That's actually a good trait in a politician.
I would argue it's not.
That is, it may be good for the individual politician, as far as electability is concerned, but it does not make "good" politicians.
The leaders we all remember fondly are precisely the ones that led from a place of principle - Mandela, Gandhi, Lincoln, Adenauer, etc
Not much glory in it though
I once listened to an interview with Lavrov.
The journalist started recording from the outside of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, the sister of Warsaw's PKiN.
Heavy doors with 5 point stars and hammers and sickles. Long, dark, depressing corridors devoid of people. Solemn busts line the walls - of former Russian diplomats. It all created the impression that the lord of this dark kingdom cannot be anything other than some grey and soulless character... Certainly not that this is the place where Russian victories are forged.
But that's how Lavrov described his role. He argued that it's no pleasure to deliver the expected. The pleasure is to deliver the unexpected - even the impossible. Capturing victory from the jaws of defeat - is how Lavrov saw the historic role of Russian diplomacy.
Now we can see what he meant.
There are some parallels between Putin and Lavrov in this sense. When people ask Putin why he decided to enter the intelligence services, he often brings up this point - that Soviet films produced a tremendous impression on him - by showing that a single spy can do more to turn the course of a battle or a war, than entire divisions and army corps.