10 Behaviors That Distinguish Purposeful Leaders

To better understand the behaviors that are most indicative of successful leaders, we asked 5,334 U.S. consumers who are currently employed to answer some questions about their direct managers. We asked them to rate the success of their manager as a leader within the organization and to describe how often those managers demonstrate 41 leadership behaviors that we tested (click to download full list of behaviors (.pdf)).

We compared the frequency with which very successful leaders demonstrated the behaviors with the frequency demonstrated by other managers. The behaviors with the largest gaps represent the most distinguishing characteristics of purposeful leaders. It turns out that these very successful leaders are much more likely to:

1. Motivate other people to deliver their best work
2. Help people understand complex situations by describing things in simple terms
3. Help people make decisions by presenting clear options
4. Motivate other people to work together to achieve a common goal
5. Look beyond obvious choices to find innovative solutions
6. Admit to his or her mistakes when there is a problem
7. Help his or her employees identify and achieve their personal goals
8. Make decisions that will help the organization achieve its long-term goals even if they do not benefit the organization right away
9. Coach and mentor other people
10. Communicate a clear and compelling vision of the future

The bottom line: Purposeful leaders help their people succeed