The 6 Secrets Of Successfully Assertive Leaders

From the time my children were small I encouraged them to be “go getters.” I told them not to wait for things to happen, but to make them happen, and that one of the keys to success in life was to be assertive. Sometimes I like to test my own advice, so I decided to see what impact assertiveness really has on great leadership. Is there a difference between those managers who carefully weigh their options, and those who just “go” and “do”?

To find out, we assessed leaders in a Research & Development environment on the extent of their assertiveness and the extent they were viewed as using good judgment. Which of these skills do you think would have the most influence in their perception as a highly effective leader?
Leaders who were rated high (in the 75th percentile) as having good judgment but lower on assertiveness had only a 4.2% chance of being highly rated as an effective leader.

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On the other hand, leaders who ranked high on assertiveness but lower on good judgment had a 12.5% chance. However, leaders who ranked high in both characteristics had an actual 71% change of being rated as one of the best leaders.

By itself assertiveness may not be a leader’s singular “secret weapon” trait, but our data shows that it is a highly valuable characteristic. Our research also shows that leaders who are perceived as being more assertive are also perceived as being more honest and having higher integrity than those who are not.

There are many leaders who feel that being assertive will make them seem too aggressive or pushy. What can leaders do to be assertive without becoming obnoxious? To answer this question we looked at the most assertive managers who were also rated as best leaders to identify the skills that balance out assertiveness to make it an ideally positive leadership trait.

1. Connect and communicate with everyone. The visual image of many highly assertive leaders is of a “steamroller”. They simply smash everything in their path. The most successful assertive leaders, however, take care to connect with people at all levels of the organization. They make themselves accessible to everyone. They also spend the time to communicate clearly and personally about changes.

2. Give honest feedback in a helpful way. All of our research on feedback indicates that it is a very volatile, high impact activity that can have highly positive or negative outcomes. Feedback delivered in the wrong way can discourage, de-motivate, and anger an employee. Feedback that is offered with sensitivity can encourage and guide people to success.

3. Use good judgment to make decisions. Assertive leaders who are perceived as having good judgment have a high probability of being successful, but what can a leader do to improve their judgment? Gathering all the facts, careful analysis, and examination of the trends will help this process but one of the best practices is involving others in the decision making process. Inevitably, if others are involved and feel encouraged to comment, disagree, or challenge assumptions, better decisions emerge.

4. Walk your talk. Sometimes assertive leaders see the need for other people to change their behavior, but they themselves are immune from the change. The most effective, assertive leaders model the changes they desire in others.

5. Maintain excellent relationships. An assertive leader that is respected, admired and liked by others can exert influence and ask others to take on difficult tasks. An assertive leader who is disrespected and disliked can try with all his or her might to exert influence, and all they will get is resistance. Strong relationships can help to cover these gaps.

6. Look for opportunities to collaborate. Some assertive leaders make the assumption they can do things themselves without the cooperation and support of other people or groups. The motive is often personal recognition. This philosophy is doomed to fail. Taking the time to get other groups or organizations on board with changes and improvements ensures the success of any project or change.
Being an assertive leader is an excellent quality that compels people to achieve more. You can be assertive without crossing the line to obnoxious and pushy. By utilizing these six balancing behaviors, you can turn assertiveness into exceptional leadership.