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Character and Personality Contribute to Leadership

Is a strong personality an asset or a hindrance in leadership and how does it compare to character?

As is the case when dealing with people, there is no clear-cut right or wrong ‘type’ of personality. The ability to flex styles and meet the needs of various situations is an asset however we all have ingrained preferences, beliefs, characteristics and personalities. A ‘strong’ personality in itself is also neither good nor bad. However when an individual possesses too dominant or overbearing a personality it can certainly challenge relationships in and out of the workplace.

I like to think of personality and character as related, yet with significant differences. An online definition of personality references character as if they are the same, or at least heavily influenced by the other.

per-son-al-i-ty: noun

1. the visible aspect of one’s character as it impresses others: He has a pleasing personality.

2. a person as an embodiment of a collection of qualities: He is a curious personality.

3. Psychology: a. the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual; b. the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics of the individual.

4. the quality of being a person; existence as a self-conscious human being; personal identity.

In what I consider and have proven (at least to myself) to be an astute choice, when recruiting I am much more likely to select a candidate based on character than personality-based attributes. Of course, both are important as is background, skills and capability, although many of the requirements for the role can be taught. It is much more difficult to change someone’s ingrained personality traits.
A risk in recruitment is to hire people who are most like yourself, or those we naturally affiliate with, sharing similar personality traits and views . This is most often not an optimum strategy. Variation and diversity are all attributes that within a team are more likely to add value to the business. Natural affiliation may mean that you will get along more easily with a person, however is that what is best for achieving the team and business goals, as well as the right contributing mix for the team? Generally, it is not, although developing an understanding of each person within the team and sharing this knowledge is most likely to create an environment where diversity is accepted and is a positive rather than a differentiator in a negative sense.

Force of personality is a poor substitute for strong character.

In life too often we see the ‘squeaky wheel’ receiving the most attention. We see this in hotels, retail establishments and in the workplace, amongst other times and places. As leaders we need to be aware of the differences and be clear in what we are looking for in our teams. Those who shout the loudest or longest are not necessarily the same people who have the best ideas or contribute with any more effectiveness than others who may be more reserved. Of course, when it comes to people, it is not a ‘perfect science’ and we have to make judgments every day to find the balance.
Although character traits are much more difficult to ascertain in the short-term than personality, the value add of spending the time to assess an individual more fully is worth the effort in the long term. Conversely the risk of getting it wrong, particularly in business, can be a difficult process to unwind. Alex Lickerman notes the key differences between character and personality, highlighted below:

Personality is easy to read, and we’re all experts at it. We judge people funny, extroverted, energetic, optimistic, confident—as well as overly serious, lazy, negative, and shy—if not upon first meeting them, then shortly thereafter. And though we may need more than one interaction to confirm the presence of these sorts of traits, by the time we decide they are, in fact, present we’ve usually amassed enough data to justify our conclusions.
Character, on the other hand, takes far longer to puzzle out. It includes traits that reveal themselves only in specific—and often uncommon—circumstances, traits like honesty, virtue, and kindliness. Ironically, research has shown that personality traits are determined largely by heredity and are mostly immutable. The arguably more important traits of character, on the other hand, are more malleable—though, we should note, not without great effort. Character traits, as opposed to personality traits, are based on beliefs (e.g., that honesty and treating others well is important—or not), and though beliefs can be changed, it’s far harder than most realize. (1)

It is interesting to see this play out within the friendship groups that our 3 daughter’s have formed. At age 6 there is little identification with anything other than affiliation and mostly personality-based relationships are formed. With our 9 year-old I can see the first signs of relationships strengthening or lessening based on values and character to a limited degree. Whereas this is obviously undefined and is mostly intuitive, the difference is there.

Our eldest daughter recently had 6 friends over for a sleepover to celebrate her 12th birthday. For the first substantial time, it is possible to see the resistance to the personalities that are over-bearing and/or more self-centric than others. In some cases we have even observed intervention and active management of situations within the friendship group when poor character traits or behaviours have been displayed. The stronger bonds have and are forming between the girls who display a depth of character and level of maturity more than others. It is still ill-defined and again mostly intuitive.

One of the interesting changes that I see as our girls have grown up is that the passive acceptance of the overtly strong personality is there to be seen and accepted to a degree, but appears to lessen as they mature and become more self-aware. I imagine in only a few short years these people will either need to taper down the overtness to find a better balance or continue to struggle in how they are sometimes seen and reacted to by others.

When coaching people, it is more common that I work on elements related to character than personality.

Character traits tend to be more fluid and yet, have a level of substance that, when changed, adds real depth to a person and how they are viewed by others. The challenges I see in an individual constantly putting their own ideas forward forcefully, talking over others and listening to little that is being discussed is that these behaviours offer an insight into their persona, not all of it positive. Others see this also and is regularly one of the key reasons I am engaged as a coach.

The outward appearance of these behaviours can make a person appear confident however when the surface is scratched the reality is often a degree of over-compensation for low self-esteem or confidence. I have even observed this with senior leaders and executives in business, which can be a surprise to many. This in itself, is part of the problem as I see it. The apparent broad-ranging and all-encompassing skills and capability deemed appropriate for leaders is misguided.

No one leader has the perfect mix of attributes and capability – neither do they need to. People talk about the fact that an individual leader does not need to possess all of these traits and attributes, however the expectations of others in reality places unreasonable expectations and pressure on our leaders. Many senior leaders feel this pressure and in some cases feel as if they are ‘frauds and are waiting to be found out’. This is a genuine challenge to business and to the leader themselves. I have even had some senior leaders make the statement that they would not be at such a level if they did not possess all of the skills and capabilities. If only that were true!

