The Exceptional Qualities of Psychologically Skilled Leaders
By Tom Nehmy, PhD
Leadership training is about much more than professional approaches and people management. It must include mental health as a topic, because your staff are human beings first, employees second. The mental health and wellbeing of your people is intrinsically linked to their performance. Therefore, leaders who are interested in maximising their team’s outcomes from a business perspective need to be upskilled and knowledgeable in all aspects of psychological leadership.
What Qualities Make A Good Leader?
Some of the exceptional qualities you’ll find in psychologically skilled leaders include:
You challenge – rather than encourage – perfectionism:
Although it may seem popular to achieve in a corporate environment, the relentless pursuit of very high, self-imposed standards that go above work tasks will usually detract from team goals. The law of diminishing returns means that extra hours of unnecessary project revisions would be better spent by going to bed earlier, hitting the gym, or getting onto the next item on the To-Do list. Perfectionism often goes beyond healthy achievement striving and into the world of over-stress and anxiety – where feedback is interpreted as harsh criticism and successes cannot be savoured. Psychologically skilled leaders can identify the fine line between healthy striving and unhelpful perfectionism.
Emotional labour is a core part of your repertoire:
Emotions are contagious, and this is regardless of whether you’re having a good day or a bad day. People management runs on emotion, and emotional labour is about the proactive effort that goes into our emotional displays. Have you ever noticed how someone who brings enthusiasm and warmth to the meeting room can change the entire tone and direction of the discussion? Or how an attuned manager can instinctively mirror and match the energy level of a struggling colleague just enough to validate and comfort them? These approaches may often go unnoticed, but reflect a subtle skill that is a powerful ‘x-factor’ of a charismatic leader.
You model resilience by choosing to go out of your comfort zone:
True leaders do not deny their humanity, and this is what makes them accessible to all their employees on a psychological level. Rather than portray an image of flawless calm and impervious to the concerns and pressures of humans, great leaders show an ability to stretch – and risk failure – when required. A willingness to be challenged, an acceptance of discomfort, and the courage to take risks are all ways to demonstrate the behaviours that make businesses thrive. Showing you’re human while at the same time reaching for bold new horizons provides a compelling display of leadership in action.
You prioritise ‘connectedness’ with the least connected members of your team:
There is an invisible thread that weaves its way through all highly productive team environments: connectedness. While it may seem intangible, this under-emphasised factor not only reflects group cohesion, but it also reflects a state of wellbeing. The difference between a good and great leader is that great leaders can build a strong rapport even with people they encounter with whom they do not naturally ‘click’. It’s easy to get along, influence and inspire when two people connect easily. But unlike the social world, at work we have to spend time with other people even if we feel we have little common ground. Rapport building is not the same thing as liking, and it is possible to build connectedness through open and empathic communication. By applying this skill with the least connected members of their team, great leaders make everyone feel respected and valued.
You realise that wellbeing is about more than feeling good:
In its most fundamental sense, psychologically skilled leadership prioritises the wellbeing of others. And true wellbeing is about more than slogans, phrases and generic ‘positivity’. It’s the sum of many biological, social and psychological factors that enable individuals to operate at their best. Sophisticated psychological skills do not come from posters on a wall or one-off motivational sessions. Leaders who invest in the personal development of their people will not only be rewarded by greater productivity and lower staff turnover but will see the benefits daily in their consistently healthier, happier colleagues.
Reach Out To Healthy Minds
If you’d like to learn more, check out our 1-Day Healthy Minds Masterclass - an intensive training for leaders who want to excel at psychological leadership.
All of our work is based on scientific research that we conduct to bring you evidence-based approaches that improve your performance and knowledge when it comes to mental health and wellbeing.
