Expanding Your Behavioural Range in a Complex World
What is the Leadership Traits Library?
The Leadership Traits Library is a developmental framework that maps the core behavioural spectrums of effective leadership. Unlike traditional models that categorise leaders into fixed personality types, this approach focuses on Leadership Range, the ability to flex between opposing behaviours (for example, Assertiveness and Diplomacy) depending on the context. This library integrates principles from the Five Factor Model, polarity thinking, and adaptive leadership to help leaders expand their behavioural repertoire without abandoning their authenticity.
We all have a “go-to” set of behaviours, the ways we naturally respond to stress, opportunity, and conflict. For some, the default is to be directive and fast-paced. For others, it is to be collaborative and reflective.
While these natural strengths have likely helped you succeed so far, relying on them exclusively creates a ceiling. In a complex environment, the most effective leaders do not stick to a single, comfortable style. They possess Range.
The Leadership Traits Library is a guide to building that range. It explores the psychological and behavioural software that runs beneath your leadership skills. It is not designed to label “who you are” but to illuminate “what you can do”.
Beyond the binary
Most personality assessments put leaders in a box: you are either Introverted or Extroverted, Structured or Flexible. This library rejects that binary. It is built on the principle of Polarity Thinking. It recognises that effective leadership is rarely about choosing one “right” way to be. It is about navigating the tension between two necessary opposites.
- Diplomacy without Assertiveness becomes passivity.
- Urgency without Precision becomes chaos.
- Vision without Pragmatism becomes hallucination.
The goal is not to change your personality. It is to expand your optionality. The broader your range of behaviours, the easier it becomes to handle challenges, relate to diverse teams, and lead with intention rather than habit.
Context trumps personality
This work assumes that context trumps personality. The best leaders do not ask, “What is my style?” They ask, “What does this system need from me right now?”
Sometimes, a team needs the psychological safety of a Diplomatic approach. Other times, it requires the protective clarity of Assertiveness. This library provides the map to identify where you are rigid, where you are over-reliant on your strengths, and how to flex toward the behaviours that the moment demands.
How the library is structured
The Leadership Traits Library is organised into five Pillars of Performance. Each pillar contains a set of specific behavioural traits that function as sliding scales, allowing you to assess where you naturally anchor and where you need to stretch.
Cluster 1. The Strategy Pillar
Focus: Innovation, Vision, and Change. This cluster defines how a leader navigates the future. It measures your appetite for novelty, your ability to handle complex or ambiguous data, and how you balance “big picture” thinking with practical realities.
| Strategic range | Curiosity | Navigating Ambiguity |
|---|---|---|
| Reflects how a leader balances imaginative possibilities with practical experience and feasibility constraints. | Measures the extent to which a leader actively seeks out new information, knowledge, and experiences. | Measures comfort with uncertain situations where the path forward is unclear or undefined. |
| Risk Tolerance | Workflow Variety | Decision Logic |
|---|---|---|
| Assesses a leader’s willingness to take chances on potential gains versus protecting against potential losses. | Reflects how comfortable and energised a leader feels when managing multiple activities or shifting priorities. | Reflects how a leader processes information, weighing objective facts against intuition and personal values. |
| Adaptability | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reflects how readily a leader adjusts their thinking and behaviour in response to changing conditions. |
Cluster 2. The Execution Pillar
Focus: Discipline, Standards, and Delivery. This cluster governs how work actually gets done. It looks at your “operating system”, how you organise tasks, manage time, and drive standards. It contrasts the need for speed and urgency against the need for precision and structure.
