Exceptional employees forge ahead in their work, confident they’ll be rewarded later, but unconcerned if they’re not. Photo: Top Agent.
Travis Bradberry dissects the qualities that make up the kind of employee that every manager would like to have on board, and concludes these exceptional workers rely on emotional intelligence skills that anyone can incorporate into their repertoire.
A recent international study surveyed more than 500 business leaders and asked them what sets great employees apart.
The researchers wanted to know why some people are more successful than others at work, and the answers were surprising; leaders chose ‘’personality’’ as the main reason.
Notably, 78 per cent of leaders said personality sets great employees apart, more than cultural fit (53 per cent) and even an employee’s skills (39 per cent).
The problem is, when leaders say ‘’personality’’, they don’t understand what they’re referring to.
Personality consists of a stable set of preferences and tendencies through which we approach the world. Personality traits form at an early age and are fixed by early adulthood.
Many important things about you change during your lifetime, but your personality isn’t one of them.
The qualities that leaders in the study called personality were actually emotional intelligence (EQ) skills. Unlike your personality, which is set in stone, you can change and improve your EQ.
Exceptional employees rely on simple, everyday EQ skills that anyone can incorporate into their repertoire.
Just consider some of the EQ skills that leaders and managers commonly mislabel as personality characteristics. These are the skills that set exceptional employees apart.
They’re willing to delay gratification: One thing an exceptional employee never says is: “That’s not in my job description.”
Exceptional employees work outside the boundaries of job descriptions. They forge ahead in their work, confident they’ll be rewarded later, but unconcerned if they’re not.
They can tolerate conflict: While exceptional employees don’t seek conflict, they don’t run away from it either.
They’re able to maintain their composure while presenting their positions calmly and logically.
They’re able to withstand personal attacks in pursuit of the greater goal and never use that tactic themselves.
They focus: Student pilots are often told: “When things start going wrong, don’t forget to fly the plane.”
Plane crashes have resulted from pilots concentrating so hard on identifying the problem that they flew the plane into the ground.
Exceptional employees understand the principle of “just fly the plane”. They don’t get distracted by cranky clients, inter-office squabbles, or a switch to a different brand of coffee.
They can differentiate between real problems and background noise.
They’re judiciously courageous: Exceptional employees are willing to speak up when others are not, whether it’s to ask a difficult (or embarrassingly simple) question or to challenge an executive decision.
However, that’s balanced with common sense and timing. They think before they speak and wisely choose the best time and place to do so.
They’re in control of their egos: Exceptional employees have egos. While that’s part of what drives them, they never give their egos more weight than is deserved.
They’re willing to admit when they’re wrong and willing to do things someone else’s way, whether it’s because the other way is better or it’s important to maintain team harmony.
They’re never satisfied: Exceptional employees have unparalleled convictions that things can always be better – and they’re right.
There is no such thing as ‘’good enough’’ when it comes to personal improvement.
No matter how well things are going, exceptional employees are driven to improve, without forgetting to give themselves a healthy pat on the back.
They recognise when things are broken and fix them: Whether it’s a sticky desk drawer or an inefficient, wasteful process affecting the productivity of the department, exceptional employees don’t walk past problems.
“Oh, it’s been that way forever” simply isn’t in their vocabulary. They see problems as issues to be fixed immediately.
They’re accountable: If you’re a manager trying to decipher a bungled report, “It’s not my fault” is the most irritating phrase in the English language.
Exceptional employees are accountable. They own their work, their decisions, and all of their results – good or bad.
They bring their mistakes to management’s attention rather than hope no-one will find out. They understand that managers aren’t out to assign blame; they’re out to get things done.
They’re marketable: Exceptional employees are well liked by co-workers.
They have integrity and leadership skills (even if they’re not in an official leadership position) that people respond to.
Externally, it means they can be trusted to represent the organisation well. Managers know they can send these employees out to meet clients or attend conferences without worrying about what they’ll say or do.
They neutralise toxic people: Exceptional employees control their interactions with toxic people by keeping their feelings in check.
When they need to confront a toxic person, they approach the situation rationally. They identify their own emotions and don’t allow anger or frustration to fuel the chaos.
They also consider the difficult person’s standpoint and can find solutions and common ground.
Even when things completely derail, emotionally intelligent people can take the toxic person with a grain of salt to avoid letting him or her bring them down.
Take notice of what’s not mentioned: coding skills, years of experience, business degrees, etc. These things matter, but they won’t make you exceptional.
Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the co-founder of TalentSmart. His books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. He can be contacted at TalentSmart.com.
This article first appeared on the TalentSmart website.