As the image in this blog identifies, personality is important as it reflects much of the outward image of how we are seen. Character is the bedrock that who we are is built upon and reflects and enables much of our belief system, values and the deeper aspects of us as individuals. When it comes to relationships in the workplace, we often have less choice who we associate with. As a leader, the point of difference is the level of self-awareness and emotional intelligence we have and are prepared to develop. It is also reflected in how much this is encouraged in our team members and through the type of culture and environment we create.

When it comes to people and personality there are no rights and wrongs. A ‘strong’ personality, when balanced and used to advantage can be a valuable asset…of course the opposite is also true. Depth and strength of character are certainly attributes and traits that I look for within my team members, both when recruiting and in their development. This forms a superb base to grow all elements of the person, team and business and without it, becomes a potential long-term challenge. What are your thoughts?

(1) Personality vs. Character: The key to discerning personality from character is time: Alex Lickerman, MD – Psychology Today

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Leadership

Leadership This Year…and Next

This time of year is often associated with resolutions or the idea that changes to what has been the past are required. For me, the idea that a nominal date such as January 1st should be the trigger for self-review and improvement is somewhat skewed. The concept of self-awareness and subsequent desire to be as capable and self-aware as possible is an ongoing effort, or at least, it should be. When it comes to leadership, this ideal is as relevant as ever. As individuals and employees we should feel comfortable with this concept, although I recognise the reality is often somewhat different. Now is a good time to have a look at leadership in general and specifically review how you as a leader are performing against current benchmarks and needs, not those rooted in the past.

What has altered in leadership for 2014?

The point that culture and society is evolving means that we as leaders need to keep abreast of cultural, societal, organisational behaviour and workplace adjustments. We are judged on many things including our ability to relate to people and influence others. This is a significant change in leadership principles from the past. The idea of a directorial, aggressive leader belongs in the past. This does not mean that leadership has become ‘soft’; more that the most effective leaders are able to flex their style as required. It is the leader’s responsibility to engage and flex, particularly in the early stages of a relationship. The concept of our team members and peers having to bend to our style as leaders is antiquated and out of step with the generational expectations and changes that are occurring.

Trends emerge through genuine demand (and sometimes through good marketing), nevertheless at its core, the concept of leadership and its effect remains unchanged.

Although the bold statement made above is something I believe in its simplest form, there are necessities of leadership that have become more prominent and/or need to be reaffirmed in the current environment, including:

The concept that leadership is earned rather than given with a title has become a reality for many. Few people are prepared to tolerate poor leadership or work for someone who they do not have some connection with, at least in part. Expectations are higher and tolerance is lower.
Ultimately, people are still looking for similar things in and out of work that they were in the past. What has changed is both the awareness of what it could be and preparedness to seek it out. Unfortunately I still see many people putting up with aspects of work and personal relationships that they are dissatisfied with, but again, expectations are shifting.
The idea of mindfulness is gaining momentum, particularly when associated with the essence of balance and not feeling overwhelmed by the holistic needs of leading. Being ‘in the moment’ and strengthening abilities to truly listen and connect with your peers and workmates has always been important, however greater research and profile re the brain and how it works is adding value to our knowledge around about the benefits of being mindful.
Being an effective leader requires effort. That has always been the case and always will be! There is no short-cut or silver bullet to leadership learning, as it requires trial, error, success and failure which only comes by being prepared to step out of your comfort zone and take on leadership responsibility in practice.
The degree to which a person is persistent and accountable are two of the traits I see as key reasons for success and failure in leaders I have worked with in recent years.
Change is now the norm. For those leaders who are unable or unwilling to accept change, the current environment is particularly difficult. For those who actively or passively resist change, the days are numbered and work is often stressful. Leader’s who genuinely embrace change, can influence others appropriately and display their value and worth are witnessing that this is their time.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) and self-awareness are becoming more accepted as essential elements of leadership rather than ‘nice to haves’. Those who are truly comfortable with who they are and how they impact others are more likely to be accountable and accepting of their failures, whilst sharing the successes and achievements through their actions as well as words. Volumes of information have been written about the benefits of EI in leadership and life generally. Leaders who are intuitively able to or have learned the importance of EI are likely to feel the benefits within the current work environment.

What do you think – has the leadership concept and leadership in practice changed in recent years? Will it need to change for the future?

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Leadership

Leadership and Managing Redundancies

These are challenging times! It seems that, at least in Australia, we are yet to fully recover the confidence levels that existed before the financial crisis of a few years ago. This has led to less certainty in sentiment and in some cases, reductions in the workforce.
Leadership is imperative at any time, however our recent global and local economic plight brings the importance of leading well to the fore even more starkly. This is no more apparent than when the unfortunate situation arises where members of your team have to be let go, not based on performance but from a financial situation for the company involved. Redundancies are rarely pleasant however, when managed well, the impact for all parties involved can be minimised.

Unfortunately, the worst thing to happen to these organisations isn’t the fact that these redundancies take place, it’s the poor leadership which follows the redundancies. Consequences such as reduced productivity and engagement can linger for many months, or even years, especially when the process has not been handled gracefully. (1)

I have personally been involved in redundancies previously within organisations and generally have felt they were handled well. I have found that leadership is critical to how the news is received and whether employees return to their works-pace with a high degree of bitterness, resentment and negative feelings about the employer or whether it is accepted, to a degree. The initial contact is critical. Key observations and recommendations include:

Communication is core to the acceptance or otherwise of the redundancy news.
Context and consistency in the communication must be prevalent.
Follow up each contact/communication individually and as a team. Every employee has different needs and it is important to provide outlets to discuss privately whilst also sharing the discussion with the impacted group as a whole.
If an existing level of trust and a genuine relationships does not exists, then managing redundancies becomes more difficult. This is the case with any leadership situation where, if the right to earn the conversation hasn’t occurred before the event, then it is more likely to be received with distrust, cynicism and resistance.

