A good plan might get you into the game, but sticking with it catapults you into the winner’s circle.

Based on 21 years of field research with the highest-achieving leaders here are the habits they stick with:

  1. Keep it simple.
    Think in threes to simplify strategies, metrics, messages, and actions. Apply the 80/20 principle to focus on the 20 percent of (employees, products, customers) that are your “vital few.”
  2. Identify your one thing.
    Decide what is most important – the one activity that most directly help you execute your plan. Ask your team, “What is the most valuable thing you can do right now?”
  3. Keep it visible.
    Consistently and creatively communicate your focus day in and day out. Highly effective leaders maintain a meeting rhythm to get key messages to key people.
  4. Treasure your talent.
    Highly effectively leaders hire slow and fire fast. They treat employee development as a perpetual priority and they continuously coach for success, helping their employees reach their potential personally and professionally.
  5. Get systematic.
    Create repeatable systems and processes to reinforce daily personal and work habits.
  6. Keep score.
    Create a visible and compelling scoreboard top to bottom in your business. Seek both dashboard (general) and under-the-hood (detailed) knowledge about your operation.
  7. Paint the picture.
    Connect each job to a broader purpose. Clearly communicate goals, plans, roles and rewards.
  8. Give what you want.
    Show uncommon respect with common courtesy. Appreciate performance as well as the person behind it. Build your team up vs. break them down.
  9. Create connections.
    Build meaningful rituals to connect teams. Be accessible to your team and authentic with them.
  10. Never stop learning.
    Highly effective leaders understand that leadership is an inside job, and they always start making changes and improvements with themselves first.

Quantify your leadership effectiveness with this Free, 3-minute self-assessment.

Check out this perennial best-seller for how to stick with it.