This trait makes leaders 4 times more effective
Helming a company is complicated. There is a strategic vision to develop, employees to inspire and interpersonal complexities to navigate. As you start your entrepreneurial journey, it’s natural to worry you might not be cut out for such a demanding role.
Fine-tuning your leadership skills may be the project of a lifetime, but determining if you have the most essential building block to lead people is actually simpler than you probably think, according to a new article from Yale’s Emma Seppl and the University of Michigan’s Kim Cameron in the Harvard Business Review.
“The greatest predictor of success for leaders is not their charisma, influence or power. It is not personality, attractiveness or innovative genius,” the pair write.
Instead, it’s a quality called “relational energy.” Having it can help your company be up to four times more successful.
Psychologists have long known that some people simply annoy others for no apparent reason.
It’s not that they’re gloomy or grumpy. Even when they’re trying their best to charm, something about their way of being instantly irks others.
For an upcoming book, Seppl and Cameron interviewed thousands of people and discovered some folks exist on the opposite end of that spectrum.
These people are just natural rays of sunshine. They walk into the room, and others feel brighter and more energized. These folks have great “relational energy,” and they are the natural leaders among us.
“These people walk into a room and make it glow. Everyone becomes energized, enthused, inspired and connected.
These incandescent people are positive energizers,” Seppl and Cameron write. “Other members of these networks are depleting: the ones who leave the others feeling de-energized, demoralized, diminished and uninspired. You know the ones — they sap your energy every time.”
While it’s no shock that some people are energy sucks and others are human battery packs, the positive impacts of having an energizer as a leader might surprise you.
“Numerous studies run by our group and our colleagues show that positive energizers produce substantially higher levels of engagement, lower turnover and enhanced feelings of well-being among employees,” they report.
Those working for energizers even have lower stress hormone levels and less inflammation.
That’s great for health but also for business. “In organizations, superior shareholder returns occur, and in some of our studies, outcomes exceeded industry averages in profitability and productivity by a factor of four or more,” Seppl and Cameron write.
How do you know whether you’re lucky enough to be blessed with tons of relational energy? Seppl and Cameron suggest a simple test — just ask the people you work with.