It can result in a lack of trust in management and a feeling of ‘what’s going to happen next?’ which leads to poor productivity, distractions and a disengaged workforce…even though tougher economic times called for cost cuttings, the wisest move employers could make is to help their leaders to manage through these times. Leaders have a direct impact on the engagement and productivity of their staff; after all, people tend to leave their bosses, not their jobs. (1)

The reality is that redundancies, downsizing and economic uncertainty will always exists. In economic downtime the impact of these decisions is even greater as the likelihood of ex-employees finding another role is reduced, creating the vicious circle of increased national unemployment, family breakdowns and other social problems. Understanding that situations such as these will occur in the future and proactively managing them now through leadership development, cultural growth and stronger relationships provides a more stable platform for any change or impact in the workplace.

Situations occur, however how we lead through these issues is the most telling point.

(1) Leadership Falters Following Redundancies – HCAMag

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Leadership

Leadership, Politics and Private Enterprise

No matter your political predisposition, country of birth or current location, many of us have seen a dearth of good effective leaders in political circles.

It is not only in private enterprise that we have had the misfortune to see in recent years businesses ignore risk management, develop poor internal cultures and force us to question the value of salaries for some of the most prominent of CEO’s. Unfortunately this is apparent within politics also, particularly in Australia.

This is not a blog about political allegiance but rather a side-note to the need for political parties and individual politicians to start to develop a leadership mindset that is consistent with expectations and capabilities of the best organisations. Consistent with this ideal, Labor politician Bob Carr recently made a few interesting points on the ABC Lateline tv show that are worth highlighting.

I think we’ve got to take leadership training, tutoring, nurturing, more seriously than we do and every organisation in Australian society you’ve got a commitment to train, to coach, to mentor political leadership. Only the political parties think that you can muddle through with people who are never systematically trained for the challenge of being ministers, being a leader in opposition, having the skills and the talents, the disposition required to lead your party through tough times.

We don’t take it seriously. Mentoring, coaching and systematic training, the nurturing of high quality, highly promising leadership material is taken for granted in the corporate and the public sector world.

The only institutions, it strikes me, that don’t do it are political parties.

There’s not a training course held by the Labor Party or the Liberal Party for recruits, say people in their 20s, who have got the promise of being ministers. So we fluke it and we wonder why someone, when thrown into a ministerial role, or even sometimes into the leadership, the party in opposition finds himself or herself struggling. There’s no systematic development of the talents required and we’re unique among institutions in neglecting that.

So if our politicians, both existing and those aspiring to run are not focused on developing a suitable leadership skillset, then are we setting ourselves and our nations up for perennial failure and disappointment? To be fair, there are many leaders in all industries who spend too little time dedicated to their own growth and development, let alone that of their people. However, as politicians, the very nature and requirements of their roles provides ample opportunity to lead. In fact, it is an obligation of their role but one that is not taken as seriously as it should. The evidence is clear – it only takes the viewer a few minutes of watching parliament in action to understand that Mr Carr has a valid point.

Leadership is not given through role or title…it is earned through actions and results. This fact is the same the world over, no matter the culture, nation, organisation or political party. This is something our current and future politicians and corporate leaders in Australia and abroad would do well to remember.

The right to lead is one that is earned every day.

Apathy and tolerance have limited life.

Drive and Motivation: 360 View Leadership

I recently viewed a clip that peaked my interest regarding what motivates us as individuals. On a side note, being quite visual I genuinely enjoy the RSA animate drawings aligned to the content and topic.The author and speaker, Dan Pink, discusses the science of predictability, human nature and motivation. People are not as predictable as is commonly thought. For those of us who have been in leadership roles, this probably resonates strongly, however I challenge each of us to understand how much we have influenced this through our inability or sometimes, unwillingness to truly understand what motivates our team members.

Dan refers to two separate studies, one of which has a fascinating finding.

It questions the premise that, if we reward something you get more of the behaviour we want and if we punish something or someone, we get less.

The relationship of what is commonly understood between reward and behaviour may well be a series of misconceptions. Challenging! Our understanding of motivation and how this drives people is misunderstood, according to the theory, with other factors such as rudimentary cognitive skills, mechanical skills and the link to reward and performance challenging the thinking that higher reward equals higher performance.

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Effectiveness, Leadership

Questions and Leadership – How They Influence Decisions and Actions

The ability to ask the right questions using an approach that is trusted and accepted is one of the great leadership skills.

It can lead to greater clarity, direction, understanding and comfort.

I was in a Skype meeting with a colleague of mine based in Ontario earlier in the week and we were discussing many things. One of the key themes that we deliberated over was the need to ask and answer ‘the right’ questions, that leads to a result that has clarity and can direct to effective and meaningful action.
Let me delve a little further to explain what I mean. As a coach and consultant I am required to help change or improve something, either for an individual client, team or organisation. This is what I do and seems quite clear. However, one of the key challenges that arise is when I am engaged for a purpose that is poorly understood and is not clearly articulated with any depth. This can sound like, “We know something needs to change, but we have not thought through how you can help”. I am not suggesting that a client is required to do my job for me. What I am stating is that definition of engagement is very important. This is as applicable to leading people where guidance and direction provide the platform for success.
Any question can be answered. Most problems have a solution. But, depending on the question asked, the response can be distorted or deliver a consequence that not was intended.
In a literal sense we see this in survey questions. A key word here, a phrase applied there and the outcome can be quite different. This is similar in leadership when developing team members, coaching, generating strategies and completing other tasks and actions applicable to the role. Depending on the question asked, you will get a certain response.
What this means is that we have to be very careful in our language and ensure it matches our intent. Not to the point of over analysis but with enough thought and preparation to ensure that the coach or leader is not phrasing the question to include or attach our own biases, beliefs and/or seek an anticipated outcome already established in our mind. This can be difficult, however is a skill that when practiced can lead to greater proficiency. It serves no purpose to be seeking a solution to a problem that is not clearly expressed.

