When asked who is a successful leader, some people would say Barack Obama, others would say Jean Luc Picard, and still others would say Oprah Winfrey.
For many people, a successful leader is someone who has a vision, a clearly defined strategy and is good at decision making. These skills help a leader motivate teams, drive sales, and ensure that the teams they oversee achieve long-term excellence.
However, some hidden skills that can help leaders solve problems and operate in rapidly changing environments are often not taken into account. So what are these skills?
Pattern recognition in human behavior
Yes, data analysis is a priority in business, and with AI becoming more integrated, it seems that the entire world will soon be digital and monitored by computers.
However, computers are still pretty bad at predicting human behavior, and a good leader is at predicting behavior. This can look like identifying emerging points of friction, changes in morale and motivation before they become a problem. These skills allow them to adjust their communication tone, redistribute workload, or intervene when a problem becomes more serious. Interestingly, this skill can also be helpful in the world of gambling and poker, meaning that most great leaders are likely to be great at live dealer games online too!
Context switching without loss of depth
Managers must be able to quickly switch between tasks. In this day and age, this can seem like a response to a crisis. Lead a meeting and participate in strategic planning, all within an hour. However, exceptional leaders are also able to shift context clearly, such as moving from a high-level vision to a small detail, without mixing their thoughts. This helps them maintain sharper focus, minimize decision fatigue, and provide clearer direction for themselves and their teams.
Constructive silence
There is a scene in the movie Good Will Hunting where both Will and his therapist, played by Robin Williams, sit in silence for an entire therapy session. Why? They are playing a game of dominance and adopting a “whoever speaks first loses” attitude.
Silence and the implementation of silence are an underused tool. Leaders know when to pause, when to silence an idea, and when to listen rather than speak. Constructive silence helps in everything from negotiations to conflict resolution in a board meeting, and is a skill that more people could benefit from developing.
Microresilience
Most people know that great leaders are resilient. However, only truly exceptional leaders have what is known as micro-resilience. This is the ability to quickly fix problems. It can seem like taking a five-minute break between meetings and mentally closing the book on one task before starting the next. It is also the ability to not view setbacks as signs of personal failure that can help prevent problems from becoming worse. Leaders who lack this ability often remain calmer, more patient and more creative.
