Good morning!
Courage. Creativity. Resilience. For years, self-help books and articles have pegged these traits, among others, as the qualities to look for in workplace leaders. But when behavioral scientist and author Jon Levy researched that accepted wisdom further for his new book, he realized it wasn’t true.
What’s the real secret to being a stand-out leader? It’s about the feeling that you trigger in another human being, he said—specifically the feeling that there’s a new and better future.
“The emotional response that we have when we interact with somebody is what causes us to want to follow them,” Levy said. “It’s not based on qualifications or experience or capabilities. They don’t have to even be honest, which is super frustrating, because it’s an emotional response.”
He calls out the “too much talent” problem: when company leaders pack their teams with “superstar” hires. Such hires should be made sparingly, he argues, since teams more than half filled with these ambitious and energetic players tend to massively underperform, his research has found.
“The reason is self-interest and egos,” Levy said. “What you actually need are players called ‘glue’ players that focus on the team connecting and functioning. They work as a multiplier that make everybody else perform at multiple of their normal behavior.”