Put another way, if you do not know why you are asking, why ask?

There must be a reason – what is the concern or trigger? A few key questions to ask that will provide greater certainty are:

What does success look like? Understand what the expected outcomes look like and any ideas of projected outcomes. The detail is unlikely to be apparent at this stage, but a broad understanding should be understood by all parties involved.
What has been tried previously? It may not mean that you won’t try them again but understanding prior assumptions and actions can save time and provide additional clarity to the situation.
How will this be measured? Understand the base measurement. This helps to show impact and improvement and sets the starting point. If it cannot be measured additional questions need to be raised. When absent this can be a major red flag as it influences clarity, accountability and degrees of success.
Who is going to help, if anyone? Is there a team or any other assistance required or being provided?
Who are the key stakeholders? Understand who has a vested interest in the work and any outcomes. Assessment of checkpoints along the way is likely to include one or more of the stakeholders. In coaching, this can affect the process and a level of engagement, depending on whether the client being coached has engaged the coach or a third party (leader, business owner etc.) is involved.

Appropriate, well-timed questions in coaching and leadership can mean the difference in achieving outcomes and results with substance or provide weak, non-impacting conclusions. How well these questions are thought through and articulated and by putting some thought and time into preparation is worth the effort. The alternative is doubt, poor outcomes, reduced engagement and other negative consequences. What do you think?

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Employee Engagement, Leadership, People Development

Leadership and Relationships – It’s the Little Things

In leadership and relationships, it is often the small gestures and words that make all the difference.

I have often been surprised at the number of times I have been reminded of my words and gestures from the past, how they have remained in people’s minds and in some cases had influence in their thinking and on their actions. To be honest, this has not always been in a positive sense, with mistakes and errors in judgment coming back to haunt me at various stages of my life as well. But this blog is more about the positive aspects of our words and gestures.

In my last 6 years of full-time work for GE I had the pleasure of working with another leader, Luke, who I was able to help support, influence and develop, as he did me. We spoke about many things and subjects during this time including the importance of connecting with others. We regularly reminded each other of the content of previous conversations and the phrases used, providing opportunity to delve deeper and reflect upon during our discussions and afterwards. By talking things through and as a result of the enhanced understanding of ourselves and each other, our relationship developed.

These are some of the most meaningful conversations I have had, providing opportunity to challenge, be challenged and reflect upon afterwards. My relationship and related conversations with Luke were one of the key reasons that I sought to develop my coaching and mentoring capability, and ultimately create CoachStation. His influence and the effect of our many ‘chats’ has been profound, but not all relationships need to be this comprehensive to have an impact.

My experience taught me that it is often the seemingly small and less significant conversations that people remember. Each of us have diverse beliefs, motivations, emotional structure and needs. As a result, we respond differently to words used and conversations held, influencing our memories. This makes sense if you think about it. If you remember back to your childhood, what are some of your earliest memories?

I am sure that, like most of us, you can recall some of the more poignant and meaningful moments, sometimes with amazing clarity. These points in time and subsequent memories often stem from brief comments or phrases that have stuck with you forever. Some of these may have been the sting of criticism or feelings of hurt…and many of them are positive, meaningful flashes in time.

I bet that if you approached some of the people involved in those original conversations now, they would be unlikely to remember the conversation, moment or recognise the impact the exchanges had.

In my lifetime I have been in the fortunate position to have assisted and coached many people personally and professionally, both in and out of the workplace. This has been through informal and formal coaching and mentoring, leading teams and helping friends and families, as they have assisted me. Those moments when someone refers back to our earlier conversations can be very meaningful and validate many of the approaches and styles of leadership from your past. They also provide evidence for the power of coaching and benefit of having an ‘external’ person to share relevant themes with.

In leadership, how you make people feel is as important as what you do and say.

I am a keen follower of sport. In particular a passionate fan of the Australian Rules Football (AFL) team, Port Power, based in South Australia. It was a struggle for Port in the years around 2008 and immediately after, not having made the finals for some time. They have a proud history and made many structural and personnel changes over over that period to bring the results back to where the fans expected the team to be.

In 2006 Port had the great fortune and foresight to draft Travis Boak. He was brought up in country Victoria, so like all interstate moves, this was significant.

The opportunity to return to Victoria was always an option. After his initial contract period, Travis had the opportunity to return home to his family, which had a strong pull for him. He was approached by other teams and there was a real risk of Travis going to a team with a seemingly bigger upside, fan-base or budget, if reports were to be believed. His Father, who he was very close to, had recently passed away, which was an added incentive to return home. But he stayed. Why? Integrity, loyalty, commitment, relationships and I am sure many other attributes and values formed part of his decision-making.

