Managers are often advised to work on their people skills — listening, working well with teams, flexibility. But a new study from the UK Institute of Leadership & Management has found just the opposite. Management Issues reports that ILM’s research “suggested that, for chief executives, hard-nosed personal virtues such as persistence and efficiency count for more than “softer” strengths such as team-working or flexibility.”
Of course, truly great leaders are the best of both worlds–both effective and personable. Want the whole package? Check out this IdeaCast from the Harvard Business Review, “What Holds Leaders Back.” In brief:
“Harvard Management Update” Editor Christina Bielaszka-DuVernay sits down with Marshall Goldsmith, world-renowned coach to executive leaders and author of the recently published “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful.”
Goldsmith identifies some of the habits that hold leaders back and explains what they can do to change these self-limiting behaviors. Also includes the HBR in Brief: Change: The Art of Balancing.
