7 Underrated Leadership Qualities
There has been a lot of discussion on the most effective leadership qualities – qualities such as communication, agility, the ability to inspire, and so on. These traits are indeed invaluable to anyone looking to propel an organization or team to greatness.
However, there are plenty of leadership qualities that are not talked about very often. These skills can take a leader from good to great and can have a massive impact on their performance. Some of the most common underrated leadership traits include:
Intuitiveness
Compassion
Inclusivity
Curiosity
Humility
Decisiveness
Optimism
In this article, we will explore these underrated yet important and extremely powerful leadership qualities in detail. Here is everything you need to know.
The Premise: What Are Leadership Qualities?
Leadership qualities refer to traits that all great leaders share, from team leaders in the sales department to executives in the C-suite. These qualities don't depend on your personality, role, pay, or job title. Rather, they are a set of beliefs and values that anyone can adopt.
Your leadership style is unique to your skillset. However, leadership qualities are something that all the top leaders have in common. Understanding this and then cultivating your leadership qualities is the best way to become a successful leader.
7 Underrated Leadership Qualities
They are not the classic high-octane leadership qualities we usually hear about, i.e., the ability to inspire, authority, charisma, etc. But the following seven underrated traits can be of real long-term value in the everyday tasks of running an effective business.
1. Intuitiveness
Intuition refers to the natural intelligence that lets leaders see what lies ahead of the curve, come up with creative ideas, and communicate strongly without gathering piles of data or studying spreadsheets.
Intuitive leaders aren't motivated by external goals. Rather, they get inspiration from their inner vision. This subtle shift of personal value and meaning fosters a heightened awareness that allows them to come up with and apply innovative solutions.
According to a Forbes article, Why Intuitive Leaders Are The Most Successful, "When leaders take the time to tap their intuitions, organizations benefit from a more holistic approach to solutions."
Moreover, intuitive leaders are aware that they're only a part of the whole. As individuals who feel things deeply, they know how to encourage and support their team members by creating connection and trust, thus producing an energized and safe environment that brings out the best in everyone.
How to Strengthen Your Intuitive Intelligence
The best way to strengthen your intuitive intelligence is to regulate your emotions so you can listen to yourself. For example, meditating regularly will help you clear your mind of distractions and guide you on how to identify the subtle impulses from within.
Besides meditation, you can do yoga, take a walk in nature, spend time with pets and practice deep breathing. All these practices involve helping you attain inner peace so that your mind and your feelings can work in harmony.
2. Compassion
Compassion is the trait of having real concern and positive intentions for others. Compassion in leadership creates stronger connections between individuals. It increases levels of trust, improves collaboration, and boosts loyalty. Moreover, a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology revealed that compassionate leaders are perceived as more competent and stronger.
Compassionate leaders can put themselves in the shoes of the people that they lead. This helps them better understand the impact of their own behaviors and actions on the team and thus do what they can to alleviate any problems to benefit the team and the wider organization.
How to Develop Compassion
Having true compassion for others begins with having compassion for yourself. Self-compassion involves taking breaks throughout the day and getting quality sleep. For a lot of leaders, self-compassion is about letting go of obsessive and excessive self-criticism. Stop stressing yourself for things you could've done better or differently, and cultivate positive self-talk.
3. Inclusivity
Inclusive leaders are individuals who are aware of their internal biases and actively seek out and consider different perspectives to guide their decision-making and collaborate more effectively with others.
According to the Harvard Business Review article, The Key to Inclusive Leadership, "inclusive leadership is emerging as a unique and critical capability helping organizations adapt to diverse customers, markets, ideas, and talent."
Inclusive leadership implies that leaders commit to making sure all members of the team feel a sense of value and belonging, are treated equitably, and have the support and resources they need to attain their maximum potential.
How to Practice Inclusivity
As your first step towards inclusion, create a solid foundation of personal understanding. Sometimes this might mean soliciting feedback, admitting to your failures and mistakes, reflecting on your upbringing, social identity, and background, talking about your experiences and emotions, or advocating for your own needs.
4. Curiosity
The best leaders are curious and lifelong learners. They're always searching for ways to improve their skills and expand their knowledge base. This curiosity makes them more open to learning from others and seeking the opinions of others.
Curious leaders also instill the same vigor for learning in their team members, which creates a culture of cooperation and collaboration. This kind of organizational culture lays the foundation for creativity and innovation, which makes companies thrive.
Conversely, when leaders lack curiosity, they tend to move quickly to resolve issues due to their discomfort with ambiguity. These leaders don't take the time to solicit feedback and/or get more information. This restricts an individual's potential to become an effective and successful leader.
