When you think of the most successful CEOs you know, who comes to mind, and what traits do they have? Maybe they went to an Ivy League school. Or perhaps they are pragmatic decision-makers. New research suggests that our perception of what makes the best CEO may be too cookie-cutter and does not actually reflect the reality of the most successful business leaders.

Called the CEO Genome Project, the research and subsequent book deconstructs the top behaviors of CEOs and the best practices that can help turn anyone into a leader. Researchers embarked on the 10-year study “to identify the specific attributes that differentiate high-performing CEOs (whom we define as executives meeting or exceeding expectations in the role, according to interviews with board members and majority investors deeply familiar with the CEOs’ performance).”

Click through the slideshow to learn 7 traits the best CEOs have in common.