PRESS RELEASE
Sanford Rose Associates – Franklin’s Tom Thomson Featured in Philly.com Article; “The Qualities Managers Need in Order to Succeed”
Dallas, TX, 12/10/2013
By, Dawn Klingensmith, CTW Features
So you’re a front-line employee looking to move into a supervisory role. Surprising new research suggests that certain traits you emphasize in an interview that might land you the promotion could ultimately make you an ineffective manager – qualities like creativity, a propensity to plan ahead, and the ability to multitask.
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Creative people “sometimes have a tendency to be wrapped up in their own minds,” says Tom Thomson, a talent acquisition consultant not involved in the study. “They can be dreamers who don’t team well with others.”
Based on his observations and experience in staffing, Thomson says that many seemingly “good” qualities can become liabilities when taken too far, including self-confidence bordering on egotism.
Decisiveness “can be good or it can be negative, if the person is making decisions before getting feedback or input from direct reports,” says Thomson, managing director of the Franklin, Tenn., office of Sanford Rose Associates, a network of independently owned executive search firms.
Citing research from his partner organization, The Gabriel Institute, Thomson says managerial traits that are consistently positive from one person to the next include “coherence” – defined as being “neither rigid nor diffuse” – as well as empathy and self-awareness.
