A recent survey of more than 500 business leaders reveals what sets great employees apart. The survey was to know why some people are more successful than others at work, and the answers were surprising; leaders chose “personality”as the leading reason.
Notably, 78% of leaders said personality sets great employees apart, more than cultural fit (53%) and even an employee’s skills (39%).
““We should take care not to make the intellect our God; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality” -–Albert Einstein
The problem is, when leaders say personality’ they don’t understand what they’re referring to. Personality consists of a stable set of preferences and tendencies through which we approach the world. Being introverted or extroverted is an example of an important personality trait.
Personality traits form at an early age and are fixed by early adulthood. Many important things about you change over the course of your lifetime, but your personality is not one of them.
Personality is distinct from intellect (or IQ). The two don’t occur together in any meaningful way. Personality is also distinct from emotional intelligence (or EQ), and this is where the study, and most leaders for that matter, have misinterpreted the term.
The qualities that leaders in the study called personality were actually emotional intelligence skills. And unlike your personality, which is set in stone, you can change and improve your EQ.
Exceptional employees don’t possess God-given personality traits; they rely on simple, everyday EQ skills that anyone can incorporate into their repertoire.
Leaders don’t need to go searching for these skills either (though it doesn’t hurt when you find them); their duty is to help everyone on their team harness these skills to become exceptional.
Just consider some of the EQ skills that leaders and managers commonly mislabel as personality characteristics. These are the skills that set exceptional employees apart –
They’are willing to delay gratification. One thing an exceptional employee never says is, “That’it’s not in my job description.” Exceptional employees work outside the boundaries of job descriptions. They’are neither intimidated nor entitled; instead of expecting recognition or compensation to come first, they forge ahead in their work, confident that they’will be rewarded later but unconcerned if they’are not.
They can tolerate conflict. While exceptional employees don’t seek conflict, they don’t run away from it either. They’are able to maintain their composure while presenting their positions calmly and logically. They’are able to withstand personal attacks in pursuit of the greater goal and never use that tactic themselves.
They focus. Student pilots are often told, When things start going wrong, don’t forget to fly the plane. Plane crashes have resulted from pilots concentrating so hard on identifying the problem that they flew the plane into the ground. An airline in America, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 is just one example: The flight crew was so concerned about the landing gear being down that they didn’t realize they were losing altitude until it was too late, despite alarms going off in the cockpit. Exceptional employees understand the principle of ““Just fly the plane”. They don’t get distracted by cranky customers, interoffice squabbles, or switch to a different brand of coffee. “They can differentiate between real problems and background noise”; therefore, they stay focused on what matters.
They’are judiciously courageous. Exceptional employees are willing to speak up when others are not, whether it’is to ask a difficult (or “embarrassingly” simple) question or to challenge an executive decision. However, that’is balanced with common sense and timing. They think before they speak and wisely choose the best time and place to do so.
They’are in control of their egos. Exceptional employees have egos. While that’is part of what drives them, they never give their egos more weight than what is deserved. They’are willing to admit when they’are wrong and willing to do things someone else’s way, whether it’is because the other way is better or it’is important to maintain team harmony.
They are never satisfied. Exceptional employees have unparalleled convictions that things can always be better—and they’are right. No one is ever done growing, and there is no such thing as good enough when it comes to personal improvement. No matter how well things are going, exceptional employees are driven to improve, without forgetting to give themselves a healthy pat on the back.
They recognize when things are broken and fix them. Whether it’is a sticky desk drawer or an inefficient, wasteful process affecting the cash flow of the entire department, exceptional employees don’t walk past problems. ““Oh, it’is been that way forever, simply isn’t in their vocabulary”. They see problems as issues to be fixed immediately; it’is that simple.
They are accountable. If you’are a manager trying to decipher a bungled report,““It’s not my fault” is the most irritating phrase in the English language. Exceptional employees are accountable. They own their work, their decisions, and all of their results—good or bad. They bring their mistakes to management’s attention rather than hoping no one will find out. They understand that managers are not out to assign blame; they’are out to get things done.
They are marketable. Marketable”can mean many things. Inside the organization, it means likeable. Exceptional employees are well liked by co-workers. They have integrity and leadership skills (even if they’are not in an official leadership position) that people respond to. Externally, it means they can be trusted to represent the brand well. Managers know they can send these employees out to meet with clients and prospects without worrying about what they’will say or do.
They neutralize toxic people. Dealing with difficult people is frustrating and exhausting for most. Exceptional employees control their interactions with toxic people by keeping their feelings in check. When they need to confront a toxic person, they approach the situation rationally. They identify their own emotions and don’t allow anger or frustration to fuel the chaos. They also consider the difficult person’s standpoint and are able to find solutions and common ground. Even when things completely derail, emotionally intelligent people are able to take the toxic person with a grain of salt to avoid letting him or her bring them down.
Bringing It All Together, Take notice of what’is not mentioned: Coding Skills, Years of Experience, Business Degrees, and so on. These things matter, but they will not make you exceptional.
As a corporate body, emotional intelligence (EQ) would be reffered as design thinking which helps an organisation to drive relevancy in business.
We would therefore be exploring the power of design thinking, as we go through some key points on the importance of relevancy in business and how design thinking can help companies stay connected to their customers:
Design thinking is a set of tools that bring people together to solve a common problem. Design thinking is human centered.“It’is about building empathy for people.”
The first step in the design thinking process is gaining this understanding of others. Form a hypothesis about the problem you think your customer is facing, and then go out and actually test it. Share it with people, then listen and observe. Watch their behavior, gauge what they’are thinking, notice reactions. Build empathy.
When you get back in the office with your team, put all of your observation notes up on the wall make them visual. This can help you crystallize the true problem so you know exactly what to solve.
What is the value of design thinking for a business?
To be a successful business, you have to be relevant and deliver value that is relevant. Change is one of life’s certainties. Mindsets change. Values change. If your company does not evolve, you run the risk of losing touch with your customers and becoming irrelevant.
Driving relevancy requires you to be clued in the problems your customers really need solved. By building empathy through design thinking, you can determine the true challenges they are facing and avoid wasting time and resources on what you think the issues are. If you’are solving the right problem in the right way, you’will have a more sustainable business over time.”
How can you convince your company to give design thinking a try?
Design thinking is relatively new, and whenever you enter anything new into an existing equation, it makes people nervous. You want to start by building internal alignment around design thinking with your colleagues. To do this, you can even use elements of design thinking to introduce design thinking to your team: spend time with your colleagues to understand where they are at before you pitch the new process.
Also, consider if your organization has a safe environment to fail. With design thinking, you’will be testing hypotheses and building things that will not end up working. You’will want to foster a space where your colleagues can embrace failure and learning.
Nwaodu Lawrence Chukwuemeka
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