Based on his work ethic, leadership and other traits, the team appointed Travis Boak as captain in 2013. I do not know Travis personally and have never met him but he is a great choice as captain of the Power. There would have been many reasons for him to stay and for him to leave, for that matter. However, after reading an article about his appointment, it reminded me of the importance of those little moments and the words that people use (the impact can be compelling!) that I am sure helped Travis make his decision to remain with the team. In part, the article read:

The phone call on draft day, 2006

There are few days as nervous as the day of the AFL national draft, where players worry about if they will be picked up, where they’ll end up if they do, and what they will do if they are overlooked. Boak had been an outstanding junior footballer, tipped to go in the first round – which he did – and needn’t have worried about being selected. But the day is still an indelible memory. Not so much for the draft itself, or the realisation that he’d have to leave Victoria, but because of the phone call from Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea. He still has a chuckle when he thinks back to the day. These days, Tredrea is somebody Boak will seek out for advice on being captain, a former teammate who’s now a mate. Back then, realising who was at the end of the line when he picked up his phone made his heart skip a beat. “On draft day, the thing that stood out wasn’t having my name read out but when Tredders (Tredrea) gave me a call that day,” Boak said. “It was just a great feeling when that happened. I was just an 18-year-old who had watched this superstar on TV and then you get a call from him. It was just surreal, crazy. All of a sudden you get a phone call from Warren Tredrea, congratulating me and saying he was looking forward to catching up with me on Monday.

Although not privy to the conversation between Warren Tredrea and Travis Boak, the esteem that exists when they talk about each other and the way it made Travis feel then and even now, says something about how the discussion went. It is important to recognise these moments – in the moment if you can. It is too easy for to be oblivious to the influence the words chosen can and do have. The words, terms and expressions we use have a significant impact on others, as they did for Travis. If you have not already done so, I hope that you have the benefit of experiencing what this feels like at some point in your career and journey.

Respect the relationship, intention and reality of the situation – be modest in your approach in those conversations when someone reminds you of your words from the past and influence you have had.
You may not even remember what you said or the specific conversation, however it meant enough to this person to bring it back up and remind you…and clearly meant enough for you to share the words in the first place.
The moments are powerful, validating, humbling and remind us all of the importance of relationships and connecting with others.
Do not underestimate the power of your words – which can have both a positive and negative impact.
Choose your moments carefully – and the associated words to match.

It may be something as simple as remembering someone’s birthday, thanking them or recognising the impact an individual has had in your life.

Be brave, be honest and share your thoughts – the effect, inspiration and benefit is not always obvious in that moment, but the evidence continues to show us that they are worth cherishing…and repeating.

Have you experienced the ‘upside’ of earlier comments and conversations? Is there a downside? I look forward to hearing about your experiences – please share them below.

Update 2025:

Travis Boak, the quintessential one-club man, has confirmed he will retire at the end of the 2025 AFL season after 19 seasons with Port Adelaide. He will finish with 384 games to his name, having chosen not to chase the 400-game milestone despite being in contention. Boak was drafted from the Geelong Falcons with the No. 5 pick in 2006, making his debut in 2007, and quickly became a cornerstone of the club. In 2013, he was named captain and wore the No. 1 jumper until stepping down in 2018. Over the course of his career, he became Port Adelaide’s all-time games record holder.

His time in the AFL was marked by consistent excellence and an ability to deliver when it mattered most. Boak earned three All-Australian selections in 2013, 2014, and 2020, won the John Cahill Medal twice in 2011 and 2019, and collected multiple Showdown and Peter Badcoe VC Medals. In 2020, he finished runner-up in the Brownlow Medal and featured prominently in other major player-of-the-year awards.

What defined Boak beyond his skill was his loyalty and leadership. He stood by Port Adelaide through turbulent years, guiding the club with quiet professionalism when others might have moved on. Former teammates have compared him to greats like LeBron James and Tom Brady, a testament to his lasting impact and professionalism. His decision to retire coincides with the planned departure of long-time coach Ken Hinkley, with both men determined to finish on a high.

Boak’s legacy lies not just in his statistics but in the respect he commanded on and off the field. He was not the flashiest player in the competition, but he embodied the traits every club values: consistency, loyalty, selflessness, and mental toughness. Choosing to step away while still highly respected, he leaves the game with his legacy intact, valued, and untainted, a true Port Adelaide great.

No matter which AFL team you support, it would be difficult to not respect the man as well as the player. #legend

Related Articles

Leadership is a Relationship – Michael Ray Hopkin, Lead On Purpose
How to Build Leadership Skills When You’re Not A Leader – David Burkus, LDRLB: Leadership, Innovation and Strategy

Travis Boak: Why I didn’t bail on Power – Jesper Fjeldstad, Adelaide Now

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Leadership, Motivation, Remote Leadership, Self-Awareness

Leadership Traits, Skills and Attributes – Poll

Late last year I ran a poll via LinkedIn asking the question: what is the most important leadership trait, skill or attribute that you would like to see developed and improved in 2013? I was very pleased with the number of responses, receiving 226 votes. What was most satisfying was the effort many people put into the supporting comments of which 49 added to their vote with their thoughts.

There are many well-balanced, thoughtful and insightful people in my network and I thank you all for taking the time to add to the discussion. I will add that the 3 or 4 foolish people who took the time to repeatedly add very little constructive thought and feel the need to use domains such as LinkedIn polls to vent and argue with each other about trivialities is disappointing and diminishes the process for others. I do not understand it, however recognise that some people really do miss the point when it comes to value-add and sharing. Thankfully they are in the minority.

For the vast majority who voted and left comments, this blog is dedicated to the excellent and thought-provoking insights. I did not initially intend to write a blog on the topic, as the poll was created for my business needs however with the high quality comments provided, when summarised and presented on one page, really do add value to the relevance and position of leadership in our world today.

Clearly, I had many options that could have been included as leadership attributes and skills, however with a limit of 5 criteria and specific reasons for including those listed, the results were quite fascinating. Interestingly, although the results were quite even it was the ‘leadership soft-skills’ and self-awareness based attributes that were deemed as most important to focus on.

