Great leadership with vision is often the product of various interconnected factors.
They have the empathy to relate with their team members. And this characteristic allows them to be relatable and approachable. They are useful in a team dynamic, where openness and collaboration are vital.
Exceptional leaders also have a wide-ranging vision to see the future of their company or partnership, with long-term, achievable goals that show marked progression. This gives great leaders the ability to dream big.
Complementing this is the capacity of a great leader to inspire.
A solid vision is not enough if the leader alone is the only one working toward it. They are able to communicate their vision to such an extent that others are willing to work towards that vision as well.
Motivation to Succeed
An ability to manage and inspire people is likewise integral to the makeup of an outstanding leader.
- How will the vision be realized?
- What are the steps that must be taken?
- How will each collaborator contribute towards the success of the goal?
Great leaders will be able to leverage all aspects involved and put them to good use.
This is also where aptitude comes into play. Leaders must be extraordinary in their field of work, which helps in facilitating their vision. These people lead by example as well.
And if they aren’t good at their job, then they will fail to attract the support necessary to achieve their goals.
All of these attributes are driven by the motivation to succeed, which is the fuel that drives these gears forward.
Without ample motivation, nothing gets done and a vision remains only that – a vision. This is why many success stories are so reliant upon the leaders working incredibly hard toward their goals.
Aural Sauce: The Leadership Secret
All of these key skills are well and good, but there is an added advantage that was previously unrecognized – the leader’s voice.
A study by professors at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, as well as the Rady School of Management at the University of California, has found that deeper voices generally correlate with higher salaries and working for more successful companies.
The researchers studied the vocal pitches of 792 male CEOs from the Standard and Poor’s 1500 Composite Index, a database covering the top players in United States equities. Voice samples from earnings meetings or presentations with investors were obtained from each CEO, and the frequencies of the samples were measured.
These were then juxtaposed against metrics, such as time with the company, compensation, and company size.
The Voice of Leadership
The study found that CEOs with lower-frequency voices (read: deeper) made USD $187,000 more and helmed companies worth USD $440 million more than the median sample (who earned USD $3.7 million, was in charge of a group worth USD $2.4 billion, and had a voice at the 125-Hz frequency).
To put that into perspective, Duke Associate Professor Bill Mayew gives two well-known examples of voices. James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa, has an 85-Hz voice. On the other hand, Gilbert Gottfried, who played the parrot Iago in Aladdin, has a 200-Hz voice.
The findings were published in Evolution and Human Behavior. Prior studies have indicated that bass voices are preferable when selecting a male mate.
Another separate Duke study from 2012 noted that citizens are more inclined toward deeper-voiced political candidates.
Perhaps that’s why Morgan Freeman was chosen to portray the Judeo-Christian deity in the Almighty movies. Judging from his voice alone, he seems to have the makings of a great leader.
Related Articles
How Can You Be the Voice of Success?
If you have ideas that you feel like sharing that might be helpful to readers, share them in the comments section below. Thanks!
Would you like to contribute a post?
There are more superficial qualities that are supposed to be signs of leadership – a man’s height, a woman attractiveness based on waist to hip ratio and facial symmetry. If companies are choosing leaders based on things like this no wonder so many are having financial difficulties.