The Six Pillars of Leadership: Building Influence that Endures

TLDR Summary:
Great leadership is not built in a moment, it’s forged through clarity, credibility, connection, competence, courage, and consistency. Each pillar strengthens your ability to influence with integrity, lead through complexity, and inspire lasting change. Start with one. Lead from all.

Leadership isn’t just about driving results or managing others. It’s about who you are becoming while you guide those around you. As an emerging leader or seasoned executive, you may find yourself wrestling with tangible challenges: building high-performing teams, navigating complex decisions, or earning trust in uncertain environments.

But the real weight of leadership lies beneath the surface.

Internally, you might feel isolated at the top. You question your competence even as others look to you for direction. You want to inspire, not just instruct. Additionally, you desire to make a lasting impact not just manage the moment.

And that’s where the deeper question arises: What kind of leader are you becoming, and why does it matter?

The answer begins with six pillars. The timeless truths that create leaders worth following, not just obeying.

1. Clarity: The Leadership Antidote to Chaos

When leaders lack clarity, teams feel it. They feel it in confusion, misaligned goals, and dwindling morale. Clarity isn’t just about having a vision; it’s about simplifying that vision until it becomes actionable.

Great leaders take complex ideas and make them usable. They speak with intention. They don’t assume they articulate the vision.

Leaders like Angela Ahrendts, former SVP at Apple, became known for transforming culture through crystal-clear vision. Her mantra: “Communicate constantly and consistently.”

A clear leader answers three questions for their team, repeatedly:

• Where are we going?

• Why does it matter?

• What does success look like?

Without clarity, even high performers will drift. With it, ordinary teams can do extraordinary things. Great leaders build clarity into their leadership rhythm.

2. Credibility: The Currency of Influence

You can’t buy it, and you can’t bluff it. Credibility is the compound interest of consistent integrity. It’s not earned through titles. It is built through truthfulness, accountability, and follow-through.

Think about the leaders you respect most. Chances are, they weren’t perfect but they were dependable. When they said they’d do something, they did it. When they messed up, they owned it.

Credibility allows you to lead with presence, not pressure. It’s the invisible force that turns compliance into commitment.

And in today’s skeptical workplace, credibility is not optional. It’s essential.

3. Connection: Leading from Heart, Not Just Head

People don’t quit jobs, they quit leaders. Often, the root cause is a lack of connection.

Connection doesn’t mean you become everyone’s best friend. It means you care enough to see people.  I would tend to think to greet each other like they did the Avatar movies, “I see you.” See all of them, meaning their fears, their ambitions, their untapped potential, see who they are as individuals.

Great leaders ask more questions than they give answers. They listen between the lines. They pause long enough to notice when someone is burning out or losing belief in themselves.

As a leader, when you choose connection, you create psychological safety. That’s the soil where creativity, ownership, and innovation grow.

If you're struggling to cultivate connection, revisit your calendar. Is there space for real conversation or just execution? You have to build trust through connection on a daily basis.

4. Competence: Stay Sharp or Fall Behind

Confidence without competence is dangerous. But competence without curiosity is deadly.

True competence means you’re committed to growth. Not because you’re weak — but because you care too much not to improve.

The best leaders aren’t always the smartest in the room — they’re the most teachable.

They seek feedback, invest in learning, and adapt faster than the pace of change. They read broadly, think deeply, and execute wisely.

Competence isn’t about mastering every detail. It’s about mastering the moments that matter: the decisions, the conflicts, the opportunities that shape your legacy.

What are you learning right now? If the answer is “nothing,” then you’re not leading, you’re coasting.

5. Courage: Do It Afraid

Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the decision to lead through it.

It takes courage to say no to the wrong thing. To stand up for what’s right when it costs you popularity. To admit when you're out of your depth.

Courageous leaders don’t just protect results, they protect culture. They call out toxicity, they challenge groupthink, and they elevate the voices that are too often overlooked.

When Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, restructured the company to focus on healthier products, it was unpopular at first. But it was right. That’s courage in action.

Ask yourself: What hard conversation are you avoiding? That’s often the one that matters most.

6. Consistency: Trust’s Quiet Power

In leadership, your daily choices whisper louder than your boldest speeches.

Are you reliable when no one’s watching? Do you keep your word especially to yourself?

Consistency doesn’t mean being robotic. It means you lead from principle, not mood. You’re stable in storms, firm in values, and predictable in how you treat others.

Teams thrive under consistent leadership. They know what to expect. They don’t waste emotional energy guessing who’s going to show up today.

Consistency is what made leaders like Tim Cook not just a successor to Steve Jobs, but a stabilizing force for Apple’s long-term growth.

Ask yourself: Are your values visible in your calendar, your meetings, your decisions?

Final Thought: Leadership Is Who You Are, Not Just What You Do

These six pillars — Clarity, Credibility, Connection, Competence, Courage, and Consistency — aren’t just traits to acquire. They’re anchors to return to.

In a world of rapid change and performative leadership, these qualities stand as quiet revolutions. They demand internal work. They reward with long-term trust.

You don’t have to master them all at once. Just pick one.  Develop and grow that trait and lead from it. Again and again.

Because the kind of leader you become will shape the kind of future we all live in.

And that’s a responsibility worth rising to.

FAQ

Q: How do I know which leadership pillar I should focus on first?

A: Start with your leadership gaps. Ask peers or mentors: “Where do I lose trust or momentum?” Often, clarity or consistency are game-changers for emerging leaders. Focus on the one that would make everything else easier — then build from there.

Q: Why do some leaders struggle to build connection even with strong competence?

A: Because leadership isn’t just functional — it’s relational. Without emotional intelligence and authentic communication, even the most skilled leader can feel distant. Learn to listen actively, show empathy, and meet people where they are.

Q: Can consistency be cultivated, or is it just personality-based?

A: Consistency is absolutely trainable. It starts with honoring your own word — in the small things. Build routines, clarify priorities, and align your schedule with your values. Over time, those small practices build a predictable, trustworthy leadership presence.

This article was brought to you by Avery, Day Development’s AI-powered leadership companion. We’re embracing the future of technology to deliver bold, relevant insights that provide meaningful, actionable information for today’s leaders.