As the comments are in the public domain, available to all I have kept each contributors first name with their individual comment – my favourites are:

I believe that most people issues start with their own mindset. If everyone would work harder on themselves first they would be in much better shape to lead others. As John Maxwell teaches in his newest book “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth” every person needs to start with the development of their own personal and professional growth plan. We all should be on a “growth” journey and that will vastly improve our leadership abilities. David – Voted for Self-Awareness (Honesty, Growth)

I’ve worked in too many companies where communication does not flow down to those that need to implement changes. Therefore productivity is effected when work is done that does not meet new company guidelines and time is wasted having to fix work and bring it up to the new standard. I’m not saying that the other areas are any less important but feel that as change is our constant companion in the workplace, communication skills are key to developing a happy, knowledgeable, productive workplace. Dale – Voted for Communication Skills & Ability

It is surprising how much of self-awareness (honesty/growth) is missing across key leadership level – any good literature has tonnes reported on this. Its almost like honesty/trust/growth/respect was to flow downside-up or follower-to-leader and not the other way. Call it benign oblivion or conscious side-stepping, people see through this. And question how these people made it to leadership positions in the first place. Evidently, people-who-matter are equally part of it.That said, people will not recognize us as leaders behind our backs short of this. Amit – Voted for Self-Awareness (Honesty, Growth)

I think too many leaders today lack the foresight of vision and this translates into poor communication skills. Great leaders have always been able to “see the future” and engage people into bridging the gap, no matter how large or big the obstacles may be. The problem for leaders in setting great vision is covering the massive failure that can follow, and as such leaders look to hedge their bets, to the point where there is no vision, no communication and no leadership in sight. I say give it a go, envision an outcome for yourself or for your company and start engaging people in the vision – it’s the only way I know of to create massive change. Peter – Voted for Communication Skills & Ability

Emotional Intelligence would have been my answer. Self-awareness took my vote because at least that is an element of EI. Leaders with exceptional EI can learn to coach others effectively, but you can’t coach others effectively without exceptional EI. My second choice was communication skills but only because of how self-awareness (and EI) impact our communication. Great leadership is all about how well we are able to manage relationships with those around us. And we can’t manage relationships without understanding ourselves, managing ourselves, and understanding others. I believe that all of our organizations would be remarkably better places if our collective EI was increased by 10%. Nearly every employee in the world knows what makes a great leader. So why is great leadership such an uncommon practice? The answer is that very few people understand what EI is and the impact of developing our EI competencies. The “way” we interact with others matters. And self-awareness is that first step. Mike – Voted for Self-Awareness (Honesty, Growth)

Having a high level of self awareness is a key trait to have for those in leadership roles. It enables the leader to diminish those blind spots that are often career blockers. Marcia – Voted for Self-Awareness (Honesty, Growth)

There is little benefit in being adept at all aspects without the ability to communicate your knowledge, understanding and ideas. Communication is a very broad term and its not only about what YOU think, so to be more accurate, true LISTENING is a skill that is often overlooked, a bad practitioner not only misses the boat but often leaves others feeling disregarded. Dave – Voted for Communication Skills & Ability

Until and unless a person is not able to communicate properly I don’t think he can be a good leader, without communication skills a person can be a good employee or a smart worker but to be a LEADER he/she has to be absolutely brilliant with both internal & external communication capabilities. Raheel – Voted for Communication Skills & Ability

I believe that to lead, manage, communicate appropriately and coach other people, it is fairly fundamental that a leader has a high level of self awareness about themselves and others. One must lead and self manage themselves first before you can lead other people. Employees can be taught different management, coaching and communication skill & techniques but the fundamental building block is self awareness. I don’t believe you can excel at the other areas without a high level of self awareness. Alison – Voted for Self-Awareness (Honesty, Growth)

I voted for Communication Skills & Ability because without the ability to communicate effectively, one cannot be a good coach. Good communication skills also requires honesty to be an effective communicator. Management also requires excellent communication skills as does Leadership. So, the ability to communicate effectively and concisely, allows all of the other traits/attributes to be able to grow successfully. Sharon – Voted for Communication Skills & Ability

Self awareness provides an individual a road map that promotes personal and professional growth. More importantly, this gift provides an honest self appraisal that allows an individual to learn the importance of collaboration and input from a mentor. Suzanne – Voted for Self-Awareness (Honesty, Growth)

This was insightful. I ultimately voted for the self-awareness piece. From my experience, leaders who are not aware of their own strengths, weaknesses and others’ perception of them are often unable to sound and be authentic. This translates into the questioning of their intent and motivation, which leads to mistrust at many levels. I have to understand me and my skills first before I can be influential with others. Shirley – Voted for Self-Awareness (Honesty, Growth)

Coaching potential candidates for future leadership positions to ensure organization’s continuity & prosperity is the most important trait of all great leaders. Being able to retire knowing that what you have accomplished remains in good, capable hands is vital for a distinguished leader’s peace of mind once he hands over the fort to his properly groomed successor(s). Communication skills are also important but I believe that it constitute part of good coaching as well. Without good communications coaching can not be performed well. Therefore, I find some overlap between Communications & Coaching skills. Adel – Voted for Coaching Skills & Capability

Management skills and application. I especially find applying what you know and getting others to follow suit is rather daunting to me as leader. After all the fine speeches and charts, when you get to the nuts and bolts then only you found your inadequacies may be disastrous. Michael – Voted for Management Skills & Application

I am reminded of James Collins’ “Good to Great” in which he went in length arguing that one of the key characteristics that differentiates great leaders from mere good ones is how great leaders invest in grooming their successors. It is not enough that they succeed. They also want to ensure that, when the key is turned over, the next generation can continue to thrive and lead their companies down the path of prosperity. Evan – Voted for Coaching Skills & Capability

Communications because it is the base from which the other options start. If there is anything, at any time, we could progress, it is always communication. Brad – Voted for Communication Skills & Ability

These are the comments that resonated with me the most. What are your thoughts?

