Your Leadership Traits

Raphael H Cohen ()

Chapter 4 in Driving Employee Engagement, 2026, pp 79-112 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter explores the foundational traits and behaviors that define fair and caring leadership, highlighting their pivotal role in fostering employee engagement, trust, and organizational success. It examines how leaders who demonstrate inspiration, credibility, resilience, passion, and authenticity create environments where employees feel valued and motivated. The chapter details how fairness, wisdom, equity, courage, rigor, and congruence function as essential levers for effective leadership, whereas humanity, emotional intelligence, humility, and self-awareness are presented as additional critical components that enable leaders to connect meaningfully with their teams. The necessity of self-knowledge, the avoidance of cowardice, and the pursuit of gratification and joy in leadership are also addressed. The impact of each trait on engagement is analyzed, along with the consequences of neglecting it. Practical tools are introduced to help leaders assess their alignment with these traits and identify areas for growth, including the EazyMirror Employee Perceived Fairness Score, which provides insight into the achievements of leaders from the employee perspective. Real-world examples illustrate how these qualities translate into daily leadership practices, reinforcing that although not everyone is naturally suited to lead, those who commit to developing these levers can significantly enhance team performance and well-being. By cultivating these attributes, leaders build trust, foster engagement, and drive sustainable results.

Keywords: Inspiration; Credibility; Resilience; Passion; Authenticity; Engaged followers; Fairness; Wisdom; Equity; Courage; Rigor; Congruence; Humanity; Emotional intelligence; Humility; Self-awareness; Self-knowledge; No cowardice; Gratification; Joy in leadership; Caring leadership; Fair leadership; Leadership levers; Employee engagement; Self-assessment; EazyMirror; Employee Perceived Fairness Score; EPFS; Team performance; Fair and Caring Leadership Framework; Performance imperative; Fairness imperative; Caring imperative; Leadership behaviors; Leadership traits; Governance conditions; Trust building; High-performance teams; Leadership assessment; Leadership development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:mgmchp:978-3-032-05172-1_4

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-05172-1_4

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