7 Personality Traits That Fast-Track Leadership While Protecting Your Mental Wellness

Written by Nancy Loncle, Workplace Leadership Coach

Nancy Loncle is a former airline professional turned Workplace Leadership Coach, with a soft spot for Mental and Emotional Wellness. She's the founder of The Workplace Leadership Accelerator, an online learning platform, and the author of leadership books: Lead Outwardly Loud, published in 2024, Your Customer's Voice (2022), and Dare The Tides (2019).

Do you ever feel as though, despite being great at your job and having the years to prove it, promotions keep slipping by? Are the “polite rejections” beginning to eat at your sanity, making it look like you were made for career stagnation? It might be a “you” thing, and yes, it’s fixable. In this article, you'll find seven personality traits that position you for leadership without putting your mental and emotional wellness at risk. Whether you’re eyeing your next role or feel stuck at the first rung, developing these traits will strengthen your leadership presence and help you move forward with ease.

Personality traits vs. Personality types: The fast primer

Traits are continuous dimensions (think Big Five: Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness). They predict behaviour and are considered the best levers for skill building. Types, on the other hand, are categorical patterns (think Introvert/Extrovert, MBTI styles). They are useful for self-awareness and energy management, but are less precise for prediction. Consider typing your default energy pattern, and traits your adjustable settings.

How traits and types connect in leadership

• Traits drive outcomes, while types guide expression. Two leaders can be equally resilient and show it differently based on personality type.

• Development works best at the trait level, while flexing works best at the type level. Train assertiveness and emotional regulation, and express them in ways that fit your energy.

• Your well-being sits at the intersection. Traits like Emotional Stability support legacy performance, while type-aware habits (solo resets vs. social debriefs) prevent burnout.

• Traits and types are not competitors, they are layers of the same system. Use traits to grow what matters, then use type to make it sustainable.
  

The 7 personality traits (and how your type can blend in)

These traits are tailored to settle you into leadership roles with as little friction as possible.

1. Emotional intelligence: Your leadership superpower

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to recognize and regulate your emotions, while tuning into others’. This trait consistently shows up at the top of the list for effective leadership. “He who thinks he’s leading and has no one following him is only taking a walk,” - African Proverb.

EQ fuels influence through relationship-building, conflict navigation, and clear discussions under pressure. According to a TalentSmart study, EQ accounts for 58% of a leader’s job performance. And, organizations are taking note, the World Economic Forum reports that businesses highly value EQ skills, and around 75% of managers consider it when deciding on promotions or raises. As an introvert, your superpower lies in deep listening, thoughtful 1:1s, and calm de-escalations.

Extroverts serve as social radars in real time. You’re good at reading rooms and energizing resets. As an ambivert, your superpower lies in flexing between depth and breadth. Choose when to slow for depth (1:1) and when to speed up for momentum (group).

2. Strong communication and collaboration: Empowering others

This addresses clear, purposeful messaging and shared ownership. High-pressure environments can breed miscommunication and isolation, which only worsen stress. Aim to foster open communication and a collaborative spirit so that the workplace doesn’t feel like a pressure cooker. A recent S&P Global study found that female leaders tend to communicate more positively, using language around empathy, inclusion, and adaptability. Being a strong communicator means more than speaking clearly, it means listening actively and encouraging dialogue. So rather than hoarding control, opt to lift others up. “Gone are the days of top-down leadership. The best leaders empower their teams by fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, and ownership,” as one 2025 leadership outlook put it. As an introvert, your sense of collaboration will manifest in structured agendas, crisp memos, and high-quality one-on-one meetings. For extroverts, live facilitation, energizing brainstorms, and rapid alignment work best. And if you have a portion of both worlds (an ambivert), start asynchronously to shape thinking, and finish live to mobilize action. High-performance leadership is a team sport.

3. Confidence and courage: Owning your leadership potential

Confidence is belief in your own abilities and judgment, courage is the willingness to act on this belief despite uncertainty. Leadership will call on you to speak up, to set expectations. Taking principled risks signals that you’re ready to lead. A Forbes analysis of top leaders in 2024 highlighted confidence as a defining trait, alongside resilience and humility, for successful leadership. Likewise, a talent management study of senior businesswomen identified assertiveness (confidence with diplomacy) as a pillar of strong leadership. It shows you’re willing to lead, not just follow, which is the first step to gaining leadership opportunities. Courage in leadership might mean making bold strategic calls, giving honest feedback that’s hard to swallow, or pioneering a new initiative no one else dared to try. For women in male-dominated spaces, courage is needed to voice ideas in meetings where you might be overlooked, or to go for a promotion even if they don’t meet 100% of the “requirements” on paper. As an introvert, aim for high-impact contributions and a prepared presence. Speak early in meetings, then follow with a crisp written path forward. If you’re an extrovert, pair your voice with “share-the-stage” prompts (“What am I missing?”) as you have ease with visible advocacy, using an assertive voice in making bolder bets. And for ambiverts in the house, aim for situational assertiveness, dial up or down on purpose, name the bet and its upside.