How to Become More Curious as a Leader
One way to get more curious as a leader is to set aside time to explore recent industry trends, the latest market data, and creative ways of thinking. Also, challenge the thinking of those around you and encourage your team members to get curious and come up with new possibilities. Remember, curious leaders, don't feel content with sticking to the status quo or relying on approaches that have worked in the past.
Another way to harness curiosity is to ask for feedback about your own leadership. This involves asking people on your team for feedback about how you come across as a leader. Here are some tips you should keep in mind:
Be particular about the skill you want feedback on. For instance, you can ask questions such as "How can I run weekly team meetings more effectively?" or "How can I support you more effectively moving forward?"
Give that individual some time to think and respond. You can say something like, "Please take your time to think about these questions and share your feedback at our next one-on-one meeting."
Give the feedback and provide several ways to share their feedback to make the process as comfortable for them as possible. Some individuals feel more comfortable sharing feedback face-to-face, in a group setting, or via email. Respect their preferred choice of medium for sharing feedback.
5. Humility
Humility underlies a lot of the most valuable leadership skills. Driven by a desire to grow and learn, humble leaders are open-minded, fair, and solution-oriented. They are mentors who aren't afraid to admit their mistakes or relinquish control.
Humble leaders understand that they aren't the smartest person in every room, nor do they need to be. They encourage individuals to respect differences of opinion, champion the best ideas, and speak up regardless of whether they come from a production-line employee or a top executive.
Angela Sebaly, the author of The Courageous Leader and co-founder and CEO of Personify Leadership, adds that humble leaders focus on the larger picture of the team and mission instead of themselves. According to her, humility is all about minimizing the self and maximizing the larger purpose you represent. This makes humility an essential leadership competency as it shifts the focus from 'I' to 'We.'
How to Be a Humble Leader
Focus on continuous growth and improvement. Keep reminding yourself of all that you don't know. This will help you deflate your ego and move towards humility which is one of the most vital qualities a leader can have.
Here are some ways to get in the habit of practicing humility:
Give others credit and compliment your team members.
Don't ask your team to do anything you aren't willing to do yourself.
Spend time and work with your team and be approachable.
Create a culture of psychological safety, so team members feel free to share their thoughts and opinions with you.
Don't deny compliments or put yourself down.
6. Decisiveness
A crucial aspect of being an influential leader is the ability to make well-informed and time-sensitive decisions. Decisive leaders are those who seek out the relevant information that's necessary to make a good decision, and they showcase an understanding of the knowledge held by their leaders, colleagues, and direct reports.
In the workplace, decisiveness is imperative for successfully implementing plans and attaining established goals. Decisive leaders can balance the costs of continuing to collect information and deliberate and delay a decision versus the costs of making poor decisions. They are well-versed in competing costs and weigh them meticulously. However, most importantly, decisive leaders make final and clear decisions.
How to Become a More Decisive Leader
The first step in becoming a more decisive leader is to avoid giving in to fear. Remember, fear can be paralyzing – causing you to take too long to reach a decision. Try to overcome that fear and bear in mind that making the wrong decision from time to time is inevitable. The solution is to acknowledge your mistakes and work to overcome them.
Moreover, it's important to stop overanalyzing. Of course, you want to accumulate as much data as possible to guide your decision; however, there needs to be a limit. As you strive to become a more decisive leader, try to study the key factors related to your decision more quickly without stressing and obsessing over every tiny detail.
7. Optimism
Optimism is a mindset that focuses on collaboration, communication, solutions, and ultimately, success. And like any mindset, it shapes behaviors.
Optimistic leaders know how to apply their cognitive skills to avoid getting stuck in unproductive thoughts and behaviors while managing setbacks and challenges. They move past negative emotions such as worry and frustration and look more realistically at improving a particular situation.
Apart from problem-solving, optimism fuels the accomplishment of long-term objectives. When leaders are optimistic about the future, they invest more effort into attaining their goals. Their teams and employees dedicate more energy to progress against common goals.
Even though stressful and challenging circumstances are inevitable, leaders with solid optimism don't over-catastrophize. Rather, they are likely to engage in practical and active problem-solving and coping, eventually resulting in better health and performance.
How Can You Instill Optimism
Optimism is a learned habit, and it's contagious. Try to seek out individuals who have a positive outlook. Remember, you're only as good as the company you keep. Thus, try to expand your support network and hire a business coach to support you as you move through this process.
Also, acknowledge what you can and cannot control. Differentiating between the two and then opting to focus your time and attention on what you can change gives you more agency in the situation and helps you become more optimistic.
Last Few Words
The seven most underrated leadership qualities are intuitiveness, compassion, inclusivity, curiosity, humility, decisiveness, and optimism. If you feel you lack these skills, you can always learn them to improve your performance. For instance, you can hire a business coach who can help you define your goals, track your progress, and hold you accountable.
