We define a general personality trait as a trait that is observable both within and outside the context of work. That is, the same general traits are related to success and satisfaction in both work and personal life.

Self-confidence improves performance in a variety of tasks including leadership. A leader who is self-assured without being overbearing instills self-confidence in team members. Self-confidence was among the first leadership traits researchers identified, and it still receives considerable attention as a major contributor to leadership effectiveness. Although self-confidence is a key leadership trait, so is humility, or being humble at the right times.

Part of humility is admitting that you do not know everything and cannot do everything, as well as admitting your mistakes to team members and outsiders. Self-confidence is one way of looking at the self that contributes to leadership effectiveness. Extensive research suggests that a set of four other related self-perceptions also contributes to leadership effectiveness. Core self-evaluations is a broad personality trait that captures bottom-line self-assessment that is composed of self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and emotional stability.

A leader with positive core evaluations is more likely to make decisions more rapidly. Such a leader will feel confident, be steady under pressure, and believe that he or she can control the external environment to some extent. Evidence and opinion continue to mount that being trustworthy and/or honest contributes to leadership effectiveness. An effective leader or manager is supposed to walk the talk, thereby showing a consistency between deeds (walking) and words (talk).