You've completed your Thomas International profile and you're either frowning at the results thinking "reaaaaally?! Is that me?!" or you're pretty content that it's an accurate representation. Either way, we promise the results are accurate! Sometimes it can take us a little time to adjust to seeing ourselves through a lens that isn't our own. This lens will help you to become the best leader you can be, by enabling you to concentrate on improving your development areas. Within this section of your Personal Development Hub, we've included a range of self-directed resources and micro-learning to support you.

Being curious also lends itself to thinking creatively - which is also essential to sustaining the best performing companies. The reason why it's taken some time to be understood as an essential leadership characteristic, is due to the historic perception that it creativity is too elusive and/or difficult to measure - or because concentrating on it provided a less immediate pay off than improving execution.

However, creativity has now become an urgent concern for organisations. The shift to an innovation-driven economy has been abrupt and it is intensified during difficult times. Competition has simply become - who can generate the best and greatest number of ideas and execute them well?

It goes without saying that we are not be able to return to our familiar pre-crisis reality. The pandemic has created new attitudes, needs, and behaviors which need to be managed. Imagination — the capacity to create, evolve, and exploit mental models of things or situations that don’t yet exist, and inspiring a creative culture — is the crucial factor in creating new opportunities, finding new paths to growth and ensuring the success of your operation.

A recent study found being more conscientious (hard-working, driven, reliable, and organised) leads to better job performance. But, not only that - those who can master the trait are better paid too. If that isn't an incentive to develop your conscientiousness....

A conscientious attitude also boosts your reputation . Being seen as "reliable," "hardworking" and "organised" will no doubt aid your career! Not to mention that in being a conscientious manager, your team will know they can trust you. This, is a biggie (not just because it's one of our values!).

Just as important as your workplace success is your health. Many studies have found that highly conscientious people pay more attention to eating healthily and taking exercise, and tend to live longer and to avoid cognitive impairment later in life.

Ready to flex those conscientiousness muscles? We've got you.

The importance of planning, details and goal setting.

How did Google grow from 40 to 88,000 employees and $100+ billion in global revenue? Yes, their killer products, ubiquitous search engine, and cloud services played a huge role; but they also had a not-so-secret, secret weapon at their disposal: OKRs. Never heard of them? Don't sweat it. All you need to know is below .

Ambiguity is the norm in any complex organisation. At its simplest, ambiguity is a lack of clarity. Strong leaders are able to make decisions, take action and motivate others during times of uncertainty, incomplete information and change. They know how to make decisions based on the information available, how to adapt and how to focus team members on "north star" elements.

How do you respond to challenging, difficult or threatening situations? Do you avoid them? Thrive in them?

As a leader and strategist, you must have the courage to explain why strategy is important, even in the face of opposition. You must have the fortitude to stand by and explain your values. Those with a higher risk approach (or, who are more courageous - better term, right?) have a more proactive approach to dealing with problems. Whereas those with a lower risk approach tend to have more reactive, instinctual responses.

Courageousness and risk taking do not come naturally to all leaders, but here are some resources to support the development of this trait.

Competitiveness is healthy - in moderation! Everyone has worked with someone hyper-competitive. They want to be seen as THE success of the business - eurgh. On the other hand, the noncompetitive leader may have difficulty focusing on strategic advantages. This in itself can be frustrating for others. Those somewhere in between? They tend to take a more collaborative approach.

The aim of competition is to win, so there will always be those who do not. Successful leaders don’t allow a failure to define who they are. Simply put, they never quit. Competition teaches you to bounce back from failure and respond positively to pressure and challenges, and then adapt to move forward towards greater success.