| Drive & Urgency | Operational Precision | Process Discipline |
|---|---|---|
| Reflects the level of energy, pace, and momentum a leader brings to their work and deadlines. | Reflects the degree to which a leader values accuracy, correctness, and the small components of work. | Reflects the value placed on having straightforward, methodical, and consistent approaches to tasks. |
| Reliability | Need for Structure | Attention Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Reflects the degree to which a leader can be counted on to stick with plans and honor commitments. | Reflects how much a leader values clarity, direction, and defined processes in their environment. | Measures the ability to sustain deep focus on a single task versus scanning the environment for multiple inputs. |
| Need for Achievement | Persistence | |
|---|---|---|
| Reflects intrinsic motivation to accomplish, master, and achieve meaningful goals. | Reflects how likely a leader is to stick with difficult or long-term challenges despite setbacks. |
Cluster 3. The Influence Pillar
Focus: Power, Presence, and Energy. This cluster reflects how you show up in a room and how you move others to action. It measures your social battery, your comfort with authority, and your drive to compete or collaborate.
| Assertiveness | Social Energy | Confidence | Competitiveness | Collaboration Style | Influence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reflects how a leader initiates, directs, and influences situations and people. | Reflects how much a leader enjoys and seeks out social interaction in group settings. | Measures the level of self-assurance and belief in one’s own capabilities to handle challenges. | Reflects the extent to which a leader is motivated by winning, ranking, and outperforming peers. | Reflects whether a leader prefers to work autonomously or seeks alignment and input from others. | Reflects the ability to shape outcomes and gain buy-in without relying on formal authority. |
Cluster 4. The Relationship Pillar
Focus: Connection, Trust, and Harmony. This cluster is about the “glue” that holds teams together. It examines how you relate to others—whether you prioritise harmony and diplomacy or candour and challenge.
| Diplomacy | Trust Orientation | Organisational Awareness | Humility | Inclusivity | Empathy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reflects the priority placed on meeting others’ needs and maintaining harmony versus standing firm on principles. | Reflects how readily a leader assumes good intent and believes in others’ capabilities. | Reflects the degree to which a leader is observant of feelings, motivations, and behavioural cues. | Measures the tendency to shine the spotlight on others and minimise self-importance. | Measures the openness to different backgrounds, perspectives, and ideas versus preferring a homogeneous group. | Reflects the ability to emotionally understand and take the perspective of others. |
Cluster 5. The Resilience Pillar
Focus: Stability, Stress, and Self-Mastery. This cluster protects your leadership longevity. It measures how you handle the “heat”—your emotional reaction to stress, feedback, and setbacks.
| Feedback Resilience | Composure | Optimism | Situational Self-Awareness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reflects how a leader responds to feedback, particularly when it is critical or corrective. | Measures the ability to remain calm and steady under pressure versus reacting visibly to stress. | Reflects a leader’s tendency to expect positive outcomes and look for opportunities in uncertainty. | Reflects real-time awareness of how one is coming across and what the moment requires. |
| Emotional Expressiveness | Authenticity | Decision Pace |
|---|---|---|
| Reflects how much a leader manages their emotional demeanour and tone in social settings. | Measures the balance between being raw and transparent versus being polished and diplomatic. | Reflects the extent to which a leader approaches decisions with quick instinct versus careful deliberation. |
A note on authenticity
A common resistance to expanding leadership style is the fear of feeling “fake”. It is normal to worry that acting differently feels inauthentic. But authenticity does not mean doing the same thing all the time. It means acting in line with your values and purpose. You can do something that feels unfamiliar, like listening deeply when you want to act, or speaking up when you want to hide, and still be true to yourself, provided the action serves a meaningful goal. Flexibility means expanding your repertoire without abandoning your core values.
The full library of trait descriptions, development drills, and reflection prompts is currently being curated and will be available here shortly.
Explore the complete framework
The Leadership Traits Library (Behavioural Range) is one of four pillars in the development ecosystem. While this section is being finalised, you can explore the other three libraries to build a holistic approach to leadership:
The Leadership Library
Focus: Competencies & Skills. A comprehensive collection of 100+ core capabilities, covering areas such as trust, accountability, and conflict. Use this to build the fundamental skills of leadership.
The Complexity Leadership Library
Focus: Systems & Context. A field guide for leading in uncertainty and adaptive environments. Use this to understand the systems you are operating within.
The Emotional Intelligence Library
Focus: Emotion & Relationships. Resources for developing self-awareness, empathy, and relational management. Use this to deepen the emotional connection effectively.