What epic value creator & destroyers do differently
We profile C-level leaders against the Excellence Standards and rate outcomes by value creation over time. These are the answers that split the extreme winners & losers from everyone else.
They require urgency from every leader below them.
They insist urgency lives at all levels — so people don’t wait to be told what to do; they see what needs to be done and act. Bad leaders ignore urgency. Masters coach it. Zen masters replace people without it.
Standard [81] “I am not the one creating the urgency in any departments. Areas of the business aren’t dependent on me for creating urgency.” — Strongly Agree: 70% of successful · 10% of all execs · 9% of unsuccessful
They reject complexity. Absolutely.
Finding simple solutions to complex problems is the hallmark of great leadership. It’s not dumbing things down — it’s the insight and courage to cut to what moves the needle. Everyone else hedges; the best disagree as hard as the scale allows.
Standard [96] “Complex problems generally require complex solutions.” — Strongly Disagree: 89% of successful · 41% of all execs · 45% of unsuccessful
They push people hard — and know that the best feed off it.
Great leaders hold the same or higher expectations for others than for themselves, because they admire their followers. Shielding people from pressure shields them from growth.
Standard [79] “Top performers love being pushed hard to do better and feed off of it.” — Strongly Agree: 83% of successful · 36% of all execs · 26% of unsuccessful
They carry the expectation that all players are leaders.
The expectation changes what people bring into the room: they stop presenting problems upward and start owning outcomes. Everyone else says “mostly” — and mostly is how a standard dies.
Standard [37] “I create an expectation that everyone on the team is also a leader – that all the players are leaders.” — Strongly Agree: 100% of successful · 56% of all execs · 43% of unsuccessful
They do the math.
50% odds of 50% growth is worth more than 80% odds of 25%. Most executives pick the feeling. The best pick the number.
Standard [68] “Growth odds: I would rather have: 80% odds of 25% growth — or 50% odds of 50% growth.” — choose 50% odds of 50% growth outright: 67% of successful · 24% of all execs · 15% of unsuccessful
They pick hard work over smart.
Nine in ten leaders won’t commit to the “work hard” end of the scale. The successful do — because talent only compounds when it shows up every day and outworks the field.
Standard [65] “Smart vs Work Hard: I… am smart ↔ work hard.” — choose “work hard” outright: 50% of successful · 9% of all execs · 3% of unsuccessful
Peak performance is uncomfortable.
“A winning team is a happy team” — but a happy team is not necessarily a winning team. Nothing great happens inside the comfort zone, and not one successful leader picks the comfort side.
Standard [63] “Comfort vs Discomfort: Peak performance happens when teams are: comfortable ↔ uncomfortable.” — land on the discomfort half: 83% of successful · 44% of all execs · 32% of unsuccessful
Their feedback starts with themselves.
They open with the story they’re telling themselves and the flaws they’ve battled — “poor performance is a function of both of us.” It turns a difficult discussion into a bilateral conversation rooted in compassion.
Standard [93] “I make my feedback about me before I make it about you.” — Agree or stronger: 89% of successful · 50% of all execs · 45% of unsuccessful
Nobody leaves their team.
Zero regretted attrition — teams that turn down bigger offers. Retention is the lagging indicator of everything else on this page.
Standard [50] “There has been virtually zero voluntary attrition on my team in the last year. My team members turn down higher offers from other companies.” — Agree or stronger: 100% of successful · 62% of all execs · 60% of unsuccessful
Their people come to the table as fast as they do.
Ideas and proposals arrive at the leader’s speed — nobody waits for the boss to go first. It is the everyday proof that the team leads itself.
Standard [13] “People are as quick to the table with ideas and proposals as I am.” — Strongly Agree: 58% of successful · 27% of all execs · 24% of unsuccessful
They reject feedback.
The standard is simple: ask regularly, take it without argument, and if wrongly judged, correct it later. Two-thirds of value destroyers can only say “somewhat” — and somewhat means “not really.”
Standard [47] “I regularly ask for feedback, take it without argument, and if wrongly judged, correct it later.” — stop short of Strongly Agree: 89% of unsuccessful · 58% of all execs · 33% of successful
Deep down, they still think leading is telling.
In hedging, they signal they have the answers and know best. The most successful do the opposite: they get exactly where they want to go by asking questions — involving at least as much as directing.
Standard [20] “I don’t answer questions with questions — because my job is to tell people what to do and make sure they do it.” — stop short of Strongly Disagree: 78% of unsuccessful · 52% of all execs · 33% of successful
Which leader shows up depends on the day.
“Every day people get the same me” — the unsuccessful can’t say it with conviction. The moods leak, and the organization learns to read the weather before it brings the truth.
Standard [19] “Every day people get the same me regardless of external circumstances or how I’m feeling.” — stop short of Strongly Agree: 81% of unsuccessful · 60% of all execs · 33% of successful
They wing the message.
Great communicators spend real time upfront strategizing what to say and how to say it. The unsuccessful talk first and aim later — and the organization hears the difference.
Standard [85] “When I communicate with my organization, I spend large amounts of time strategizing upfront on what and how to communicate.” — stop short of Strongly Agree: 96% of unsuccessful · 77% of all execs · 60% of successful
Their team has more than one #1 priority.
