Five "Ideal" Manager Traits That Are Myths

Henry Mintzberg is considered to be one of the top living business and management thinkers.

Henry lists below the five traits that popular business literature posits as the ideal qualities to get from it, and then explains why they are unrealistic:

Ideal Trait Myth #1: You Can Become a Leader. Not always so. If you have leadership capabilities, they are already in your soul. No book or course will make you into a leader.

Ideal Trait Myth #2: You Can Become a Planner. As a manager, mostly you have to react to what happens in front of you. Let the planners plan -- but they can plan operations, not strategies.

Ideal Trait Myth #3. You Can Adapt the Right Leadership Style to Suit Your Situation. Not really. You are not a chameleon. It would be better to just be in a job suited to your own style.

Ideal Trait Myth #4: You Can Use the Latest Tools to Manage Your Organization. Be careful. A tool isn't something you can use in place of a brain. Pick and understand your tools carefully -- not just what's the flavor of the month.

Ideal Trait Myth #5: You Can Read Books Like Managing to Become a Better Manager. That's true! But do you have the time? As a manager, you’re a busy person. That’s why you can read just the boldface sentences in this book and get the gist of it.

Any other ideal traits that need debunking, or do you want to challenge any of the ones listed above? Chime in below.