Why Leaders Fail (and How to Become the One People Respect)

Adam Glenski, a social scientist at Columbia Business School, has spent years asking tens of thousands of people across the globe a simple set of questions about what makes someone inspiring versus infuriating. The pattern he found is remarkably consistent: the inspiring person and the infuriating person are mirror images of each other. The inspiring person is courageous; the infuriating person is cowardly. The inspiring person is generous and shares credit; the infuriating person steals credit. And crucially, these characteristics are not fixed traits people are born with—they are behaviors that can be learned, practiced, and developed.

The Three Universal Factors of Inspiring Leadership

Glenski's research identified three universal factors that appear in every continent and country he studied. The first is being visionary—having a big-picture, optimistic view of the future that you can simplify, visualize, and repeat. Research from Wharton's Drew Cartner shows that using visual language makes people more engaged and motivated. The second factor is being an exemplar of desired behavior—modeling the conduct you want to see in others. The third is being an aspiring mentor, which means interacting with others in a way that develops them.