What makes a good leader?

New research proves that the best leaders are the most assertive at the most appropriate level.

According to a study published in the February issue of Personality and Social Psychology magazine published by the American Psychological Association APA, the leaders of organizations that are too high or too low will be inclined to less working direction. The leaders in between these two levels will probably have the most optimal assertiveness, but there are many assertive people on these two ends. Research shows that being too assertive or daring to be assertive may be the most common weakness in leaders who always aspire to success.

In his studies, Mr. Daniel Ames, Columbia Business School professor and Mr. Francis Flynn, Dr. Stanford Graduate School of Business, asked the staff to give their views on the strengths. as well as weaknesses in the leadership of colleagues.

The most common strengths mentioned include traditional characteristics such as intelligence, discipline and prestige . But the most common weakness mentioned is surprising because this weakness is not the opposite of strong points.

Through some typical examples of leaders and potential leaders, Mr. Ames and Mr. Flynn found that determination is the most frequently mentioned issue, sometimes more than a combination of prestige, intelligence and discipline.

(Artwork: Imagesource)

One reason for this finding is that, unlike attraction to others, attraction is often unlikely to lead to success only when there is not enough, then potential leaders have a assert ' wrong ' in both directions. And through one of the studies examined, Ames and Flynn's team recorded and categorized nearly a thousand employees' opinions about how their peers lead.

Adjectives in comments about weak leadership are used most, topping the table is ' resolute ', twice as much as the second-ranked adjectives such as ' capable ' and ' trustworthy .' Overall, more than half of the description of weaknesses is very specific about assertiveness. Of these comments, 48% said that the weakness was too decisive and the remaining comments said that the weakness was too ' less ' determination.

'Decisiveness prevails in comments on leadership weaknesses, although it is not nearly as common in comments on strengths between peers. When the leaders are wrongly assertive, the wrong assumptions appear very clearly, but when they are right, the assertion seems to disappear, ' Ames said. 'Like salt in sauce, when there is too much or too little, it is difficult to notice other things, but when the amount of salt is enough, you will notice other spices right away. No one compliments the delicious sauce because it has been seasoned with salt, so it is not uncommon for the perfect assertiveness of a leader to get a lot of attention. '

After finding out that the assertion was really a common challenge for leaders, Ames and Mr. Flynn tried to understand what made this assertion at the extreme end of life, too high or too low. The answer is: There are different reasons for assertive failure at each pole .

'Leaders who aspire to success but are less assertive cannot protect their interests and they often suffer due to ineffectiveness in achieving goals and implementing achievements. On the contrary, those who are too assertive are often unbearable. So even if they can find a way, they often scold those around them. And so, social costs increase gradually and begin to weaken the achievements, ' Ames notes. 'Most effective leaders often assert at a sufficient level to achieve their goals but are not so rigid that they do not get along with the situation.'

Mr. Ames and Mr. Flynn also warned that their research does not have to assume that the solution for leaders must always be determined correctly. Instead, they insist that leaders who are reasonably resolute can gradually increase their ability to cope with the situation when forced and soothe their attitudes when necessary. better. ' Trapped ' leaders at too low and too high levels of assertiveness may limit their coping skills.

'We also found that students and managers often don't realize how others see their behavior. The reason is because people often don't have honest feedback about things like assertiveness, for example: " Mr. Ames said, 'Who would dare to tell an authoritarian boss that he is good? is she an ineffective worker? '

Thanh Van