“My boss has many personal qualities, but unfortunately he lacks expertise in his field. This means he has little credibility.”

“Mine is a renowned expert in his field, but his social skills are so poor that no one wants to work with him.”

Recent studies have shown that the list of characteristics required for good leadership is dominated by two traits: personal qualities and professional skills. However, the leaders with both are few and far between.

Although these two traits are equally important, the order in which they are employed is crucial: good leaders first use their personal qualities to gain the trust of their team, before putting their professional skills into play to ensure their authority.

Why?

We all have a tendency to show off our technical skills: knowing our job inside out, being innovative, following training, finding the best solutions to problems. This is what we are taught to do, both at school and then in higher education. However, if these technical skills are not backed up by at least some degree of personal skills, a team will do what is asked of it, but with little conviction.

A study that analysed the leadership qualities of 50,000 people working in a managerial role showed that only 27 lacked social skills. In other words, there is only a one in 2000 chance that someone with limited social skills will get a management position!

However, if team managers gain the support of their colleagues through their openness, willingness to listen, integrity and genuine interest and trust in their team members, they lay the foundations for good and strong leadership.

Why is this the case? Simple: they win over the heart before the mind, realising the importance of emotional needs before technical ones. When we like a manager as a person as well as a professional, we are more motivated in our work.

Being a good leader doesn’t just happen. Keep in mind that, as well as technical, scientific and administrative knowledge, having the personal skills needed to get the team on board is essential. And for those who already manage a team, rest assured that it is possible, even though it is more difficult, to acquire people skills, if only by having more awareness of them.

Pierre Gildemyn

If you’d like to comment on any of my articles or suggest a topic that I could write about, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at Ombuds@cern.ch.