Forget charisma! Consistency is what truly sets leaders apart, and these 5 habits can help you shine in any stage of your career.
What are you hoping for next in your career?
Is it a big opportunity? A stretch assignment? Your first leadership role? A business of your own?
Whatever you’re dreaming of, one thing’s for sure: the habits you build today will play a huge role in helping you achieve it.
Because you don’t just start magically leading better once you get a certain title or opportunity.
Your next step in leadership depends on the habits and mindsets you develop today.
They sharpen your thinking. They shape your reputation. And they set a foundation that will serve you no matter what role you’re in.
So today, I’m sharing five of those habits that can make a massive difference in your career, whether you’re decades in or just starting out. Plus, I’ve got a free challenge at the end if you’re serious about making those habits stick.
1. Ask great questions
No matter where you are in your career, it’s natural to feel pressure to prove what you know. But the best leaders I know are the ones who ask great questions instead of trying to be the smartest person in the room.
They listen. They stay curious. And they use questions to spark better conversations, surface smarter ideas, and help others grow.
Start asking questions like:
👉 “What’s the biggest challenge you’re seeing right now?”
👉 “If you were in my shoes, what would you focus on first?”
👉 “What are we missing or leaving unsaid?”
👉 “What’s something you’ve learned that I should know?”
Whether you’re in leadership or not, asking questions like these shows you’re truly engaged, not just present. It builds credibility, earns you respect, and puts you on the fast track to growth.
💡 Practical insight: When in doubt, engage with curiosity, not certainty.
📲Keep learning: Curiosity fuels career growth
Chrissy Taylor, Enterprise Mobility CEO
2. Schedule thinking time
I say it all the time: your calendar is a reflection of your priorities.
If you don’t intentionally block out time for strategy and big-picture thinking, you’ll spend your days stuck in reaction mode—chasing emails, juggling meetings, and responding to everyone else’s urgency.
That’s true whether you’re just getting started in your career or leading a global team.
The best leaders make it a habit to think on purpose. To step back. To go deeper. And here’s the good news: you don’t need hours of solitude. Just 10 to 15 minutes a week can help you find insights you’d miss in the everyday bustle.
Use that time to reflect on what’s working (and what’s not), imagine what’s possible, or think through a challenge with fresh perspective.
💡 Practical insight: Consistently set aside time to think. And remember: if it’s not on your calendar, it probably won’t happen.
📲Keep learning: Give yourself space to think
Dave Cote, former CEO of Honeywell
3. Document what you learn
Experience doesn’t automatically make you better at your job. If you want to grow, you’ve got to process your experiences and learn from them.
That’s why smart leaders make it a habit to capture what they’re learning.
It doesn’t have to be fancy and formal. It can just be a running doc or phone app.
What matters is that you regularly reflect on your day and what lessons might be hiding in it:
- A mistake you made and why it happened
- The factors that helped drive a big win
- Something a mentor said you don’t want to forget
- Insights into a team member’s motivations or difficulties
Documenting what you’re learning gives you a record of how your thinking evolves. It helps you codify key learnings and lessons. Plus, you’ll start to see patterns that will help you make sharper decisions in the future.
💡 Practical insight: If you want to grow faster, don’t just do the work. Learn from it. Create a system so you can easily capture insights as they occur to you.
📲Keep learning: Document your success so you can repeat it
Danny Willett, Pro Golfer & 2016 Masters Champion
4. Recognize people—loud and often
When I was CEO at Yum! Brands, recognition was one of the biggest parts of our culture. We even had a recognition award that came with a big rubber chicken (yes, really!).
Why? Because showing appreciation isn’t just nice. It drives results.
People want to feel seen. They want to know their work matters. And when you take time to acknowledge effort, improvement, or a win, it creates momentum for even more of it.
You don’t need a big title or a formal program to recognize others. Start with a few simple habits:
- Send a quick “great job” message when someone nails a presentation
- Thank a teammate for helping you hit a deadline
- Share someone’s behind-the-scenes effort in a team meeting
Small acts of appreciation go a long way. They strengthen relationships, build trust, and make your whole team better.
💡Practical insight:People love to be recognized! Be generous with genuine and timely praise of those around you.
📲Keep learning: Be quick to give credit to others
Jim Nantz, Emmy Award-Winning sports broadcaster
5. Prioritize your own growth
Here’s a truth I’ve seen play out over and over: the best leaders don’t neglect their own development.
They read. They listen. They seek out insights, even when they’re busy. Especially when they’re busy.
Because they know that if they want to keep leveling up, they can’t rely on what they learned last year. They have to keep growing.
So how do you build that into your life?
Start small. A few minutes a day to read something new or listen to a podcast can make a huge difference in your development. The key is consistency.
💡 Practical insight:If you want to lead others well (either right now or someday), you have to start by leading and developing yourself.
📲Keep learning: Create a learning culture for yourself as a leader
Will Ahmed, WHOOP Founder and CEO
Ready to build momentum?
If you’re serious about making these habits stick, I’ve got something to help: the 21-Day Leadership Sprint.
Every day, I’ll send you a daily insight video with a quick, practical lesson from a top-performing CEO, athlete, or changemaker.
It’s like getting coached by the best leaders in the world!
It’s free, and here’s how it works:
1. Sign up for the sprint and download the free How Leaders Lead app
2. Watch the 2-minute leadership insight that’s delivered straight to your inbox each day (or access it in the app)
3. Form a simple habit that levels up your leadership every day
👥 Challenges are better together! In the comments, tag a friend or colleague who should join you in the 21-Day Leadership Sprint!
Because the truth is, you don’t grow into leadership all at once. You grow into it habit by habit, day by day. These five practices aren’t flashy, but they’re powerful—and they’ll serve you no matter where your career takes you.