primary assignment of a leader

What is leadership?

All leaders, to a certain degree, do the same thing. Whether you’re talking about an executive, manager, sports coach, or schoolteacher, leadership is about guiding and impacting outcomes, enabling groups of people to work together to accomplish what they couldn’t do working individually. In this sense, leadership is something you do, not something you are. Some people in formal leadership positions are poor leaders, and many people exercising leadership have no formal authority. It is their actions, not their words, that inspire trust and energy.

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Aaron De Smet is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New Jersey office, Carolyn Dewar is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, Scott Keller is a senior partner in the Southern California office, and Vik Malhotra and Ramesh Srinivasan are senior partners in the New York office.

What’s more, leadership is not something people are born with—it is a skill you can learn. At the core are mindsets, which are expressed through observable behaviors , which then lead to measurable outcomes. Is a leader communicating effectively or engaging others by being a good listener? Focusing on behaviors lets us be more objective when assessing leadership effectiveness. The key to unlocking shifts in behavior is focusing on mindsets, becoming more conscious about our thoughts and beliefs, and showing up with integrity as our full authentic selves.

There are many contexts and ways in which leadership is exercised. But, according to McKinsey analysis of academic literature as well as a survey of nearly 200,000 people in 81 organizations all over the world, there are four types of behavior that account for 89 percent of leadership effectiveness :

• being supportive
• operating with a strong results orientation
• seeking different perspectives
• solving problems effectively

Effective leaders know that what works in one situation will not necessarily work every time. Leadership strategies must reflect each organization’s context and stage of evolution. One important lens is organizational health, a holistic set of factors that enable organizations to grow and succeed over time. A situational approach  enables leaders to focus on the behaviors that are most relevant as an organization becomes healthier.

Senior leaders must develop a broad range of skills to guide organizations. Ten timeless topics are important for leading nearly any organization, from attracting and retaining talent  to making culture a competitive advantage. A 2017 McKinsey book, Leading Organizations: Ten Timeless Truths (Bloomsbury, 2017), goes deep on each aspect.

How is leadership evolving?

In the past, leadership was called “management,” with an emphasis on providing technical expertise and direction. The context was the traditional industrial economy command-and-control organization, where leaders focused exclusively on maximizing value for shareholders. In these organizations, leaders had three roles: planners (who develop strategy, then translate that strategy into concrete steps), directors (who assign responsibilities), or controllers (who ensure people do what they’ve been assigned and plans are adhered to).

What are the limits of traditional management styles?

Traditional management was revolutionary in its day and enormously effective in building large-scale global enterprises that have materially improved lives over the past 200 years. However, with the advent of the 21st century, this approach is reaching its limits.

For one thing, this approach doesn’t guarantee happy or loyal managers or workers. Indeed, a large portion of American workers—56 percent— claim their boss is mildly or highly toxic , while 75 percent say dealing with their manager is the most stressful part of their workday.

For 21st-century organizations operating in today’s complex business environment, a fundamentally new and more effective approach to leadership is emerging. Leaders today are beginning to focus on building agile, human-centered, and digitally enabled organizations able to thrive in today’s unprecedented environment and meet the needs of a broader range of stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, and communities, in addition to investors).

What is the emerging new approach to leadership?

This new approach to leadership is sometimes described as “ servant leadership .” While there has been some criticism of the nomenclature, the idea itself is simple: rather than being a manager directing and controlling people, a more effective approach is for leaders to be in service of the people they lead. The focus is on how leaders can make the lives of their team members easier—physically, cognitively, and emotionally. Research suggests this mentality can enhance both team performance and satisfaction.

In this new approach, leaders practice empathy, compassion, vulnerability, gratitude, self-awareness, and self-care. They provide appreciation and support, creating psychological safety so their employees are able to collaborate, innovate, and raise issues as appropriate. This includes celebrating achieving the small steps on the way to reaching big goals and enhancing people’s well-being through better human connections. These conditions have been shown to allow for a team’s best performance.

More broadly, developing this new approach to leadership can be expressed as making five key shifts that include, build on, and extend beyond traditional approaches:

• beyond executive to visionary, shaping a clear purpose that resonates with and generates holistic impact for all stakeholders
• beyond planner to architect, reimagining industries and innovating business systems that are able to create new levels of value
• beyond director to catalyst, engaging people to collaborate in open, empowered networks
• beyond controller to coach, enabling the organization to constantly evolve through rapid learning, and enabling colleagues to build new mindsets, knowledge, and skills
• beyond boss to human, showing up as one’s whole, authentic self

Together, these shifts can help a leader expand their repertoire and create a new level of value for an organization’s stakeholders. The last shift is the most important, as it is based on developing a new level of consciousness and awareness of our inner state. Leaders who look inward  and take a journey of genuine self-discovery make profound shifts in themselves and their lives; this means they are better able to benefit their organization. That involves developing “profile awareness” (a combination of a person’s habits of thought, emotions, hopes, and behavior in different circumstances) and “state awareness” (the recognition of what’s driving a person to take action). Combining individual, inward-looking work with outward-facing actions can help create lasting change.

