Leadership traits are context dependent.

Leadership strengths overplayed become derailers.

We all have leadership blind spots.

If we do a google search for leadership traits we will find endless lists:

10 qualities of a leader; 16 leadership characteristics; 12 necessary leadership traits; 6 characteristics of an effective leader; and endless other links providing somewhere between 3 and 101 crucial traits for leaders.

So, what do we do with all of that?

One problem is that some of these lists confuse traits with skills, but even when we remove skills from the lists, we are still left with a bigger problem: These lists assume leadership is about collecting the right traits. But leadership doesn’t work that way.

Leadership traits don’t exist in isolation; they interact with each other.

The same mix of leadership traits that drive success in one situation will create problems in another context.

We may be strong in some traits and have gaps in others.

And no list can tell us when to lean into our strengths, or when to pull back.

That’s because leadership isn’t about having the right traits. It’s about understanding our unique personalities and how to be effective in different contexts.

And our traits are just one aspect of our personalities. We are made up of our motives, emotions, intellect, identities, behaviors—and our traits.

Only when we are self-aware of how these parts of us emerge and intersect with........

© Psychology Today