The traits that define extraordinary leaders are both surprising and invaluable. Traditional qualities like decisiveness and charisma are no longer the sole markers of exceptional leadership. Instead, it is the subtle, often overlooked traits that truly set remarkable leaders apart. These traits foster environments of innovation, trust, and resilience, paving the way for sustainable success.
As an executive coach, my role is to identify, nurture, and amplify these unique traits within leaders. By offering personalized guidance and strategic insights, I help leaders harness these traits to transform their leadership approach and achieve greater impact. My aim is to support leaders in unlocking their full potential, thereby driving their organizations towards excellence.
Embracing Ambiguity: Thriving Without All the Answers
In a world where certainty is rare, leaders who embrace ambiguity stand out. These leaders are comfortable navigating the unknown, making decisions with incomplete information, and adapting on the fly. They see ambiguity not as a hurdle, but as an opportunity for innovation and growth. As an executive coach, I help leaders develop the confidence and agility needed to thrive in uncertain situations, turning ambiguity into a strategic advantage.
Intuitive Decision-Making: Trusting Your Gut in Critical Moments
While data-driven decisions are essential, the ability to trust one’s intuition is a surprising yet powerful leadership trait. Intuitive leaders can make swift, confident decisions when time is of the essence. This trait stems from experience, deep knowledge, and an acute sense of awareness. Coaching leaders to balance intuition with rational analysis can enhance their decision-making prowess, especially in high-stakes situations.
Radical Candor: Balancing Empathy with Directness
Radical candor combines caring personally with challenging directly. Leaders who practice radical candor are honest and straightforward while maintaining a deep sense of empathy. This approach builds trust and drives performance, as team members feel valued and understood, yet are constantly pushed to improve. Coaching leaders in radical candor involves honing their communication skills to provide feedback that is both kind and clear, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Leveraging Serendipity: Finding Opportunity in the Unexpected
Great leaders often recognize and seize unexpected opportunities. This trait involves staying open to serendipitous moments and turning them into strategic advantages. Leaders who excel in leveraging serendipity can pivot quickly and capitalize on unforeseen circumstances. As an executive coach, I help leaders develop the mindset to see beyond immediate plans and embrace the unexpected as a source of innovation and growth.
Cognitive Flexibility: Adapting Thought Processes to New Situations
Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt one’s thinking to new and unexpected conditions. This trait enables leaders to switch between different concepts or perspectives, making them highly effective in dynamic environments. Leaders with cognitive flexibility can manage multiple scenarios simultaneously and find creative solutions to complex problems. Coaching leaders to enhance this trait involves exercises and strategies to expand their mental agility and adaptability.
Extraordinary leadership is defined by traits that go beyond the conventional. By embracing surprising traits that not only enhance their personal leadership effectiveness but also contribute to a positive and productive organizational culture they lead.
Lead from Within: Extraordinary leaders stand out because their traits are distinct, unique, and consistently drive remarkable success.
#1 N A T I O N A L B E S T S E L L E R
The Leadership Gap
What Gets Between You and Your Greatness
After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.
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Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.