The only leadership trait that really matters

"For decades, MBA programs, leadership trainings, and consultancies have told us that effective leaders share a set of "essential competencies." You know the lists: empathy, strategic vision, humility, charisma, psychological safety, communication skills. These ideas get repeated in boardrooms and promised in executive education programs. But if these competencies were truly essential, then the leaders we most admire should have them. The truth is, they often don't."

"We've hosted close to 4,000 Olympians, Nobel laureates, executives, astronauts, Grammy-winning artists, Oscar-winning directors, and even the occasional prime minister or princess. And what became clear, sitting across the table from these leaders, is that while all of them were wildly effective, there was no commonality in their skills. Some were quiet, others loud. Some thrived on collaboration, others preferred making decisions on their own."

"The only thing that defines a leader is that they have followers. And people follow for one main reason: We don't relate to the present, we relate to the future we believe we have. Think back to high school. On Friday afternoons at 1 p.m., we were still stuck in class, but felt excited because the weekend was ahead. On Sunday nights at 6 p.m., we were free, but anxious, already anticipating Monday."

MBA programs and leadership trainings promote a fixed list of essential competencies such as empathy, strategic vision, humility, charisma, psychological safety, and communication skills. Admired, highly effective leaders often lack many of those competencies. Long-term observations from a private Influencers Dinner with nearly 4,000 prominent figures revealed no common skill set: some leaders were quiet, others loud; some collaborative, others decisive alone. Impactful leaders like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs lacked traits commonly taught as essential yet achieved outsized influence. Followership depends on belief in a leader's promised future; people respond to the future they expect, not the present.

Read at Fast Company