4. Empathy and compassion: Leading with heart and humanity

Leading with empathy means actively caring about your colleagues’ perspectives and well-being. A recent conversation with Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki highlighted decades of evidence that empathy boosts productivity and organizational health. Kindness and high performance go hand in hand. Another study found that women in leadership roles take on significantly more emotional labor (such as mentoring, team support, and diversity initiatives) than their male counterparts. This can go unrecognized in performance reviews, but it’s quite valuable for team cohesion and morale. It’s also one reason women leaders can feel emotionally exhausted, being the team’s constant “emotional shock absorber” without support can lead to fatigue. In short, empathy in leadership fosters loyalty and high performance while also protecting mental health on both sides. As an introvert, you can express yourself through personal notes, thoughtful follow-ups, and safe one-on-one spaces. Just be careful not to over-function emotionally, set “office hours” for support if necessary. For extroverts, aim for public recognition of your team’s contribution and visible allyship. Keep in mind that empathy is not synonymous with ‘fixing’ others, ask what support looks like before jumping in. For ambiverts, you have room to mix private validation with public appreciation.

5. Resilience and adaptability: Bouncing back from pressure

A leader’s ability to recover from setbacks while staying flexible amid change is resilience. It’s often said that leadership is not a sprint but a marathon of obstacles, resilience is the trait that enables you to weather the storm and grow stronger in the process. In a 2023 survey of executives, a whopping 97% said resilience is important for their business’s success. Yet, less than half felt that their organizations were truly resilient, highlighting a significant gap. Leaders who cultivate personal resilience can fill this gap and guide their teams through uncertainty. Resilience goes hand in hand with adaptability, being flexible and open to change. In today’s rapid, tech-driven marketplace, conditions change quickly. The most successful leaders remain agile, treating new challenges as opportunities for innovation rather than threats. One leadership study noted that resilient leaders embrace challenges as opportunities for development, not just obstacles. Resilience will allow you to absorb pressure without breaking, learn from trials, and maintain your emotional equilibrium, which is essential for preventing burnout. So for introverts, recovery in solitude and contingency plans will help you bounce back faster. Try incorporating 10-minute “reset blocks” into your schedules after high-stakes moments. Extroverts thrive in high-energy spaces, so recovery via people and action will do you good. Just remember “process first, perform second” and take one beat before rallying. If you’re an ambivert, choose the recovery fuel you need today (quiet vs. connection), and keep both, a “solo reset” and a “social reset” ritual.

6. Authenticity and self-awareness: Leading as your true self

Authentic leadership calls on you to embrace who you are, your values, personality, and even vulnerabilities, and lead in a way that is true to your inner voice. It’s a call on you to be genuine, to know your strengths and weaknesses, and not be afraid to admit what you don’t know. This trait is incredibly powerful for building trust. Research backs it up, there is a significant positive relationship between authentic leadership and employees’ workplace performance. When you lead with authenticity, employees are more engaged and willing to go the extra mile because they trust your intentions. And yes, authenticity starts with self-awareness, that deep understanding of your own character, emotions, and impact on others, that humanizes you. By contrast, leaders who lack self-awareness may overestimate their abilities or hide mistakes, creating mistrust and unnecessary pressure on themselves. Authentic leadership does not mean you stop improving yourself, it means you improve in your own style. Pretending to be someone else can be exhausting from a mental wellness perspective. For introverts, soak yourself in values-led boundaries, calm decisiveness, and a transparent thought process. Like, “Here’s what matters to me, here’s my decision, here’s why.” For the extroverts in the house, go for visible passion anchored to values and name your biases out loud. Something to the tune of “I’m excited and may dominate airtime, pull me back if needed.” As for ambiverts, they strive to be context-aware and self-adapt without shapeshifting. Actively pre-define your non-negotiables so adaptation stays authentic.