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Leaders must learn to make these five shifts at three levels : transforming and evolving personal mindsets and behaviors; transforming teams to work in new ways; and transforming the broader organization by building new levels of agility, human-centeredness, and value creation into the entire enterprise’s design and culture.

An example from the COVID-19 era offers a useful illustration of this new approach to leadership. In pursuit of a vaccine breakthrough, at the start of the pandemic Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel increased the frequency of executive meetings  from once a month to twice a week. The company implemented a decentralized model enabling teams to work independently and deliver on the bold goal of providing 100 million doses of vaccines in 12 months. “The pace was unprecedented,” Bancel said.

What is the impact of this new approach to leadership?

This new approach to leadership is far more effective. While the dynamics are complex, countless studies show empirical links among effective leadership, employee satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability.

How can leaders empower employees?

Empowering employees , surprisingly enough, might mean taking a more hands-on leadership approach. Organizations whose leaders successfully empower others through coaching are nearly four times more likely to make swift, good decisions and outperform other companies . But this type of coaching isn’t always natural for those with a more controlling or autocratic style.

Here are five tips to get started  if you’re a leader looking to empower others:

• Provide clear rules, for example, by providing guardrails for what success looks like and communicating who makes which decisions. Clarity and boundary structures like role remits and responsibilities help to contain any anxiety associated with work and help teams stay focused on their primary tasks.
• Establish clear roles, say, by assigning one person the authority to make certain decisions.
• Avoid being a complicit manager—for instance, if you’ve delegated a decision to a team, don’t step in and solve the problem for them.
• Address culture and skills, for instance, by helping employees learn how to have difficult conversations.
• Begin soliciting personal feedback from others, at all levels of your organization, on how you are experienced as a leader.

How can leaders communicate effectively?

Good, clear communication is a leadership hallmark. Fundamental tools of effective communication  include:

• defining and pointing to long-term goals
• listening to and understanding stakeholders
• creating openings for dialogue
• communicating proactively

And in times of uncertainty, these things are important for crisis communicators :

• give people what they need, when they need it
• communicate clearly, simply, and frequently
• choose candor over charisma
• revitalize a spirit of resilience
• distill meaning from chaos
• support people, teams, and organizations to build the capability for self-sufficiency

Learn more about our People & Organizational Performance Practice .

Is leadership different in a hybrid workplace?

A leader’s role may look slightly different in remote or hybrid workplace settings . Rather than walking around a physical site, these leaders might instead model what hybrid looks like, or orchestrate work based on tasks, interactions, or purpose. Being communicative and radiating positivity  can go a long way. Leaders need to find other ways to be present and accessible, for example, via virtual drop-in sessions, regular company podcasts, or virtual townhalls. Leaders in these settings may also need to find new ways to get authentic feedback. These tactics can include pulse surveys or learning to ask thoughtful follow-up questions that reveal useful management insights.

Additional considerations, such as making sure that in-person work and togetherness has a purpose, are important. Keeping an eye on inclusivity in hybrid work  is also crucial. Listening to what employees want, with an eye to their lived experience, will be vital to leaders in these settings. And a focus on output, outcomes, results, and impact—rather than arbitrary norms about time spent in offices— may be a necessary adaptation in the hybrid era .

How should CEOs lead in this new world?

Just as for leadership more broadly, today’s environment requires CEOs to lead very differently. Recent research indicates that one-third to one-half of new CEOs fail within 18 months.

What helps top performers thrive today? To find out, McKinsey led a research effort to identify the CEOs who achieved breakaway success. We examined 20 years’ worth of data on 7,800 CEOs—from 3,500 public companies across 70 countries and 24 industries. The result is the McKinsey book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest (Scribner, March 2022). Watch an interview with the authors for more on what separates the best CEOs from the rest .

