The Four Traits of Successful People

Leadership

Nov 7

We’ll keep this simple – and powerful.

There are lots of good, strong traits of successful people; and a lot of those traits are driven by personality. Regardless though, are there four anchors that fuel success.

The four traits of successful people are:

Healthy emotional intelligence
High achievement drive
Excellent social skills
Strong goal clarity

Here’s the breakdown:

Healthy Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is not something I can clearly define; it comes through experiences in life, and how we handle them; Emotional intelligence is personal which means that the more experiences you have or the more decisions we make, the more you grow our intelligence.

As a coach, you need to put people into positions or opportunities to make these decisions and to learn.

And, you’ve got to open up opportunities for them to win and to fail. And you’ve got to let them fail sometimes. That’s just as important to healthy, emotional intelligence.

High Achievement Drive

What’s high achievement drive? It’s the answer to this question: do I choose to keep going when it counts?

When times get tough, I have a choice – to move forward purposefully or to run away. This is your opportunity to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and watching what you do in those moments.

If you’re coaching high achievement drive, you must set up opportunities to see where someone’s achievement drive is naturally. You need a gauge to see where they are, and then coach to that.

Think through this: Where’s the drive today, and how can I help them push forward through that?

Excellent Social Skills

Yes, social skills can be learned, but they’re not created equal. Some of us can get out there and do it naturally; some of us need coaching or support.

If you’re here, or you’re coaching someone, the first step is to gauge your or their social skills.

Do social skills come naturally to them? If so, coach to that; how can they be better aligned with their personal or professional objective? Are they using this skill to add value to their personal brand or your brand?

If the social skills don’t come naturally, this is great time to explore what’s holding them back or what the fear is or where it’s coming from. Is it public speaking? Is it meeting new people? Set up small opportunities to work through this with them – or for yourself.

Strong Goal Clarity

51% of Americans say that they have goals; 87% don’t write them down. It’s time get specific on what the goals are and what each person wants – and that includes you.

When you help someone else achieve a personal goal, you’ve just bought their trust. They’ll be on board to help with a professional goals.

Everyone should be able to articulate their goals to you quickly.