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Great leaders possess these characteristics and require them in the employees they promote.
Which characteristics do you seek when considering employees for promotions or recruiting for a management position? Certain personality traits support an effective, motivating work environment, while others can hamper productivity and damage morale. Below, we’ll examine essential leadership characteristics to help you pinpoint these qualities when recruiting or promoting leaders.
The Three Cs of leadership are character, competence and communication.
These traits represent a foundational framework for evaluating and developing effective leaders. They work together to create trustworthy, effective leadership that drives organizational success.
Beyond the traditional character/competence/communication model, several alternative Three Cs frameworks have emerged to address specific leadership needs and contexts.
Leadership Model | The Three C’s | Best For | Key Focus |
---|---|---|---|
Traditional | Character, Competence, Communication | General business, customer-facing roles | Building trustworthy leadership through ethical behavior, expertise, and clear messaging |
Military | Competence, Character, Commitment | High-stakes environments, structured organizations | Technical excellence combined with unwavering dedication and ethical standards |
Developmental | Challenge, Confidence, Coach | Organizations focused on talent development | Nurturing potential through stretch opportunities and mentoring |
Values-Based | Compassion, Conviction, Courage | Healthcare, social services, mission-driven organizations | Balancing human welfare with organizational goals through empathetic leadership |
Trust-Building | Competence, Caring, Conviction | High-pressure environments requiring technical expertise | Earning respect through knowledge while genuinely investing in people |
Influence-Based | Credibility, Competence, Care | Matrix organizations, consulting, cross-functional teams | Leading without formal authority through demonstrated trustworthiness |
General Gustave F. Perna, former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, established a highly influential version of the Three Cs framework through his military leadership experience. After more than 30 years of service and commanding at all levels, Perna identified three non-negotiable traits in leadership: competence, commitment, and character.
The business world has widely adopted variations of the military’s Three Cs framework, with many organizations emphasizing this model as core leadership pillars. This adaptation translates military leadership principles into corporate environments while maintaining the essential elements that drive effective leadership.
The challenge, confidence and coach framework focuses on developmental leadership approaches that recognize and nurture potential in team members. This model emphasizes that exceptional leaders must actively develop others through strategic guidance and support.
This developmental approach works particularly well in organizations focused on talent development and succession planning, where leaders serve primarily as enablers of others’ success.
Leadership experts advocate for compassion, conviction and courage as essential characteristics for authentic leadership that addresses both human needs and organizational goals. This model emphasizes values-based leadership that maintains ethical standards while driving results.
This framework particularly resonates in healthcare, social services and mission-driven organizations where human welfare is paramount to organizational success.
General James Mattis advocated for competence, caring and conviction as fundamental leadership elements that build trust and influence. This framework emphasizes that technical excellence must be balanced with genuine concern for people and unwavering principles.
This model works well in high-stakes environments where technical expertise and moral courage are equally important for success and safety.
The credibility, competence and care model focuses on influence-building for leaders who must lead without formal authority. This framework emphasizes that sustainable influence develops through demonstrated trustworthiness and genuine investment in others’ success.
This approach proves particularly valuable in matrix organizations, consulting environments, and cross-functional teams where formal authority is limited but results still must be achieved through others.
Developing character, competence and communication skills requires dedication and self-awareness. Leadership skills are not innate; they are honed through experience, reflection and practice. Consider the following strategies for building the Three Cs.
Strive to improve your leadership qualities through intentional skill development. Emily Walton, founder and coach at Alo Coaching, explained that “experience, reflection and intentional skill development are the best ways to develop the three C’s of leadership”. Walton emphasized raising your hand for opportunities and taking leadership reins when needed to gain valuable experience.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Every leadership journey includes failures and missteps, which provide crucial learning opportunities. Reflect on these experiences, identify areas for improvement, and apply lessons learned going forward to build both competence and character.
Practice intentional self-reflection as a critical component of leadership growth. Leaders should examine their actions, seek feedback, and identify improvement areas. Cindy Kravitz, director of leadership development at Stryker, highlighted that “cultivating authentic leadership is an ongoing practice” requiring constant learning and growth.
“Leaders develop these qualities by seeking feedback, reflecting on their values, and constantly growing and learning,” she said.
Leading by example can pass these principles onto your broader team, as well. Kravitz emphasized that cultivating the three C’s requires aligning thinking, values and actions. When these elements align, “leaders don’t just achieve results, they create a culture of trust, purpose and lasting impact.”
Create opportunities for leadership emergence. You can identify true leaders by providing workplace opportunities for leadership characteristics to emerge and searching for emotional intelligence skills.
Focus on experience-based learning. Provide team members with challenging assignments, cross-functional projects, and mentoring opportunities to develop competence while building character through real-world application.
The Three Cs models above are helpful when identifying strong leaders, but they’re not exhaustive. Here are additional traits to look for when you’re promoting or hiring leaders:
During the employee recruitment process, whether you’re promoting from within or hiring from
outside, choosing leadership candidates requires great care. Pay attention to these characteristics to ensure you grant authority to the most qualified individuals.
Ask the following interview question to help reveal a potential leader’s character: What are the top three characteristics that define you? Share examples from your life. You can also glean valuable character insights by contacting job references and checking for resume fraud.
Leaders must understand correct job procedures and train new employees effectively. Anyone recruited or promoted into leadership positions must demonstrate excellent knowledge of their proposed management areas.
Every organization member must understand what’s happening on micro and macro levels. If employees perform tasks without knowing their operational impacts, they can become disengaged. Therefore, leaders must communicate employee tasks and roles plus why they’re being asked to perform them. Quality organizations don’t adopt “because I said so” mindsets when employees ask why something is happening. Articulating the “why” gets everyone on board with company plans and direction.
Look for “information generosity” in promotion candidates. If leadership candidates unnecessarily keep work-related information from co-workers now, they’ll likely maintain this approach in higher management roles. Small business owners can’t afford supervisors who are “information hoarders” leaving frontline workers in the dark. All employees should feel like team members, and true teams have all the information needed to understand the business’s big picture and why they perform specific functions.