No matter the input you have or your yearly goals, I hope that 2013 brings you all that you are looking for, continues to challenge you in the right way and by December you are better off for having developed your skills, capability and mindset through your choices throughout this year.

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Effectiveness, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Self-Awareness

Leadership Greatest Hits: 2012 CoachStation Highlights

Like many of you, I have spent some time over the past weeks reflecting on 2012 and planning for next year. As cliche’d as it may be, the years do seem to be passing more and more quickly, although I feel this is a reflection of our lifestyles and a symptom of the modern world. It has been a year of significant change for me, as I took the step to leave full-time employment and work full time in and on my consulting and leadership development businesses, CoachStation and Telework Management. Pleasingly, I have never been so comfortable and content with my current and future work situation.

Beyond my family, one of my great joys is writing and I have taken much pleasure from the blogs constructed in 2012. It dawned on me today that if our favourite music artists can take their best songs and make a compilation then there is nothing stopping me from doing the same…any excuse will do! This blog highlights some of the best ‘bits’ as highlighted by my readers and my personal favourite statements and points gleaned from this years CoachStation blogs. My first job out of school was in a radio station in Adelaide and like other stations, our catch-cry at the time was ‘Greatest Hits and Latest Memories’…a theme I will borrow for the moment as you read through my Greatest Hits. Enjoy!

Effective leadership is neither easy nor a given – it takes effort, practice, ongoing learning & persistence. The rewards that stem from being an effective leader are difficult to articulate or describe to someone who has never felt them. Read More: Leadership: It’s About You

Every individual has different expectations of themselves, their leader and the employer. Each team member brings different skills, values, biases, desires and other personal traits to their role. It is the leaders job to understand the employee well enough to blend business needs with personal needs. Read More: Expectation Setting – Who Cares?

I see managers rewarding and recognising employees based on the end result, with no regard as to how it was achieved…the ‘right’ journey will more often than not provide the ‘right’ result and the team culture, ethic and standard will be reinforced even further as a result. This point focuses on the ‘how’. Ultimately, the long-term culture and level of understanding benefits from this mindset. Read More: Leadership, The Coach and Coaching

Effective leaders ensure that they seek to understand both the planned outcomes and how their people are going to influence and drive all of the elements within the process to achieve that outcome. I often wonder what it is about processes that many managers have a need to see as entirely separate from their people…If we are not clear about what role our team member’s play in the overall project then the entire process change will likely fail. Read More: People and Process: Aligned or Loggerheads?

Many a plan or process has failed due to a lack of clear direction and early identification of the problem to be solved, leading to a poor concept of the strategies required. Read More: Strategic Thinking and Leadership

The very essential elements of leadership – the measure of effectiveness, credibility and judgment that provides an answer to leadership effectiveness actually comes from those you lead! Read More: Leadership Credibility: The Right To Lead?

The leader who is effective in their role recognises that connection between people occurs through more than just the words used. An effective leader knows this intuitively and works hard to make sure relationships exist with meaning, even when there may not be an initial strong affiliation. Read More: The Positive Impact Of Connecting

Values are critical for both individuals and businesses. Values provide a base for alignment between yourself and the business that employs you. They allow an individual to feel connected and maintain a clear view of the reasons for doing what they do. Understanding what is important to you personally and at work also assists to motivate or re-clarify, providing direction. Read More: Developing and Empowering Leaders – Richard Branson (Pt 1)

Employ the right people, support and develop them and give them the freedom to make their own mistakes and revel in successes. Read More: Developing and Empowering Leaders – Richard Branson (Pt 2)

Unless your business sees Customer Experience as a culture, not a tool, then your customers will feel the pain of what is not being provided by your customer-facing employees. So often we think business is all about making money and that customers are the most important thing. But if you don’t treat your employees well and give them a reason to come to work, they aren’t going to be motivated to give excellent service to your customers, and customers who aren’t treated well have lots of other places they can go.Read More: 11 Key Leadership and Customer Experience Mantras

How are you choosing to challenge what has been done previously? Don’t accept the reasonable reasons from the past. Read More: Leadership @ Customer Experience Management Conference

Effective leadership and employee engagement are critical factors in providing a culture where people want to work…and to provide more of what our customers want. Building a culture that is actively and meaningfully engaging both internal customers (your employees) and external customers is more easily said than done. A genuinely effective customer experience approach requires a top-down strategy based on broad and extensive cultural change. Read More: Leadership, Employee Engagement and Customer Service

Trust: being trusted and trusting others is a great base to work from. Those who influence most recognise the need for trust and understand the nuances that enable trust to be built. In a real relationship trust cannot be faked. Read More: 360 View in 360 Words: Leadership and Influence

If you do not understand what each of your team member’s core values are, you could be potentially missing the ultimate success of growing and developing your team to be the best they can be. This could be impacting the business bottom line, morale, relationships and other key elements. Read More: Personal Values – One View

The argument of nature versus nurture to me is not the key question. The bigger question, no matter where or how you obtained your role, is: how effective are you as a leader? What I do know is that not all leaders by name are leaders in practice – a title does not make you a leader. Read More: 360 View in 360 Words: Leaders Are Born AND Made

When I reflect on my development, reading has been critical in providing avenues to challenge my thinking. It is my time. A safe and rewarding opportunity. I get to challenge myself with absolute frankness and honesty. My thoughts are between the words on the page and myself. Read More: How Important is Reading to Leadership and Development?

Having worked with many varied people and business cultures and recognising the similarities and differences, it is clear to me that many managers think training and development are the same thing…Having knowledge is one thing, applying this knowledge in a practical and discernible way that makes a difference, is quite another. Read More: Development and Training – Same, Same: Maybe Not?

