The No.1 Sign That You Will Be a Great Leader, According to a Yale Management Professor

By Jessica Stillman

This energizing quality matters more than charisma, creativity, or influence, according to new research.

Have you ever had to work or interact with someone who just sucked all your energy? Maybe you can't put your finger on exactly why, but just being in the same room as this person made you feel tired, irked, or uninspired?  

I think most of us would answer yes to this question (with a specific example or two leaping instantly to mind), and that apparently includes scientists, too. Researchers have actually investigated this phenomenon, labeling those folks who just seem to exhaust and annoy others for no specific reason as having negative "affective presence."

This science confirms that some people consistently suck the joy out of others, even when they are themselves content and cheerful. But as of yet, it hasn't pinpointed exactly why some people have this effect. 

However, scientists did recently learn something new and fascinating about the somewhat mysterious quality of affective presence. If having a negative one drags you down in life, having a positive one is the single best predictor out there that you will be a successful leader, according to recent research out of Yale. 

The energizing quality all great leaders share 

"Researchers and leaders have looked for the secret to successful leadership for centuries. Dozens of new books each year promise to deliver the answer. We decided to examine this question empirically," report Yale management professor Emma Seppälä and her collaborator Kim Cameron of the University of Michigan in the Harvard Business Review recently. 

What did their research reveal? The single greatest predictor of leadership success is not "charisma, influence, or power. It is not personality, attractiveness, or innovative genius. The one thing that supersedes all these factors is positive relational energy: the energy exchanged between people that helps uplift, enthuse, and renew them," the article states.  

In short, the best sign that you will excel as a leader is how your presence makes other people feel. The more energy and good vibes you radiate to others, the better you're likely to do as a leader. 

"You've met people like this. They're like the sun. These people walk into a room and make it glow. Everyone becomes energized, enthused, inspired, and connected. These incandescent people are positive energizers," the pair writes. 

How do you become an energizer? 

The research is crystal clear about the positive knock-on effects of being this kind of energizing leader. "Numerous studies run by our group and our colleagues show that positive energizers produce substantially higher levels of engagement, lower turnover, and enhanced feelings of well-being among employees," note Seppälä and Cameron. 

The positive effects of energizers can even be measured in the bodies of those around them, which show lower levels of stress hormones and inflammation. Companies led by leaders identified as having positive relational energy even seem to be more profitable on average, according to the authors.

Identifying these magical folks who gift others with energy also seems straightforward. Seppälä and Cameron used a survey of leaders' colleagues to figure out who were the suns and who were the energy sinks. If you are brave enough to ask the people around you, they should have no problem telling you whether you pump people up or drag them down. What seems less clear to me from the article is how exactly you can go about becoming an energizer if that doesn't come naturally to you. 

The pair of researchers cite anecdotes showing that leaders who invest in their own energy levels through wellness strategies like adequate sleep, meditation, and yoga were more able to energize others. Empathy is also clearly important if your goal is to build others up. But the final conclusion of the HBR piece seems to be, essentially, that if you want to be energizing, you should just have energy. Which strikes me as more circular than actionable. 

If negative affective presence remains a bit of a mystery, so too is its positive flipside. Some people are just annoying. Others are energizing. And science still seems slightly baffled as to exactly why and how you can shift from one to the other -- though cultivating your own health, joy, and kindness certainly can't hurt if you want to be more energizing (and that seems like a good idea, anyways). 

But one thing is crystal clear: The camp you fall into has an outsize impact on whether you're likely to succeed as a leader.