The most common malady in the turnarounds we run. Without total clarity — the number and the date — people work on what they think is important, trade-offs lose their north star, and engagement suffers.
Standard [75] “My team knows the #1 overall corporate priority, the quantification of it, and the date we will hit it.” — land on the wrong half of the scale: 33% of unsuccessful · 16% of all execs · 8% of successful
They let multiple people or teams own the same goal instead of individual leaders — so no one does.
Multiple people accountable for the same outcome means no one truly is. Accountability needs one name on it.
Standard [384], tracked since 2022 — “When multiple people are accountable to the same problem or outcome:” — answer away from strong individual accountability: 86% of unsuccessful · 68% of all execs · 50% of successful
They’d rather be smart than outwork.
Pressed to choose, they protect the identity of being the smartest in the room. The successful choose the work — and their organizations copy the choice.
Standard [65] “Smart vs Work Hard: I… am smart ↔ work hard.” — land on the “smart” half: 85% of unsuccessful · 68% of all execs · 25% of successful
They don’t cheer wins outside their team.
Visible generosity toward other teams’ success is a tell for how a leader keeps score. The unsuccessful keep the applause for their own column of the scoreboard.
Standard [39] “When people outside my team succeed I cheer them on visibly.” — stop short of Strongly Agree: 43% of unsuccessful · 26% of all execs · 8% of successful
“Mostly” is their favorite answer.
They don’t disagree that every player should be a leader — they just can’t say it with conviction. Not one successful leader hedges this.
Standard [37] “I create an expectation that everyone on the team is also a leader – that all the players are leaders.” — stop short of Strongly Agree: 57% of unsuccessful · 44% of all execs · 0% of successful
They keep their teams comfortable.
“A winning team is a happy team” — but a happy team is not necessarily a winning team. Content with average and needing to be liked, they keep people inside their comfort zones, where nothing great happens.
Standard [63] “Comfort vs Discomfort: Peak performance happens when teams are: comfortable ↔ uncomfortable.” — land on the comfort half: 68% of unsuccessful · 56% of all execs · 17% of successful
They don’t make irreversible decisions until they must.
Optionality as discipline: study the problem, keep choices alive, act when it’s necessary. Nine of ten unsuccessful leaders sit on the other half of this scale.
Standard [123] “I don’t make an irreversible decision until I have to: I prize the optionality inherent in studying a problem and not acting until it is necessary.” — Strongly Agree: 40% of successful (n=5) · 17% of everyone · 0% of unsuccessful (n=10)
Success is mastery of what you care about — not fame.
Five of five successful leaders define success as following your interests and talents to become the best you can be at them — not a high-profile career, recognition, or wealth.
Standard [115] “A person is successful if they have: followed their own interests and talents to become the best they can be at what they care about ↔ a high-profile career, are well-known, and have achieved wealth.” — the mastery answer: 100% of successful (n=5) · 52% of everyone · 27% of unsuccessful (n=11)
Remove those who can’t surrender their distaste. Quickly.
When a team member can’t get past their distaste for the leader and the organization, waiting and hoping for the best is how good teams turn sour.
Standard [120] “When a team member can’t surrender their distaste for the leader and organization, they must be removed quickly.” — Strongly Agree: 100% of successful (n=5) · 45% of everyone · 30% of unsuccessful (n=10)
Admired for requiring excellence — not respect.
Every rated successful leader so far says their leadership is admired because they require excellence. Three of four unsuccessful leaders answer toward requiring respect.
Standard [131] “My leadership is admired because: I require respect ↔ I require excellence.” — “I require excellence”: 3 of 3 successful · 48% of everyone · 1 of 4 unsuccessful
Compliance isn’t commitment.
The ladder runs compliance → acceptance → agreement → responsibility → identification. The question is where the lowest member of the team sits — and only one in five leaders anywhere can claim the top rung.
Standard [140] “The lowest level of commitment to this priority among my direct reports is: Compliance ↔ Identification.” — “Identification”: 22% of everyone; one rated answer per cohort so far (successful at the top rung, unsuccessful below it)
Feedforward beats feedback.
Focus feedback primarily on future actions rather than past mistakes. Early signal: the one rated successful answer is a full-conviction yes; none of six unsuccessful get there.
Standard [25] “I give ‘feedforward’ more than feedback (when giving feedback, I focus primarily on future actions rather than past mistakes).” — Strongly Agree: 1 of 1 successful · 36% of everyone · 0 of 6 unsuccessful
Challenge your directs daily.
Not quarterly, not at review time — every day or almost every day. Fewer than a third of all leaders can claim it.
Standard [134] “I challenge my direct reports every day or almost every day.” — Strongly Agree: 1 of 2 successful · 29% of everyone · 0 of 2 unsuccessful
Reports who run without supervision.
The bar is a team of leaders, each fully capable of doing the job without guidance. Early signal points the expected way.
Standard [138] “Each of my direct reports is fully capable of doing their job without supervision or guidance.” — Strongly Agree: 2 of 2 successful · 46% of everyone · 1 of 2 unsuccessful