What makes an exceptional leader?

Vision: They can foresee not only what will change, but perhaps more importantly, what will not change. They communicate big hairy audacious goals (that they actually believe in!), even in the toughest situations, and know how to guide the team to it. They draw and retain talent who believe in their vision and are eager to see where it leads. Steve Jobs is an example of this.

“I frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one. I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is the more important of the two—because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time.” — Jeff Bezos

Execution: They translate vision into reality and make success inevitable. They coordinate and influence across business, organizational, and technological boundaries, doing whatever it takes to make it happen. They excel at guiding teams through periods of uncertainty and change. Andy Grove’s leadership at Intel is an example of this.

“Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.” — John Doerr

Empathy: They put customers and their people above personal ambitions. They foster cultures where people feel a sense of ownership to get shit done. These leaders cultivate their people so well that they could succeed elsewhere but choose to stay anyway because of the growth opportunities. Bill Campbell, the Trillion Dollar Coach, is an example of this.

“Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.” — Simon Sinek

Good leaders excel in at least two out of three; exceptional ones embody all three.

What do exceptional leaders do?

Provide: They provide their teams with an inspiring vision, meaningful context, motivation, resources, opportunities, coaching, and more. Without spoonfeeding the team, they equip them with what’s required for continuous growth and success.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams

Remove: They remove obstacles such as politics, unnecessary bureaucracy, confusion, etc. They clear blockers that teams can’t clear themselves, or would take too long to clear, helping their teams stay focused and achieve their goals on time without interference.

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” — Lao Tzu

Get out of the way: They know when to step aside and trust their teams, and don’t impose their ideas or micromanage. They understand that meaningful progress and innovation comes when teams have the autonomy to experiment, learn, fail, and ultimately succeed.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” — Steve Jobs

Similarly, good leaders can consistently do two out of three.

Leadership styles: Commando, soldier, police

Commando: They excel in ambiguous, high-risk environments. They make fast decisions in the absence of complete information, drive innovation, and adapt quickly to the market and industry. They know how to bring clarity to unknown unknowns and go from zero to one. And even if the endeavor fails, they learn and pivot fast, iterating quickly to success.

“The number one predictor of success for a very young startup: rate of iteration.” — Sam Altman

Soldier: They lead teams through rapid growth and scaling, where execution, expansion, and the occasional pivot are table stakes. They can ship prototypes or embarrassing early-stage products and scale them successfully, sometimes leading to solid market positions. They handle the complexity of expansion while maintaining speed and sufficient stability.

“What works at scale may be different from scaling what works. Pilots often succeed, while scale-up often fails when the context changes.” — Rohini Nilekan

Police: They maintain stability, optimize processes, and manage established systems. They lead effectively in mature markets or organizations, ensuring efficiency, consistency, and incremental improvements, while also not falling prey to Innovator’s Dilemma. They protect and grow market share in mature, competitive environments.

“Where there is no standard, there can be no improvement.” — Taiichi Ohno

Most leaders naturally lean toward either end of this spectrum, though some exceptional leaders, such as founder-CEOs, learned to effectively transition across all three roles.

• • •

Good leaders have the self-awareness to recognize their superpowers and growth areas, and the humility to get help from others who complement them. Also, understand if you’re more commando or police, and focus on initiatives that play to your strengths. Similarly, assign your leaders to efforts that best apply their unique capabilities so they thrive and succeed.

If you found this useful, please cite this write-up as:

Yan, Ziyou. (May 2025). Exceptional Leadership: Some Qualities, Behaviors, and Styles. eugeneyan.com. https://eugeneyan.com/writing/leadership/.

or

@article{yan2025leadership,  title   = {Exceptional Leadership: Some Qualities, Behaviors, and Styles},  author  = {Yan, Ziyou},  journal = {eugeneyan.com},  year    = {2025},  month   = {May},  url     = {https://eugeneyan.com/writing/leadership/}}