12 Leadership Qualities Of People Who Get Promoted Over And Over Again, According To Executive Coach
These qualities are all shared by effective, productive, promotable employees.
VioletaStoimenova | Canva Aspiring leaders often question themselves, and it can sound like this:
- "I have a great relationship with eight out of 10 people on my team, but am I a good people manager?"
- "I'm good at all I do in my role, but I don’t follow any framework, models, or theories. Will I still be considered to be a good leader?"
- "I am doing well and am eager to contribute to the next level. However, I don’t know if I'm ready to take on that promotion?”
- "If I say this, people will think I'm...?"
Experienced leaders don't express these doubts and thoughts easily. The issues surface after trying to get to the bottom of what is holding them back from their goals.
Here are the leadership qualities of people who get promoted over and over again:
1. They have a strong belief in themselves
This doesn't mean always being right. It's knowing you're unique and what's yours will come to you while operating from no insecurity or doubt about your decisions, actions, and approach.
If you tend to have negative self-talk, personal development coach Barbara Rush explained how "Thoughts are simply choices. You don't wear clothes that make you feel uncomfortable or eat food you don't like. So why choose thoughts that make you feel bad? What you can do: Choose a thought that makes you feel good and encourages you. Stick with a positive attitude, focusing on why you can instead of why you can't."
2. They have a strong sense of purpose
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This enables leaders to have a personal vision and one to lead the organization. Purpose chooses to reveal itself to a person when they are ready.
This readiness can come in several different ways, through hardships, continuous searching, or your time to receive it has just come. This further gives them the skills to be able to break the vision down to be understood by the next in line.
3. They are present
In the fast and furious race to high impact scale on people, resources, and situations, the space to allow leaders to do great things. They learn how to be here, in the now.
4. They have strong expertise in their domain
This is a prerequisite and, of course, cannot be compromised as you take on even bigger responsibilities. Having a deep understanding of your domain and keeping current on new information is vital for career advancement.
5. They are constant strategic learners
The skill of sifting through the necessary and relevant learning in your area will determine how effective you continue to be in your leadership role.
A study in the Instructional Science Journal of what makes an expert learner showed, "Expert learning is how learners' metacognitive knowledge of cognitive, motivational, and environmental strategies is translated into regulatory control of the learning process through ongoing reflective thinking."
6. They network without an agenda
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Often, people attend networking events with an agenda. You have to be at the right events around relevant people. However, when you're there, you might spend more time genuinely being curious about people and connecting with them at a human level authentically.
7. They forgive and let go
Leaders take the lessons but don’t engage personally with them for too long. This means forgiving themselves and their failures, too.
The failure could be being duped by other people, a situation gone awry, or a bad decision. The important thing is to own it but not beat yourself over it, learn from it, and then move on. This requires a practiced deliberate skill only a few can master, but it can be done.
Therapist Dale Goldstein described the relationship between the pain and the ability to forgive. "When someone hurts me, they are giving me the pain which is too great for them to hold. If I resist it, it hurts and persists as anger and resentment. If I am willing to receive it, it hurts and then passes through me. This way, I don't hold onto any resentment and there's nothing and no one to forgive.
The person who gave me the pain gets to see it right in front of his or her nose and has the opportunity (because of my willingness to feel it) to safely feel what was previously too much to feel and thereby achieve some degree of healing for him or herself. The pain, if shared in this way, becomes a catalyst for healing instead of hurting. When one becomes completely willing to feel the pain, forgiveness and healing automatically follow."
8. They believe they deserve it
If their vision and purpose are clear, this comes naturally from a place of humility and not from ego. And then, how beautiful is that?
9. They know they cannot do it alone
They mentor, nurture, and take care of their people. They build collaborative environments conducive to innovation.
10. They take care of themselves
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Leaders know they need to be in top form to play the game well and inspire their team members to show up at the top of their game, too.
"Setting aside time just for you is one of the best things you can do for yourself, even if it's only 10 minutes. You're allowing yourself to have a nurturing experience. This doesn't mean you aren't being productive or that you're being selfish. Unfortunately, society has taught you that," advised counselor Lianne Avila.
11. They have an appetite for risk
A strong self-belief enables a leader to feel confident in taking risks. It's a required quality for innovation.
12. They are self-aware
They regularly scan themselves objectively to see what their fears, missed perceptions, aspirations, apprehensions, and pitfalls are.
It's normal for leaders to have doubts about their effectiveness. Leaders often voice their doubts during leadership development sessions while also trying to navigate the choppy waters of their day-to-day jobs, where they are required to show up more and more as leaders.
More power to these folks and their companies who want them to understand what leadership is all about and where they stand in this journey. While many are thinking and feeling these thoughts, they're not acknowledging and addressing them.
There's an expectation amongst newer aspiring leaders that leadership shows up in a certain manner. The ironic thing is the leadership style of a person is very unique to them. Leadership demands you to show up even more as yourself. However, this does not mean leadership depends on personality.
I've seen great leaders with different strengths and attributes while some are introverts, others are extroverts, some are thrifty, others spend lavishly, some drive results, and others collaborate. Though the common element they all share is leaders are always working on themselves to be better.
Now, with this knowledge, go back to those questions listed above. You will notice if the above work is done by a person regularly, they will have no hesitation, and if they do, they will immediately know the answers to move forward.
Bhavna Dalal is a master-certified executive coach at MCC ICF, speaker, and author of 'Checkmate Office Politics.' She helps people develop their leadership skills, including executive presence, strategic thinking, influencing and networking, and women leadership. Her work has been featured in Forbes India, Forbes Japan, and Fortune India.