The Leadership ‘It’ Factor
May 2026 Blog: What Makes the Best Bosses Unforgettable
Think of the best leader you’ve ever worked for. What made them different?
Not their title. Not their technical expertise. Something harder to name — a quality that made you want to show up, work harder, and grow. People who’ve had that kind of leader often struggle to put it into words. They just know how it felt.
Let’s try to name it.
THREE LAYERS OF LEADERSHIP
Most conversations about leadership focus on style — whether you’re direct or collaborative, analytical or visionary. Style matters, but the best leaders don’t just rely on their natural approach. They read the people around them and adapt. It’s less about what your style is and more about how flexibly you use it.
Beneath style lie competencies — the skills and habits that drive performance. Research from Zenger Folkman, one of the world’s leading leadership institutes, identifies 19 competencies that separate good leaders from great ones. To reach truly extraordinary, a leader needs to be in the top 10% in at least five of them. The good news: unlike style, competencies can be developed.
But peel the onion back one more layer and you find something more fundamental — attributes. These are the qualities that make people want to follow you. Not because they have to. Because they want to.
Here are the ten that matter most.
10 ATTRIBUTES OF EXTRAORDINARY LEADERS
01 Trust
Everything starts here. Without it, people stop taking risks, protect themselves, and do just enough to get by. With it, they feel psychologically safe — free to create, challenge, and commit. Trust isn’t earned once; it’s built every day.
02 Energy
The most important currency a leader carries isn’t money or time — it’s energy. A leader’s outlook is contagious. High energy lifts a team; low energy drains it. Leaders who show up with genuine, positive belief in what they’re doing inspire others to believe too.
03 Empathy
People need to feel understood before they can fully engage. Great leaders ask real questions and listen closely — not to respond, but to genuinely know what matters to the people around them. That kind of care changes everything.
04 Inspiration
When a leader connects your work to your deeper purpose, ordinary obstacles shrink. Inspired people don’t just work harder — they do things they didn’t think were possible. The best leaders don’t just manage performance; they ignite it.
05 Vision
Visionary leaders live with one foot in today and the other in the future. They see around corners — sensing risks and opportunities before others do — and they describe what they see so vividly that people want to help get there.
06 Confidence
Confident leaders don’t just think positively — they act from a place of inner certainty that helps others let go of their fears. It’s not arrogance; it’s a steady, grounded belief that clears the path forward for everyone around them.
07 Courage
Courageous leaders don’t lack fear — they simply refuse to be stopped by it. They move forward when others hesitate. And something remarkable happens: their courage becomes permission for others to be brave too.
08 Humble Expertise
Brilliant leaders who wear their knowledge lightly are rare and magnetic. When someone deeply capable also makes you feel valued — rather than small — you want to learn from them, and you believe in what the team can accomplish together.
09 Empowerment
Great leaders relinquish control. They share authority, set a clear vision, and then trust people to find the way. Being empowered isn’t just a management technique — it makes people feel respected. Micromanagement does the opposite.
10 Love
We’re shy about this word at work. We shouldn’t be. To love someone in the leadership sense is to genuinely want their growth and wellbeing — to accept people as they are while helping them become who they’re capable of being. It’s the most human thing a leader can do.
So — which one is the ‘it’ factor? Which attribute, in your experience, most separates a good leader from a great one? And which is most often missing?
I have my answer. I’d love to hear yours. Send me a note at don@donfrericks.com or text 513-260-7637.