Leadership is Not a Destination. It Is a Lifestyle.

Leadership is not a role you arrive at.

It is not a title, a promotion, or a line on a LinkedIn profile.

Leadership is a lifestyle.

Lifestyle means that it requires continuous development, growth and changed behaviours across every area of your life. The obvious place is to interrogate our leadership identity, style and ways of being in our organisation and/or business. However a leadership lifestyle goes further:

• How do I lead my own life away from the office?

• How do I lead my financial affairs?

• How do I lead my family?

• How do I develop my leadership traits and ensure that the way I lead is exemplary?

Because leadership does not switch off at 6pm.

How is a leadership lifestyle created?

A good starting point is by adopting:

• Daily leadership practices

• Behaviours that serve the greatest good

• Consistency and tenacity

If you have fallen short of your 2026 resolution, be comforted that you’re one of the 8 out of 10 people who have fallen off the tracks. All the research says it was bound to happen.

The good news is that you now have an opportunity to create a leadership lifestyle from today onwards.

The Pillars of a Leadership Lifestyle

Having worked and collaborated with leaders globally, particularly in Financial Services and Private Equity, as well as with Presidents and leaders of communities, these are the leadership lifestyle traits I see consistently in those who lead with impact and integrity.

1. Disciplined Leadership

The greatest leaders are disciplined and have created certain affirming routines and rituals. They consciously develop habits that move them, their teams, organisations, and families towards the best versions of each person in the team and/ or family dynamic.

They achieve great results and arrive at consistently outstanding goals because they recognise that people matter as much, if not more-so than, the end goal.

One such leader to me was David Jeffries Davies, who exhibited a remarkable leadership lifestyle as part of the Liberty Group. He had many daily leadership practices which then became a part of who he was and how he conducted business to achieve exceptional results for his clients and investors. He was also disciplined in his commitment to his family and friends. I had the honour of knowing David and he was an exceptional leader.

2. Leadership in Service of the Greater Good

When H.E President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became President of Liberia, she rerouted funds allocated to rebuild the Presidential palace (which had been destroyed in the war) and instead insisted that a university and hospital be top priority alongside an incredible and transparent tax system. She continued living at her farm because education, health, and growing the economy with her citizens were of a greater good than a fancy palace at that time of Liberia’s evolution. She let go of Ego and was in integrity with her position. I had the privilege of working with President Sirleaf and her cabinet to inculcate leadership lifestyle behaviours, and she later wrote the forward for one of my books: Africa Leadership Legacy.

3. Tenacious Leadership

The world ‘resilience” has been overused and oversubscribed in my opinion - for non resilient things - so I am choosing to use the word - tenacious.

A leadership lifestyle is a commitment to self and others to always be growing, developing, and creating towards bold visions. In French the word is best described as ‘Tenacite’ and embodies never giving up even if all is or seems lost in a moment in time. You find a way to get up and keep moving forward with renewed awareness and consistency. Keep in your tool box what you know is helpful and inspiring and throw away what doesn’t work any more.

Leadership Growth Never Ends

As I said in the beginning, leadership is not a destination.

We do not get the role of CEO or Global head of a PE firm and then think we have arrived. Achieving a role and/or title is only the beginning.

In order to avoid mediocrity, or even worse stagnation, we have to recognise like the best of leaders that there is always room for:

• Different perspectives,

• Self, leadership, and organisational development,

• Questioning daily what creates a healthier ecosystem for all who are part of our business and/or organisations.

A leadership lifestyle is not about perfection.

It is about intentional leadership, lived consistently in decisions, behaviours, and values.

If you want to develop a leadership lifestyle rooted in integrity, clarity, and long-term performance, this is the work we do every day.