [6:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Humans, both men and women, are visual beings. Pretending that we don’t judge one another based on various aspects of appearance, or indeed that we are above such scrutiny ourselves, is a fallacy.

For example, your own quick visual judgments affect the decisions you make about whom to approach at a networking event, or how you guess who is the most senior person in a boardroom.

Image counts. In the absence of other relevant information, you will look for visual clues about who is like yourself, how they regard themselves, how professional they seem. You then will allow whatever they say about themselves to either support or contradict your initial visual impression—not the other way around.

Keep in mind that it is very hard to get someone to adopt a more favorable opinion after they have met you and formed a negative impression. Humans subconsciously look for validation that their first impression, whether negative or positive, was correct. It is easier to start from a position of strength by offering a positive first impression through your image. For the woman looking to raise her profile, addressing one’s image is not an option. It is vital.

The women I interviewed for Beyond the Boys’ Club came from a wide range of industries—from science and tech to consultancy and accounting. They were all dressed in different styles—styles that were completely appropriate for their sectors and for what was on the agenda that particular day. They dressed to have attention focused on what they contributed to the team. Their choices didn’t detract from what they were saying.

For example, Laura Hinton, a partner at PwC, wore suits to work every day. It was part of her persona and had a positive impact on the way she felt about herself. Her formality of dress works for her: she is one of the youngest women at the firm ever to make partner. She was clear, however, that she does not think dressing in a suit is the main key to success. Rather, it is more important to avoid certain types of clothing, namely anything that could distract from one’s words and work as a professional woman.

She remarked, “Sometimes you see a woman in the office, and when she takes off her jacket you see she is wearing a top that could be mistaken for underwear.” She continued, “If I am noticing it and thinking twice, then other people, both men and women, are probably noticing it too. It will subtly detract from the reputation of her work. You certainly don’t have to wear dark colors and suits every day, but don’t wear anything that could be distracting.”

Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Women often promise themselves that they will take their image more seriously after they get the promotion. There is a double downside to this approach. If they get the promotion before updating their image, they may be lulled into complacency thinking: I got a promotion and—how bad can I look? If they don’t get the promotion, they may question: What’s the point? I’m obviously not management material.

If you want to be promoted, dress like those at the level above you, not like your peers. Look to more senior women for guidance. At the end of the day, people aren’t that imaginative; they can’t see your potential unless you show it to them.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

Or on our website, WomensMedia you should read:

First Impressions: Making the Most of the First 30 Seconds, or

Communicating With Impact and Influence

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

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