Developing good leadership and recognizing it to add to your team is not easy to do. This quick read synthesizes the top 10 leader traits into just two of the most representative of super-achievers. And, super-achievers are just what housing needs to enter into the next phase of its future.
Most of us are fascinated by people who do really well in life; those who break records, become world famous, are the very best at what they do, invent whole new ways of operating. What, we wonder, are their secrets? How are they different from us?
Jenna Goudreau, a Forbes staffer, has written a really clear and engaging post here on forbes.com about a new book that purports to answer this question: Camille Sweeney and Josh Gosfield's The Art of Doing: How Superachievers Do What They Do and How They Do It So Well.
Goudreau explains 10 qualities that the authors found were consistent among the super-achievers they interviewed for the book. And they all resonated for me: dedication to a vision; intelligent persistence; fostering a community; good storytelling; remaining open; testing ideas in the market; managing emotions; constantly evolving; practicing patience; pursuing happiness.
I love all of these, and - unlike most "lists of 10" - I see each as uniquely powerful and important. However (this is just how my brain works), I also noticed two qualities that run as threads through all ten, and seem to capture a lot of what Sweeney and Gosfield discovered:
Super-achievers are simultaneously deeply committed and deeply permeable.
This is a rare combination, and one that I've seen in great leaders; it's how we define true passion. Many people have one or the other of these characteristics, but when you have both, it's a daily driver of success. For instance, we all know people who are deeply committed. They believe strongly in something, and stay true to their ideas and principles despite adversity or others' disagreement. (Super-achievers' deep commitment shows up in their dedication to a vision, practicing patience, and pursuing happiness.) But without the leavening of permeability, deep commitment can easily drift into zealotry. Permeability brings commitment to life; keeps it from hardening into something rigid and unyielding. In the super-achiever traits, permeability shows up in fostering a community, remaining open, testing ideas in the market, and constantly evolving - all four of those traits involve getting curious about what others think about your commitment, and modifying your commitment in response.
Read More
