10 Principles of Great Leadership: Insights from 200 Conversations
Leaders aren’t born or made; they’re constantly in the making.
Hello, it’s Ethan & Jason. Welcome to a *paid member-only* edition of Level Up: Your source for executive insights, high performance habits, and specific career growth actions. Many subscribers expense this newsletter to their Learning & Development budget, here’s an email template to send to your manager.
If our newsletter content has been helpful and you want to go deeper with courses, consider our three upcoming live cohorts:
(starts Feb 15) Avoid Disaster: Leading Large Tech Projects & Teams Ethan co-teaches with David Markley (VP of Technology) who is fresh off successfully shipping support for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
(starts Mar 8) Cracking the C-suite 'How to Get and Master Key Executive Roles' Ethan co-teaches with Sue Bethanis (Executive Coach & CEO/Founder of Mariposa Leadership), rated 4.8/5 with every cohort reaching capacity (50 max). Use code CSUITE10 at checkout for 10% off (expires Feb 23).
(starts April 26) Stuck at Senior Manager - How to Break Through to Executive Ethan’s signature course with 1,000+ alumni, rated 4.7/5, and named Maven’s Top Leadership & Career Course.
We are thrilled to bring you a guest post by Damon Lembi, a 2x best-selling author, host of The Learn-It-All Podcast, and CEO at Learnit, a live learning platform that has upskilled over 2 million people.
In this article, you’ll learn the 10 principles of great leadership (with specific actions you can implement) that Damon has distilled from his 200 conversations with CEOs, executives, athletes, and authors.
You’ll want to bookmark this article.
Two years ago, I sat at my desk, staring at a microphone, unsure if starting a podcast was a brilliant move or a terrible mistake.
What I did know was that it was going to be a leap into the unknown. My motivation was simple: curiosity. I wanted to understand how extraordinary people—CEOs, executives, athletes, authors, and thought leaders—carved out their paths to success.
After two hundred fascinating conversations on The Learn-It-All Leader podcast, I’ve seen a profound truth emerge: Great leadership isn't an innate gift, but a set of skills cultivated through experience.
I've distilled the collective wisdom of these 200 leaders into ten game-changing principles anyone can master:
Leadership Starts with Self-Leadership
Delegation Is a Tool for Development
Put People First with Servant Leadership
Trust Is the Foundation of Leadership
Learning Agility: Knowing What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do
Turn Innovation Into Impact
“Chameleon Leadership”- Adapt to Win
Embrace Change for Growth
Resilience with Strategy
Fitting in Is Not the Same Thing as Belonging
One consistent theme among all the leaders, including Ethan Evans, is a strong bias for action.
Having a strategy alone isn’t enough; true leadership requires putting the plan into motion. To support you in applying these insights, I’ve added an ‘Action’ section for each principle to guide you in incorporating these lessons into your leadership approach.
1. Leadership Starts with Self-Leadership
Leaders who respond intentionally rather than react impulsively create cultures that navigate challenges productively, setting a high standard for others. Craig Dowden, a Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best-Selling Author, calls this “self-leadership,” a theme echoed by many of the CEOs I talked to. Self-leadership is more than awareness; it’s the disciplined practice of acting thoughtfully.
Doug Conant, a former Fortune 500 CEO and founder of ConantLeadership, draws on Viktor Frankl’s concept in describing self-leadership as embracing the “space between stimulus and response.” This space is where we choose to lead with integrity rather than react from ego or defensiveness. Leaders shape their organizations primarily through actions, not words, making self-discipline foundational.
Action: Identify one recurring trigger that often provokes a strong emotional reaction. Reflect on why this impacts you and consider how a more thoughtful response could influence your team. This practice encourages a culture of resilience and intentionality.
2. Delegation as a Tool for Development
Use delegation to develop others, not just to clean your plate. Jim Schleckser, business leader, author, and Founder of THE CEO Project, reframed delegation as “developing people,” not offloading tasks. His “70% rule” is this: if someone can complete a task at 70% of your capacity, delegate it. This helps leaders see delegation as a growth opportunity for their team, not just an efficiency tactic.
Effective delegation builds capability across the team, enabling individuals to expand their skills and confidence. This shift from “getting tasks done” to “growing future leaders” strengthens the organization and empowers each person to contribute at a higher level.
Action: Review your tasks and identify one or two you can delegate. Communicate the purpose and value of this delegation as a learning experience to your team. Offer initial guidance, but let your team members own their decisions. Afterward, reflect together on what they learned and how this prepares them for more responsibility.
