Originally published on Forbes.com

As leaders of mid-size professional service firms begin to form leadership councils, they often ask me, “What type of person should be on our council?” That is a very important question. Most mid-size service firms have 50 or more staff members to choose from. So they usually have plenty of options, given that my advice is to have around seven people on the council.

I usually list several criteria for who to invite onto the council, having to do with tenure, position, responsibility and institutional knowledge. But there is another criterion I’ve started to recommend, after having formed numerous leadership councils. One factor I’ve seen determine the effectiveness of these councils is the blend of personality types who end up in the room. Personality blend often determines how effective the council actually is for the business.

After analyzing my experiences with more than 70 mid-size service firms, I’ve arrived at a simple conclusion. If you are forming a leadership council of seven people, no more than two of them should be strong personalities. Everyone else needs to be a strong person. What’s the difference between a strong person and a strong personality? For me, it comes down to four core leadership qualities:

• How they talk to people and gather information
• How they handle tension
• How they address opposing positions
• How they define a win

How They Talk To People And Gather Information

Strong persons practice what I would call an inquiry-forward communication style. They are far more inclined to ask questions of others than they are to flatly state their position, especially before they have all the facts they feel they need to take a formal position on any topic.

They want to know why someone feels the way they do and how they formed that opinion. They’re listening for motive as much as for facts. They want to understand others more than they want to be understood. They also usually take into consideration how someone’s background and childhood experiences shape how they think and make judgment calls today.

Strong personalities practice what I would call an advocacy-forward communication style. They are more interested in making sure their position is clearly stated and fully understood by everyone in the room than they are in understanding other people’s reasoning and ideas. They speak with passion and conviction—which is often deemed to be their most outstanding leadership quality. They are often quite persuasive and convincing. But more than anything, they are relentless. They won’t let it go.

How They Handle Tension

Strong persons embrace tension. Strong personalities typically do not. Over the years, I’ve noticed that people with strong personalities have a very noticeable gift. They can often see how the pieces of any puzzle fit together in seconds, with little research or additional information needed. They have a sixth sense—call it intuition, gut instinct or just a lucky streak. But here’s the thing: They’re usually spot-on in their assessment of situations that others find befuddling. This is why you want them on a leadership council. They have real personal genius.

In fact, they are often so confident in their assessment that they find other ideas to be ludicrous. They’re not afraid to say so. Once their mind is made up, they can’t seem to understand why other people’s minds are not made up just like them. They see any attempt to belabor a decision or a complex topic as a waste of time.

How They Address Opposing Positions

Strong persons tolerate opposing positions and seek to understand them. Strong personalities usually do not. I’ve seen this firsthand across literally thousands of important decisions that come up on leadership teams. Most important decisions have just a handful of options that make sense. The goal of a leadership council is to determine which option will produce the best outcomes for the company. This is called deliberation.

In my experience, strong persons make great deliberators because they are not threatened by any one position. For me, this is most clearly played out in a crucial moment—summary. At some point during deliberation, leadership councils characterize their options. They briefly describe each option as a means of summarizing choices they might make. Usually what follows is a discussion of likely outcomes from options A, B or C.

But before they can even project outcomes, the option has to be summarized in a few words—just to make it clear and simple. Here is what I’ve seen. Strong persons describe an option as objectively and sympathetically as possible. They want to deliver an accurate and unbiased description. Strong personalities, on the other hand, usually present a straw man summary, custom-designed to show the inherent weaknesses in the options they already discount.

How They Define A Win

For me, the most striking difference between a strong person and a strong personality is how they define a win. Strong persons don’t want to be right about things that they projected would hurt the organization. They are saddened to hear that what they feared would come true, as a result of a decision they felt was wrong, actually came true. They take no pride in this. It makes them sad that they were right.

Strong personalities, on the other hand, triumph in being right, even when it hurts the firm. They are quick to say to others: I told you so. They say things like: “Why don’t people listen to me? I knew this was the wrong decision and I said it over and over again.” Being right about something that hurt the firm is a vindication of their personal genius.

Be Careful Who You Choose

If your organization is considering forming a leadership council, I recommend that you think very carefully about personality types. Strong personalities do indeed possess an undeniable personal genius. But they are often so over-confident that they need a lot of coaching to do more good than harm on a council.

About The Author

Randy Shattuck is a seasoned entrepreneur who works hand-in-hand with senior leaders of mid-size professional service firms to grow revenues, acquire clients, open new markets, increase profits and effectively position their brands.