Getting perspective on leadership from CEOs themselves is enlightening—and illustrates the nuanced ways in which the new approach to leadership described above can be implemented in practice. Here are a few quotes drawn from McKinsey’s interviews with these top-level leaders :

• “I think the fundamental role of a leader is to look for ways to shape the decades ahead, not just react to the present, and to help others accept the discomfort of disruptions to the status quo.” — Indra Nooyi , former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
• “The single most important thing I have to do as CEO is ensure that our brand continues to be relevant.” — Chris Kempczinski , CEO of McDonald’s
• “Leaders of other enterprises often define themselves as captains of the ship, but I think I’m more the ship’s architect or designer. That’s different from a captain’s role, in which the route is often fixed and the destination defined.” — Zhang Ruimin , CEO of Haier
• “I think my leadership style [can be called] ‘collaborative command.’ You bring different opinions into the room, you allow for a really great debate, but you understand that, at the end of the day, a decision has to be made quickly.” — Adena Friedman , CEO of Nasdaq
• “We need an urgent refoundation of business and capitalism around purpose and humanity. To find new ways for all of us to lead so that we can create a better future, a more sustainable future.” — Hubert Joly , former chairman and CEO of Best Buy

What is leadership development?

Leaders aren’t born; they learn to lead over time. Neuroplasticity refers to the power of the brain to form new pathways and connections through exposure to novel, unfamiliar experiences. This allows adults to adapt, grow, and learn new practices throughout our lifetimes.

When it comes to leadership within organizations, this is often referred to as leadership development. Programs, books, and courses on leadership development abound, but results vary.

Leadership development efforts fail for a variety of reasons. Some overlook context; in those cases, asking a simple question (something like “What, precisely, is this program for?”) can help. Others separate reflections on leadership from real work, or they shortchange the role of adjusting leaders’ mindsets, feelings, assumptions, and beliefs, or they fail to measure results.

So what’s needed for successful leadership development? Generally, developing leaders is about creating contexts where there is sufficient psychological safety in combination with enough novelty and unfamiliarity to cultivate new leadership practices in response to stimuli. Leadership programs that successfully cultivate leaders are also built around “placescapes”—these are novel experiences, like exploring wilderness trails, practicing performing arts, or writing poetry.

When crafting a leadership development program, there are six ingredients to incorporate  that lead to true organizational impact:

• Set up for success:
• Focus your leadership transformation on driving strategic objectives and initiatives.
• Commit the people and resources needed.
• Be clear about focus:
• Engage a critical mass of leaders to reach a tipping point for sustained impact.
• Zero in on the leadership shifts that drive the greatest value.
• Execute well:
• Architect experiential journeys to maximize shifts in mindsets, capabilities, and practices.
• Measure for holistic impact.

A well-designed and executed leadership development program can help organizations build leaders’ capabilities broadly, at scale. And these programs can be built around coaching, mentoring, and having people try to solve challenging problems—learning skills by applying them in real time to real work.

What are mentorship, sponsorship, and apprenticeship?

Mentorship, sponsorship, and apprenticeship can also be part of leadership development efforts. What are they? Mentorship refers to trusted counselors offering guidance and support on various professional issues, such as career progression. Sponsorship is used to describe senior leaders who create opportunities to help junior colleagues succeed. These roles are typically held by more senior colleagues, whereas apprenticeship could be more distributed. Apprenticeship  describes the way any colleague with domain expertise might teach others, model behaviors, or transfer skills. These approaches can be useful not only for developing leaders but also for helping your company upskill or reskill employees quickly and at scale.

For more in-depth exploration of these topics, see McKinsey’s insights on People & Organizational Performance . Learn more about McKinsey’s Leadership & Management  work—and check out job opportunities if you’re interested in working at McKinsey.

Articles referenced include:

• “ Author Talks: What separates the best CEOs from the rest? ,” December 15, 2021, Carolyn Dewar , Scott Keller , and Vik Malhotra
• “ From the great attrition to the great adaptation ,” November 3, 2021, Aaron De Smet  and Bill Schaninger
• “ The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships ,” September 22, 2020, Tera Allas  and Bill Schaninger
• " Leading agile transformation: The new capabilities leaders need to build 21st century organizations ," October 1, 2018, Aaron De Smet , Michael Lurie , and Andrew St. George
• " Leading Organizations: Ten Timeless Truths ," 2017, Scott Keller  and Mary Meaney
• “ Leadership in context ,” January 1, 2016, Michael Bazigos, Chris Gagnon, and Bill Schaninger
• “ Decoding leadership: What really matters ,” January 1, 2015, Claudio Feser, Fernanda Mayol, and Ramesh Srinivasan

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8 Leadership Principles + Examples of Leadership In Action

What are leadership principles, why are leadership principles important, 8 principles of leadership that the best leaders follow, examples of how the best leaders act, how servant leadership drives organizational success.

There are many ways to describe how an effective leader acts, but most would agree that leadership is about influence, action, service, and inspiration. Perhaps the greatest trait a leader can possess is vision.

As Sheryl Sandberg, technology executive, philanthropist, and writer, once said , “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” 

Leadership principles are not just theoretical; they have a practical impact. Organizations with strong leadership tend to perform better, adapt faster to changes, and sustain growth over time. 

