Leadership Is a Long Game: Six Lessons from Time and Mistakes

The Essence of Exceptional Leadership

Great leadership is fundamentally about enhancing the people, presence, and profits of a company beyond what they were when you took on the role. It's not complicated—it's all about clarity of vision and purposeful daily actions rooted in solid values. These elements create a continuous momentum toward desired outcomes, which sets exceptional leaders apart from the rest.

Over my 15+ years of working with leaders at the highest level, I've come to realize that truly great leaders are rare. In this article, I will share six lessons I've learned through my personal leadership journey, as well as insights I've gathered from my clients across five continents.

Lesson 1: Lead Yourself First

One of the most important laws of exceptional leadership I teach to team leaders, especially those in senior management, is to lead yourself first. Many people hold leadership titles, but few have the intention and relentlessness required to ascend into the rarefied air of exceptional leadership.

Exceptional leadership starts with the leader's personal intention and willingness to look inward before looking outward. I often say that many people today work harder on their jobs than on themselves. The distractions of our modern world make it challenging to maintain focus on self-improvement.

Investing in your mindset, skills, and strategies should be a top priority each year for both the leader and their team. Key development areas include personal identity, communication and influence, time management, and task prioritization. Developing these aspects is the highest leverage activity a leader can undertake.

Lesson 2: Embrace Speed and Urgency

Exceptional leaders understand that success loves speed. While patience is essential, urgency creates momentum that can transform a business year. I believe in short bursts of focused action, which I call "seasons." For example, after summer, high-performers begin a 90-day season from September to November, capitalizing on favorable business conditions and setting up for a strong finish to the year.

Focused, massive, and almost unsociable levels of action over a short period yield better results than slow, steady behavior. A 90-day season removes daily distractions and helps leaders break old habits, seeking more leveraged ways to achieve goals. After a powerful season, energy is replenished, and the next phase begins.

Lesson 3: Be Visionary

Exceptional leadership is visionary. Visionaries say yes first and figure it out later. They aim high and commit before all the evidence is present. This doesn't mean they're reckless—they know their capabilities. I coach my executive clients to be vision-led rather than reality-bound.

Visionary leadership involves creating urgency, asking better questions, seeking clarity, and acting from certainty. Staying curious and setting visionary targets allows 10-year goals to be achieved in less than five years. Visionary leaders build cultures centered on values and character, becoming major changemakers within organizations.

Lesson 4: Let Demonstration Speak

If you want to make a significant impact in your industry, your presence and power must precede you. This happens when you become someone who does what they say they will do. Consistent action builds certainty, which moves the needle. People follow leaders who are not only visionary but also reliable.

Character is defined by your ability and willingness to execute on the vision and values you claim to have. When you consistently deliver, others buy into your vision and show up every day to support your mission.

Lesson 5: Time Is More Valuable Than Money

The biggest mistake leaders make is thinking they have time, or worse, that time is money. Time is infinitely more valuable. Each day spent is one less day to use. Leaders must invest in solutions that allow them to focus on the 5% of tasks that drive results, delegating or eliminating the remaining 95%.

Wasting time on minor tasks is costly. Founders and owners who turn into daily operators lose their leverage. Buy back your time to focus on what truly delivers results. Invest in developing the mindset and skills needed to bridge the gap between what you know and what you don’t yet know.

Lesson 6: Urgency Is Your Friend

Waiting is not a strategy, and casualness leads to casualties—such as lost deals, weakened culture, and stalled momentum. Comments like “come back to me in January” reflect an illusion of time, which is not a competitive mindset.

Business is a fiercely competitive pursuit, and urgency is your ally. Speaking to clients today is better than tomorrow. Investing in leaders and teams now is critical. Waiting is not a strategy; it’s a recipe for failure.