7. Humility and lifelong learning: The grounded growth mindset

Humility keeps ego from outpacing judgment, through openness to input and your willingness to share credit. Learning ensures continuous development, which keeps you relevant and innovative. Confidence and humility complement each other. As one management expert put it, humility leads to more consistent and effective leadership, as humble leaders seek mentorship, collaboration, and constant improvement. Every challenge is a chance to learn, every person you encounter has something to teach. A report on the future of leadership noted that a commitment to lifelong learning is a defining trait of next-generation successful leaders. By staying curious and adaptable, you not only gain new skills but also model to your team that growth is always possible and desirable. From a mental and emotional wellness perspective, humility is a relief. Leaders who feel they must ‘know everything' carry a tremendous and unhealthy weight. That’s a fast track to imposter syndrome and anxiety. Simply put, humility and lifelong learning round out your leadership persona with approachability and wisdom. You’re confident but not arrogant, capable but always improving. For introverts, your power lies in quiet curiosity, the after-action write-up that captures wins, misses, and next experiments. As for extroverts, challenge yourself to ask more than tell, with frequent peer learning and “show me” sessions. Ambiverts will find comfort in rotating roles, teacher one week, learner the next, with regular “skill swap” circles to keep everyone growing.

Matching “type” to trait focus (cheat sheet)

• Introverts: Lean into EQ, authenticity, written clarity, resilience via solitude. Practice visible courage (speak early, summarize decisions).

• Extroverts: Lean into collaboration, courageous visibility, real-time EQ. Use listening structures and time limits so others shine.

• Ambiverts: Lean into adaptability across all seven. Make your mode choice explicit (“We’ll go broad now, deep later”) to keep teams aligned.
  

Micro-habits that compound fast

Every personality can excel across all seven traits, the expression changes, not the ceiling. You can build micro-habits that will make the traits automatic, to help you stay in your lane in high-pressure, ultra-competitive environments.

• Two-beat pause before responding (EQ for all types): Count ‘one-two’ to settle your nervous system, then label what you’re hearing before you reply.

• Weekly kudos ritual (Empathy): Every Friday, recognize a contribution, DM for introverts, public shout-out for extroverts, alternate for ambiverts, but always be specific (what, how, impact).

• Pre-mortem with plan B (resilience) before big launches: Try running a 20-minute “How could this fail?” listing top risks, then convert each risk into “If X, then Y,” with a clear owner.

• Values check on major decisions (authenticity): Score big choices against your top three values (0-5 each) to avoid shiny-object traps and regret. Redesign or decline low-scorers and document the ‘why’ for transparency.

• Agenda and outcome in every meeting invite (communication): Use simple bullets, roles, and “By the end, we will decide/align on X,” plus pre-reads so everyone can prepare. This reduces airtime waste, speeds decisions, and lowers meeting anxiety.

• Speak in the first 10 minutes (confidence): Arrive with one headline point and one data point so you can contribute early and set your status. Introverts can script a 20-second opener, extroverts keep it crisp to avoid crowding the room, and ambiverts go with their gut instinct.

• Ask three questions before recommending (humility/learning): Make it a rule to diagnose before you prescribe (“What’s the real constraint?”, “What have we tried?”, “What would good look like?”). This surfaces context, builds buy-in, and often changes the answer.

• Reset block after high-stakes events (resilience and wellness): Book 10-15 minutes to downshift cortisol. Choose your fuel, introverts do a walk/breathwork/journal, extroverts debrief with a peer, ambiverts pick what today needs.

• Monthly learning share (lifelong learning culture): Rotate a 10-minute “What I learned” lightning talk with one actionable takeaway. Capture notes in a living wiki so learning compounds and new hires onboard faster.
  

Let’s explore your next step today

You don’t need to morph into a different person to lead. You need traits that fit your energy and protect your well-being. Build at the trait level, flex at the type level, and your leadership will feel natural, sustainable, and visibly effective. Curious where to start? Book a discovery call here and let’s map your type, identify the 1-2 traits that will move the needle fastest, and design type-fit habits that stick, so you can lead with as little friction as possible.

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Read more from Nancy Loncle

Nancy Loncle, Workplace Leadership Coach

Nancy Loncle is a workplace leadership coach, dedicated to helping women working in high-pressure, ultra-competitive jobs transition and settle into leadership roles with ease. After being thrust into a senior position early in her career, Nancy faced the overwhelming challenges of leadership without the mental and emotional tools to thrive, a struggle that nearly cost her everything. This experience ignited in her a passion to create a practical formula for women to lead without losing themselves, so that they can experience career fulfillment, recognition, and balance in their personal and professional lives.