PsychologyAugust 16, 2026

leaderlike

LEE-der-like

Definition

Possessing the specific external qualities, behaviors, or physical presence that people commonly associate with being a leader.

Etymology

Derived from the Old English 'lædere' meaning one who guides or shows the way, combined with the suffix '-like' from the Old English 'lic', meaning having the appearance or characteristics of.

In the news

The article uses the term to describe the outgoing, room-commanding behaviors that observers intuitively interpret as indicators of leadership potential, even though these traits do not guarantee actual leadership effectiveness.

The traits we use to spot a future leader, confidence, charisma, the person who commands the room, mostly predict who gets picked, not who leads well: research on personality and on narcissism finds emergence and effectiveness are two different things

Read the full article ↗

ScienceBlog.com

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