Self-reflection, taking into account the many factors that influence us all is important for growth. Taking time to reflect provides a platform for improvement and awareness about what is going well and what you would like to change about who you are and what you do. Read More: Efficiency and Effectiveness – Leadership Impact

An organization’s senior leadership team has a significant impact on its employees‘ overall opinions of the company and engagement levels, which have been linked to both earnings per share and total shareholder return…An employee who is fully engaged today will not necessarily be in a year‘s time, or in a month for that matter. Read More: At Last We’re Engaged – Leading Your Team (Part 1)

A leader‘s ability to consistently demonstrate and apply relational skills has a direct correlation to the level of engagement an individual may feel. Providing genuine leadership is key. There appears to be a gap between what employees state is occurring and what leaders feel they are applying in reality. Data and surveys continually reflect the discrepancy between what leaders believe is occurring and what their team members state. Read More: At Last We’re Engaged – Leading Your Team (Part 2)

Developing soft-skills (or ‘hard skills’) requires effort, focus and self-awareness amongst other elements. Is this why the leadership skills that fall under this category are often the ones that are least practiced and improved. Is it fear? If a leader asks the question of his or her team, they may not like nor be willing to acknowledge the answer. So is there a view for some leaders, based on fear, that it is best to not ask in the first place? Read More: The Current Challenge Of Leadership

My contention is, all kids have tremendous talents…and we squander them, pretty ruthlessly. So, I want to talk about education and I want to talk about creativity. My contention is that creativity is now as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status…In the next 30 years, according to UNESCO, more people worldwide will be graduating through education than since the beginning of history. Read More: Sir Ken Robinson – Education, Our Kids and the Future

People are stretched in their roles, covering more work that previously may have been completed by others who have been made redundant and/or have never been replaced. Read More: Roles, Structure and Instinct

Middle managers are the ones that keep the cogs turning and ensure the job gets done, not the chief executive. They are often not getting the support or training required so that they can maximise operations, as more senior managers tend to get the company-sponsored education opportunities…more businesses need to look at how their middle managers can be supported if they are to effectively lead people and manage the success of operations. Read More: Leadership Training of Middle Managers

…and 2 Bonus quotes from my blogs written for and appearing on the Linked2Leadership site:

This is made even more complex by the fact that human beings are quite unpredictable and are certainly not static like most business data. We have emotional and psychological needs, wants, highs, lows and complexity. There are various aspects of our world today that seemingly conspire against consistency and predictability, but that is what makes leadership so exciting. Read More: On Leadership, Management and Effectively Using Data

Your employees will not necessarily ‘buy- into’ the values and philosophies of your company just because they are presented. In fact, if your team member’s see these values, mission statements and similar as being incongruent with what they see and feel every day, these tools can prove more damaging than not creating them at all. You are setting up false standards and expectations. Effective leaders, displaying the company values, primarily aligned to their own, provide significant power to your business. Unfortunately knowing this and taking appropriate action are not the same thing. Read More: How Leadership and Culture Impact Business Profit

I hope that these blog segments provide opportunity for you to delve deeper into thinking about your own situation and challenge your thinking, especially as we move into a new year – that is the core reason why I write. Similarly, I welcome your comments and feedback. I recently moved all of my blogs onto my company website and as a consequence lost all of the Tweets, LinkedIn referrals and other Social Media references, so please feel free to forward or share with others as you see fit.

I also hope you had a wonderful year and trust that 2013 will bring just as many ‘smash hits’ for you as this year has for me.

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Education, Leadership, Learning

Leadership Training of Middle Managers

Do we forget how important leadership is in business?

Over the weekend I read an article in our local paper titled, Investing in the Forgotten Heroes, by Carla Jenkin. The premise for the article is the importance of the role of ‘middle-managers’ and the level of support and training they receive. Carla wrote:

Middle managers are the ones that keep the cogs turning and ensure the job gets done, not the chief executive. They are often not getting the support or training required so that they can maximise operations, as more senior managers tend to get the company-sponsored education opportunities…more businesses need to look at how their middle managers can be supported if they are to effectively lead people and manage the success of operations. U.S. research reveals that only 15 percent of an organisation’s performance is because of the influence of its chief executive.

Middle managers often feel the squeeze to lead and support their employees while implementing and overseeing directives from those above them in the hierarchy. They are less likely to be given training unless they are selected for talent-management programs and if they are offered training they are more likely to be too busy to attend…time and again organisations promote their technical people, such as top salesperson or their most skilled engineer, to a supervisor or manager position without providing them with the training and support essential for them to transition effectively to leading people and managing a unit.

In many cases if these middle managers participated in formal training and development, they would be exposed to new ideas and possibly, better ways of operating that would enable them to be more effective and spend more time working on the things that really matter instead of drowning in the day-to-day grind.

It is the supervisors and middle-managers who are the heart and soul of organisations and I agree with the article, they are regularly forgotten in the development cycle…especially leadership development. I take the point that senior leadership roles such as CEO and CFO have an important place in business. Whether the very high salaries and bonuses offered are justified is for a different discussion, however the additional benefits such as leadership learning opportunities should be spread around many roles, not the few.

The very first blog I ever wrote a few years ago was titled, Falling Into Leadership and it discussed the regular occurrence of technical specialists and employees who are exceeding in task-oriented roles, being given the opportunity to step up and lead and the challenges presented as expectations increase.

At this point, support and development are critical, yet are often missed as a core element of the process. Why do we then ask why this individual did not perform to the standard expected? An unfair question in an unsupported environment.

What is your experience with leadership development in business today? Do you have personal experiences similar to those highlighted?

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