We conducted a study that corroborated the importance of leading through influence. We examined individual assessments of the leadership capabilities of 235 candidates in 75 CEO succession processes that were conducted over the course of a decade. We then focused on the 47 CEOs selected out of that pool to lead public companies, which meant good data was available on company performance. Next, we examined correlations between leadership skills and company performance, as measured by shareholder return, operating margins, and revenue growth. This data was complemented by in-depth interviews with CEOs and candidates about their approach to leadership. Analysis of how different leadership styles matched with performance showed that the highest performers were the most accomplished in influencing through empowerment. This is not to say that the directive style of leadership is never appropriate. Some situations call for it, for example, crisis management. But, generally, the best results come from leading through empowering others.

So open to ideas is Narayen, in fact, that when Shrivastava and team members visited Adobe headquarters some months later and “decided to park ourselves in the pantry next to Shantanu’s office,” hoping to grab his unscheduled attention, Narayen allowed them to present a quick product demonstration. He greenlighted work on the project, and when they presented the finished version to Narayen at the next annual sales conference, he exclaimed, “What you guys have built has blown me away!” In 2015, the product, called Adobe Captivate Prime, was successfully launched.

Building on our study findings that CEOs who lead through influence were the most effective, we followed up by conducting interviews to learn about the development advice and training these leaders had received. We asked leaders to describe how they made the journey to becoming the highly effective leaders they were. What emerged is that a leader’s evolution generally proceeds in iterative cycles, with steps forward often followed by backsliding into old habits and then a renewed effort at change. It’s a process of trial and error, and often of fits and starts, as the daily grind of immediate demands diverts attention from one’s inner work. Those who continue to progress in the journey typically go through a three-phase cycle.

First, they are confronted with a necessity for change either because they took on a new challenge that reveals the shortfalls in their leadership or through feedback from their higher-up, colleagues, or mentor.

As former Intel CEO Andy Grove wrote in his influential book Only the Paranoid Survive, “Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction.” CEOs who make it to the Complacency Trap stage have navigated the rough-and-tumble of the Launch, Calibration, and Reinvention stages of the first few years. One unintended consequence of leading their firms adroitly can be an overly assured attitude about the course they’ve set and the organizational improvements they’ve made.

Acknowledgments

We were fortunate to be surrounded by some of the best leadership advisers on the planet. We tapped into the wisdom of our colleagues Cathy Anterasian, Ellen Kumata, Tony Byers, Julie Daum, Ann Yerger, Sabine Vinck, Colin Graham, Jordan Brugg, and many others to gain additional context of the inner game that CEOs face day in and day out. Many of them connected us to exceptional CEOs we were keen to include in our research.