Some people tend to overestimate their competence, while good leaders tend to sell themselves short. As Shakespeare put it in “As You Like It“: “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” Do you want to supercharge your leadership skills? Then keep reading.
That conventional wisdom is backed up by a Cornell University study conducted by David Dunning and Justin Kruger. The phenomenon is now known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.
So, if you’re not too sure about intellect, it actually might be an indication that the person is a pretty good leader — thoughtful enough to realize limitations, at least.
Being such a leader is a lifelong learning process. You are never done learning and renewing lessons you have learned. Every great leader always looks for ways to improve their ability to improve their leadership qualities and attributes.
Here are 10 qualities of leadership I have observed over the years. Use these qualities to supercharge your leadership skills:
Continuous learners
They read a lot and are constantly still learning. My father always took us to historical places or natural wonders during our summer vacations. Battlefields. Museums. Grand Canyon. Stuff like that. Our pleas to go to Disneyland went unheard. My father wanted to learn things on his days off—and his days on too. He not only read both fiction and nonfiction, but he also watched many documentaries.
Talk only to share information
To them, small talk is simply that. Small. Meaningless even. It’s a waste of time.
They proactively listen to others and digest what was said before explaining their counter-argument.
They bounce ideas and hypotheses off of others rather than discuss random pop psychology or the latest news on a celebrity couple.
In short, they shamelessly focus on what’s important.
Brutally honest with what they don’t know
I think a common trap that many people fall under is trying to pretend we understand something that we don’t know while nodding our heads meaninglessly. We do this because we don’t want to appear uninformed and unknowing. (I’m still working to improve on this myself)
I think intelligent people get straight to the point. They say “I don’t understand this, can you explain it to me like I’m 5?”
They could care less about what others perceive their understanding or intelligence to be. What they do care about is catching up and learning so that they can understand in the first place.
They know that without a solid understanding of the basics, there’s no hope for them to grasp the more complex material.
Good sources: Online Resources … 19 to Learn the Best Practical Skills
Consider different perspectives
Truly intelligent leaders have the ability to inhabit a different perspective, especially a perspective they disagree with. Abraham Lincoln would sometimes argue with a friend from one perspective, and then they would switch and argue from the opposite perspective.
Nothing to prove
They never feel the need to prove to other people how smart they are. They don’t brag about it. Casual acquaintances probably don’t even know. I think this is because they are so secure about their intelligence that it’s a non-issue to them.
My father went to Harvard and had a stunning memory. He never used his IQ as a way to make other people feel inferior. People who want to let everyone know how smart they are—yeah, I doubt they are.
Have patience
Leonardo Da Vinci called it “sfumato” or “smoke.” The idea is that not everything is clear, and the desire to have an answer now can lead someone into error. Intelligent people have patience with difficult, dense, or even ambiguous or vague subjects.
Patience is defined as “the ability to endure, ” and in this case, a sign of intelligence is enduring not having a clear, definite answer.
Know how to explain their leadership skills
This especially applies to people who are professionals or experts in their field.
This is because they’ve been through it all. They know what it’s like to come across the topic for the first time. To progressively learn more about it as a student. To having dedicated hours studying and researching and becoming an expert.
They know what the stages of learning are, and can explain their craft to anyone in those respective stages.
Albert Einstein is well-known for saying the following quote:
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Good listeners
They read and go to talks. A sure sign of leadership intelligence is reading and listening. The average CEO reads 50 books a year. Warren Buffett spends most of his time reading. He’s fond of saying “the more you learn, the more you earn.”
Seeking new perspectives
Leaders aren’t afraid or ashamed to tell you when they don’t know something. I’ve had more than one doctor try and fake his way through a conversation when I knew more about a medical condition than he did. When I found a doctor, who said, “I don’t know. I’ll research that.”—I kept that doctor.
More: Important Life Lessons … I Learned These Too Late in Life
More empathetic
Good leaders are generally more empathetic. They are not interested in appearing nice to others just because they want to give a good impression. They will help you when no one is watching.
Most times they couldn´t care less about what others think. They have a good moral compass – even if they are not religious.
Habit of reading
This is a major sign to differ leaders from the average. They usually use their considerable time for reading.
The bottom line
As leaders change at a faster and faster pace, ideas adequate yesterday are no longer are good enough. And with digital disruption facing an increasing number of industries, most leaders must come up with the best ideas for change or move to a slow failure.
The myths of new ideas must be set aside to let the new idea facts take over.
