Geoff Smart's firm studied 3,052 leaders over 17 years. Three things predicted success. Priorities, who and relationships. Leaders strong in all three were 20 times more likely to succeed. Bill Treasurer, a self-described leadership plumber, starts somewhere else. His first law is that leadership was never about the leader.

Val Jon Farris has spent about 25 years running leadership programs. His napkin says doing a leader is not being a leader. Brian Brault defines vulnerability as exposing your heart to the opportunity for growth. Patrick Thean says curiosity is how you listen better. Rick Williams says give before asking. Give attention before asking for attention.

The simplest framework I know is Focus, Align, Act. It took me a decade to see it as how leading works. Several of my own episodes here build on it, including the four pillars of magnetic leadership. Confidence, congruence, calm and contribution.