As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Nashville Emerging Leader Awards (NELAs), I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic. I’ve been flipping through photos of NELAs gone by and thinking about how much our program has changed over the years. As Nashville has grown, so has the NELAs – which started all those years ago as a tiny awards program. This year we reached a record 750 nominations of well-deserving young professionals!
We announced our 75 finalists for the 2016 NELAs today, and in reviewing all of the applications we received, I noticed they all have five things in common. If your dream is to be one of Nashville’s top leaders, here are the top five traits to be successful.
1. They have a sense of humor.
As much as we would like to believe that being tough and cold in business is best, our applicants proved time and time again the truth of the old adage, “You’ll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar.” If you can make people feel comfortable, chances are they will open up to you about whatever challenges they are facing.
2. They value humility.
Question 9 of our application asks, “Why do you believe you are deserving of the Nashville Emerging Leader Award?” It’s the one question that, year after year, applicants and judges alike ask me, “Why is this on here?!” The truth is, confidence and the ability to bet on yourself are critical to being successful. Answering this question with humility is what separates the finalists from the pack. You can’t fake humility, and for that reason it’s a critical trait in an emerging leader.
3. They are articulate.
When we hear articulate people speak, we believe them. We want to follow them. We hang on their every word and listen with wonder as they command the air around them. Articulate applicants don’t just say things – they tell a story. When you think of great orators such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, you think of leaders who understood not only the power of their words, but the absence of what was being said; in turn, that inspired people to respect and follow them.
4. They study.
This was one that surprised me, but so many of our applicants cited that their greatest obstacle has been tackling a task they knew nothing about and figuring out where to start. Rather than being discouraged or feeling inadequate, they adopted the “fake-it-till-you-make-it” mentality. They researched best approaches and asked peers and mentors to learn everything they could about the obstacle at hand – and then they crushed it.
5. They listen.
Great leaders are often excellent listeners. It’s an essential skill to identifying an issue or opportunity. You have to listen to what people say they want to determine what they truly want. It’s essential to listen in a way that makes everyone feel understood, and believe they can trust you. Many of our applicants discussed how their leadership roles really boiled down to truly listening to their team to give them the tools they needed to succeed.
There you have it! A (really, really short), unscientific thesis on what makes Nashville’s top young professionals exceptional leaders. If you’re ready to get started as an emerging leader, email me and we can get you plugged into any of our 50 young professional organizations.
