Most leadership advice is glossy. Great leadership is not. It’s built on unsexy skills almost no one talks about - conviction, persuasion, politics, narrative control, and the courage to be disliked. “Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they can absorb.” - HBR The skills great leaders need that rarely get discussed: 1. You Believe in Democracy: ↳ Leadership is conviction over consensus - votes are for people-pleasing, not decision-making. ✅ Practice this: In your next meeting, take a stance and stick to it — even if it’s unpopular. 2. You Haven’t Mastered Persuasion: ↳ Being right isn’t enough - leaders make others believe and buy into the vision. ✅ Practice this: Next time you pitch an idea, tell a compelling story instead of relying on logic alone. 3. You Still Think Hard Work = Success: ↳ Leaders design leverage and set strategy - managers get stuck in execution. ✅ Practice this: Identify a task you can delegate. Free yourself up for bigger decisions. 4. You Avoid Politics: ↳ Influence requires navigating power with integrity, not opting out of it. ✅ Practice this: Observe workplace power dynamics. Who influences decisions? How? Build relationships with them. 5. You Don’t Control Your Narrative: ↳ Leadership is storytelling - if you don’t shape perception, others will. ✅ Practice this: Start sharing your impact — online, in meetings, in 1:1s. If you don’t, no one will. 6. You Mistake Kindness for Weakness: ↳ Be ruthlessly kind and have hard conversations, not “nice” avoidance. ✅ Practice this: Give clear, direct feedback without softening it to be “nice.” 7. You Expect Fairness: ↳ Leadership creates opportunities - merit alone won’t guarantee rewards. ✅ Practice this: Stop waiting for recognition. Advocate for yourself the way you would for a friend. 8. You Fear Being Hated More Than Being Irrelevant: ↳ Bold leadership attracts resistance; safe leadership gets forgotten. ✅ Practice this: Say what you really think in your next meeting — without filtering for approval. 9. You Haven’t Failed Big Yet: ↳ True leadership is recovery and rebuilding after major setbacks. ✅ Practice this: Take a big calculated risk this month. Even failure will teach you more than playing it safe. Which one are you going to work on now? 🔔 Follow Si Conroy and ♻️ Share if you like this. 📩 Weekly sanity in my ‘Founder Group Therapy’ newsletter: https://lnkd.in/erk_vfQc