While every leader is unique, and most tailor their leadership style to their specific industry and goals, there are certain leadership qualities that many of the most successful leaders display . These qualities are built on principles such as effective communication, strategic decision-making, and adaptability.

In this article, learn about how leadership principles serve as timeless tenets that guide leaders through challenges, inspire their teams, foster innovation, and contribute to organizations’ success and positive culture. 

Key Takeaways

• Leadership is the act of guiding, directing, or influencing people toward achieving a common goal.
• Successful leaders are often those who are mission-driven, act decisively, communicate well, change course as needed, and continuously learn.
• By creating a supportive and transparent work environment, strong leaders are more likely to attract talented team members who remain engaged, hard-working, and loyal.

Leadership principles are guidelines that inform the actions of leaders. These principles help people in positions of power to effectively motivate and guide others and make important decisions. They are essential because in many cases, effective leadership significantly influences the success of a team or community. They do this by keeping morale, collaboration, and engagement high.

“Leadership” Means:

• Establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others, and providing the information, knowledge, and methods to realize that vision
• Coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members or stakeholders

“Principles” Are:

• Fundamental truths, laws, or doctrines that serve as the foundation for a system of belief, behavior, or reasoning
• Universal rules or guidelines that remain consistent over time
• Established standards of conduct that provide a basis for making decisions or evaluating actions
• Principles that often serve as a guide to what is considered right and wrong or good and bad in a particular context

“Good leaders focus on unifying and uplifting the whole team. They work with individuals to help them see what their role is, how they can benefit the organization, and why they matter.” Western Governer’s University

Leadership principles act as the compass and backbone of organizations. They instill consistency, drive behaviors, and set expectations; this way, every team member knows what they’re working toward and why, as well as what their responsibilities are.

Leadership principles serve some of the following purposes:

• Provide Direction: Direction is defined as “The path or course on which something is moving or aiming.” Leaders provide a clear path and vision, guiding decision-making and strategy development. Leadership principles also help define and reinforce a company’s culture and values based on its mission.
• Motivate Team Members: Motivation is “The drive or reason for a person to act or behave in a particular way.” Effective leadership principles inspire teams and boost morale by defining the organization’s values and creating supportive work environments.
• Maintain Consistency: Consistency is “The quality of being steady and uniform over time or in different situations.” When leaders remain consistent in their actions, it builds trust and credibility. Think of this much like parenting, in which consistency is important to guide behaviors and teach lessons.
• Promote Adaptability: Being adaptive means having the ability to change or adjust effectively to new conditions or environments. As situations change, having a core set of principles helps leaders pivot in order to remain successful while also maintaining integrity.
• Aid in Communication: Communication is the process of conveying information or ideas between individuals or groups. When everyone in an organization understands its mission and principles, it prevents miscommunications and facilitates trust and transparency. Everyone speaks the same “language” in terms of values and expectations when a leader communicates and listens well.

While the specifics may vary from one organization to another, the underlying importance of having and adhering to leadership principles remains consistent across sectors and industries. 

Below are eight leadership principles that successful and effective leaders often abide by:

1. Effective Goal-Setting

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Warren Bennis , author and business consultant

• Establishing SMART Goals: Rather than being aimless, good leaders create goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-sensitive). These goals help chart a course for the organization’s future and provide a consistent vision to rally around, even when strategies and tactics evolve.
• Delegating Tasks: In addition to creating a mission and clear goals, leaders must ensure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities, as well as how their work contributes to the “bigger picture.”

2. Acting With Integrity

“On paper, every company has great values. But values are no good if they remain on paper. Being driven by values is doing right, not just knowing or saying what’s right. A leader’s role is to live by these values, explicitly promote them, and make sure they’re part of the fabric of the business.” Hubert Joly, Harvard Business Review

• Upholding Commitments: The best leaders are honest, transparent, and “people of their word.” They act in accordance with the organization’s values and don’t abuse their power by slacking off.
• Accountability: They keep not only themselves accountable but also uphold a culture of responsibility and ownership .
• Acting Ethically: They establish a code of conduct that encourages ethical practices, which can protect an organization’s reputation and long-term health.

3. Decision-Making Skills

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.” Peter Drucker, author and speaker

• Gathering Data: Good leaders seek out opinions, relevant information, and input from stakeholders, employees, customers, and mentors. They involve their team in decision-making, valuing diverse perspectives.
• Analyzing Information: They weigh the pros and cons of situations, understand implications, and consider the long-term impacts of their actions.
• Being Decisive: Effective leaders are both decisive and visionary, meaning they can make decisions even in the face of uncertainty and have a clear vision for the future. They’re also confident and can articulate an organization’s goals in a compelling manner.

4. Clear Communication

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” Colin Powell , Former United States Secretary of State

• