The secret to leadership may lie in these six habits

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Scott Mautz, a long-time Procter & Gamble senior executive and now consultant, set out 30 years ago to answer a question that haunts many of us in the workplace: What makes great leaders great?
One set of studies involved asking 3,000 employees about the attributes of key leaders of high-achieving organizations they worked for that overcame the most challenges. He was skeptical any themes would emerge but was wrong. “To my surprise, a whopping 91 per cent of respondents described the same dynamic, the same profile: A self-disciplined, even-keel leader difficult to rattle,” he writes in The Mentally Strong Leader.
Those memorable leaders had control of their emotions, thoughts and actions. That intentionality and discipline sent an encouraging message in their organization, as did their unswerving confidence. They drove forward with decisiveness and boldness, resolute and ever-focused on the goal.
Mr. Mautz calls them mentally strong leaders. They have the ability to regulate their emotions, thoughts and behaviours to achieve exceptional outcomes, despite circumstances. They manage internally so they can lead externally.
He stresses he is not talking about toughness. Nor solely about emotional intelligence, although that’s a part of it. “They’re a calm port in the storm, in control of themselves and their environment, somehow getting sharper when adversity arises, brandishing self-discipline and endurance as a beacon of light,” he says.
To emulate them, you must build six habits that help you meet these tests of leadership:
He believes the secret to great leadership is no mystery. It lies in these habits and how they can help you operate in a disciplined, even-keel manner.
Cannonballs
Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn’t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.