Study: Leaders identified by their sneakers

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Paul Nelson reportingIf you want to see if your boss is truly a good leader, a new survey says there's a new way to tell. It says a truly great leader has a lot of tennis shoes.

Some people buy tennis shoes for exercise. From now on, I'm buying them for the greatness that's attached to them. To do this, I spoke with the general manager of the Salt Lake Running Company, Travis Hildebrand.

After looking over the store's selection, I asked him, "Which one of these shoes will make me a better leader, Travis?" He said, "The one that fits you the best."

He pointed me to a couple different brands of shoes, including some bright yellow Zoot brand running shoes.

Hildebrand said, "If you want to be the type of leader who is going to take charge and lead by example and be at the forefront of your group, that would be a good shoe for that type of leader."

I asked, "Do you think they would look good with dress slacks?" He answered, "If they were bright yellow dress slacks, yes."

He added, "Zoot is very well known in the multi-sport world. They make triathlon specific stuff." I had to ask, "Do I look like I've run a triathlon ever in my life?" After a lot of stalling he said, "Yes."

The reason I went to a shoe store asking questions about how to be a better leader is based on a new survey from Mindset Media. The organization says people who buy three or more pairs of sneakers are more likely to have leadership qualities than others.

Hildebrand says there may be something to this study. "We've had apostles come in [from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]. We've had the governor come in," he said.

Mindset Media COO Sarah Welch says they surveyed 7,500 people and were able to type 20 different elements of personality.

"People who have qualities of a modern leader are people with big ideas and vision, and they have a style with others that is both inclusive and decisive," Welch said.

I had to ask her, "Sarah, I'm wondering if this is the way that we should pick the next president. Forget their voting record. Overlook their policies. Let's open up their closets and see how many pairs of sneakers they have." She replied, "Well, it would be, certainly, an interesting screening question for candidates."

Maybe we shouldn't decide the presidency this way. Welch says just because someone has the qualities of a leader doesn't mean they'd be good at leading.

For more information on the study, click the related link.

E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com