3. Put People First with Servant Leadership
Leadership is about service, not wielding authority. Omar Halabieh, a global technology executive at Amazon, shared his philosophy of servant leadership, focusing on supporting and empowering others. He emphasized the importance of “obsessing over the talent” within your team, ensuring everyone feels valued and motivated to succeed.
This idea isn’t feel-good rhetoric; it’s practical. A people-first approach enhances engagement, resilience, and commitment, especially during challenging times. The best leaders personalize this by understanding each person’s unique strengths and aspirations, fostering an environment where everyone feels encouraged to thrive.
Action: In your one-on-ones, prioritize questions about growth and goals. For instance, ask, “What skills do you want to develop?” Seek opportunities within your organization for them to stretch and grow. By genuinely investing in their development, you foster loyalty and engagement.
Bonus: Hear Omar’s advice on how to lead high-performing orgs and enhance your cross-functional acumen in his fireside chat with Jason.
4. Trust as a Leadership Foundation
“Trust is the currency of leadership,” said Stephen M.R. Covey, a renowned leadership expert, keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. His “Trust and Inspire” model challenges the outdated command-and-control approach, emphasizing modeling trustworthiness, extending trust thoughtfully, and inspiring others by example.
Building trust isn’t just about letting go; it’s about giving people autonomy and showing belief in their potential. Leaders who trust first—before it’s “earned”—create an environment where people feel valued, motivated, and inclined to excel.
Action: Identify an opportunity to extend trust. Set clear expectations for the outcomes but allow your team autonomy in achieving them. This approach demonstrates respect, reinforces empowerment, and builds a culture of trust and accountability.
5. Learning Agility: Knowing What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do
The pace of business is fast, so adaptability and learning agility are crucial. Ilias Simpson, President of Cart.com, describes learning agility as “knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.” Simpson’s ability to apply lessons from past experiences to new challenges has allowed him to confidently navigate uncertainty, a skill he believes is essential for any leader aiming to build resilience and responsiveness.
“Learning agility” means drawing on a toolkit of past experiences to make informed decisions, even in unfamiliar situations. Leaders who embrace this mindset stay adaptable, turning uncertainty into opportunities for innovation and growth.
Action: Think back to a current moment of uncertainty and reflect on how a previous experience might provide insight for handling it more effectively. Simpson’s approach highlights that every experience is a building block, equipping leaders with a foundation to face new challenges strategically.
6. Turn Innovation into Impact
Every generation faces transformative innovations that reshape how we work and lead. Today, that is AI, which is advancing at an unprecedented pace. As Henrik Werdelin, co-founder of BARK (BarkBox), notes, its impact may exceed even that of the internet. But, the deeper lesson transcends any single technology: successful leaders don't just adopt innovations—they transform them into tangible value for their organizations and teams.
The key here isn't merely implementing new tools; it's understanding how to harness emerging technologies to solve real problems and create meaningful opportunities. This requires leaders to become skilled translators, bridging the gap between a technology’s potential and its practical application. Whether it's AI today or whatever comes next, leaders must develop frameworks for evaluating, implementing, and governing new technologies while keeping human needs and ethical considerations at the center.
Action: Identify one key challenge in your organization that could benefit from innovative solutions. Experiment with new approaches—whether that's AI tools, process innovations, or emerging methodologies—in a contained, low-risk way. Using AI tools as an example, you might start by experimenting with them in your personal life to build familiarity—using AI for tasks like drafting emails or summarizing reports to see its potential. Share your experiments, successes, and lessons learned with your team to create a culture that views innovation not as a disruption to be feared but as an opportunity to be welcomed.
7. Adapting to Win: How Chameleon Leadership Drives Team Success
Adaptable leaders understand their team members’ unique styles and adjust their approach accordingly, which builds rapport and encourages collaboration.
Ethan Evans himself calls this “chameleon management.” He says, “A manager should be a chameleon…not changing who you are but changing your interface to meet others where they are.”
Adaptability doesn’t mean compromising values; it means meeting people where they are. Leaders who master this balance create a supportive environment, drawing out the best in each individual and strengthening team cohesion.
Action: Reflect on your team’s diverse communication styles. Identify one adjustment you could make to connect more effectively with a specific member. Showing your willingness to adapt can strengthen relationships and foster a supportive work culture.
8. Embracing Change for Growth
 | A guest post by
|