Want to Become a Better Leader? 85% of What You’ve Done Might Not Have Mattered.
- Madusha Ranaweera
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Broad society- whether it be our parents or teachers at school- have ingrained in our minds that grinding away at our careers, stacking up credentials, and mastering technical skills will ultimately get us that lucrative job and all the promotions in the world. We’ll be sitting in that fancy boss chair, and with all the qualifications that we see right after our names on that CV, one would think we’re on the fast track to leadership success, right?
Well, not so. Research suggests that 85% of success in leadership has nothing to do with those technical skills you’ve spent years perfecting.
According to studies from Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center*, the overwhelming majority of your success comes from something far less tangible: soft skills. The authors of the study tracked the careers of a group of engineers and measured their actual financial gains and career progression over many years, and found that soft skills predicted 85% of their success while only 15% of this success was predicted by their hard/technical proficiency.
So what are soft skills? Things like communication, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and conflict resolution turn out to be the real power players in leadership. Not the fancy degrees. Not the certifications. And certainly not the ability to calculate net profit margins in your sleep.
Why Are Soft Skills the Key to Leadership?
Think about your own experiences at work.
When I first stepped into a leadership role, I thought my biggest challenge would be strategy, execution, being able to understand complicated financials, and making the “right” business decisions. Instead, I found that what actually made or broke my success was how well I could navigate people and extract their best performances. No leader knows how to do everything better than their team. I certainly can’t do what my Head of IT does, or do even what my Head of Finance does. But that’s not a leader's role. All great leaders know how to find the right people, retain the right people, promote the right people, and correct or let go of the wrong ones, so that the overall machine of their operations runs smoothly.
For this, it is the soft skills that become essential.
From having worked at a company that’s over 30 years old that was very international in it’s presence, I can tell you- some of the biggest, most important individuals in this company were people with the least (if none) amount of qualifications or degrees to speak of. I’m sure you already know several people like that. Sure, there are your standard MBAs, CMAs, various Masters degrees and diplomas (I’m no exception), but what enabled me to survive in a leadership role was not anything I learned in those degrees. And I bet my bottom dollar that all the star performers in each of our departments didn’t become stars from what they strictly learned from their degrees either. In my time on the corporate battlefield, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some leaders who have scaled their companies to billions of dollars, and one of them dropped out of their undergraduate degree, and another didn’t even have a secondary education. Apparently secondary education does not always a visionary leader make.
Perhaps this understanding is what is making large companies like Google and Facebook systematically remove MBAs as a required credential from most of their job listings (even for larger positions than you might think). After all, hiring the right individual for the right position can be the difference between tremendous success or tremendous failure, so perhaps what we look for in people should be more carefully calibrated and informed by actual data.
The Soft Skills That Actually Matter
So, if 85% of leadership success hinges on soft skills, which ones should you actually focus on?
Here’s the shortlist:
Communication Skills (Verbal & Non-Verbal) – If you can’t articulate your vision clearly, get buy-in, and read the room, you’re going to struggle. Leadership is influence, and influence starts with great communication skills.
Emotional Intelligence – Leaders who can manage their emotions and understand those of others create stronger teams, resolve conflicts faster, and build loyalty. In other words, they don’t let their ego run the show, and they know how to manage other big egos as well so that there are no wrenches in the works. We all know from experience what I mean.
Adaptability & Resilience – No one respects a leader who crumbles under pressure and loses their calm in front of everyone. It’s also hard to respect someone who can’t or refuses to or adapt to changing circumstances. Being able to pivot, problem-solve, and stay composed in tough situations is a leadership superpower.
Empathy & Active Listening – The best leaders don’t just bark orders-something many in positions of power are conditioned to do. Maybe people learn to be this way by watching high school prefects (if you were influenced by the British school system, then you know), and then somehow compensate for some psychological wounds when they have power in the workplace. Or it stems from childhood issues. It’s complicated. Regardless, what an actually competent leader does is listen, understand, and connect with their teams, making people want to follow them—not just because they have to, but because they genuinely trust them.
Confidence & Presence – I think people often forget- Leadership isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about carrying yourself in a way that makes others feel safe following you while you navigate unsafe waters. Confidence (not to be confused with arrogance) is magnetic.
Why Soft Skills Are in Short Supply
Here’s the wild part: despite how critical soft skills are, and how much they seem to contribute to our actual success, they’re shockingly undervalued in traditional education and corporate training.
And because of this, even if you have a workplace that’s actually aware of the importance of soft skills, you might have trouble finding the kind of people you love. I certainly know this to be true from experience. And it isn’t just me- A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that three out of four employers struggle to find candidates with the right soft skills**. We’ve spent so much time glorifying technical expertise that we’ve neglected the very skills that make someone effective in a leadership role.
And here’s the truth—soft skills aren’t something you’re born with. They’re learnable. Just like you can train yourself to code, analyze data, or run financial models, you can train yourself to communicate better, manage emotions, and handle tough conversations like a pro. You can also train your team to be better at all this. And the compound effect of all that improvement is powerful.
So, How Do You Build These Skills?
If you’re realizing right now that your leadership toolkit is missing some essential pieces, don’t panic. Soft skills can be developed, sharpened, and mastered. Here’s where to start:
✅ Ask for Feedback Constantly – You might think you’re a great communicator or a fantastic listener, but what do others say? People generally are terrible at both giving and receiving feedback. So ask someone you trust, and who’s got your best interests at heart, and knows how to give you feedback without tearing you down. Regular feedback is crucial, but better not have any feedback than ill-intended, misinformed and damaging feedback. You can also learn how to critique yourself better- but that’s a different conversation for another day.
✅ Put Yourself in High-Stakes Conversations – Actively learn communication skills, and there so many great communicators out there teaching people how to. Or get your team trained (and sit in the room while it happens). And get yourself in the room for the tough conversations and negotiations. If you can’t get that training, then watch masters at work. You don’t get better at handling difficult conversations by avoiding them. Lean in. The more you practice, the more comfortable you get.
✅ Work on Your Emotional Intelligence Daily – Pay attention to your triggers, learn to regulate your emotions, and practice reading people’s non-verbal cues. Let me tell you, these skills become life-changing, and unfortunately, not part of any conventional educational curriculum.
✅ Study Great Communicators – Watch TED Talks, read books on persuasion, and analyze how strong leaders deliver their messages. It’s not just what they say—it’s how they say it.
✅ Be a Lifelong Learner – Leadership is an ongoing journey, and soft skills are a muscle you have to keep exercising.
Final Thought: The Leaders Who Win, Master This
If you take one thing away from this, let it be this: technical skills might get you in the door, but soft skills are what will keep you in the room.
The best leaders—the ones who inspire change, drive teams forward, and leave a legacy—aren’t just experts in their fields. They’re masters of human connection, communication, and influence.
So, if leadership is your goal, ask yourself: Am I spending enough time on the 85% that actually matters?
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