Photo: Gastro Chic
If you’ve read Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In cover to cover and can quote paragraphs from Sophia Amoruso‘s #GirlBoss, you might be interested in this new study that claims to have found the six personality traits that all successful women have in common.
Caliper, a global management consulting firm, set about uncovering the key characteristics by studying a group of 85 women who were all in top management positions. Each executive took a personality test and answered a series of surveys about their successes.
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The research found the six traits most commonly shared among the professionally successful women are: assertiveness, aggressiveness, empathy, ego-strength, stress tolerance, and energy.
According to an explanation Caliper gave Business Insider, the study results mean that successful women are straightforward in their communication style, can move projects forward, can understand and relate to the feelings of others, are comfortable in high-stress environments, and are enthusiastic about their work.
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On the other hand, qualities that might slow down success were also uncovered in the study. Apparently women “with a high level of accommodation” who care too much about what other people think of them are likely to struggle in leadership roles.
Collectively, the results of the study aren’t exactly mind-boggling—it seems obvious that you need to be able to stand your ground, be excited about your career, and not crack under pressure if you want to climb the corporate ladder all the way to the top, but it’s certainly a helpful reminder for those of us who struggle with any or all of these traits.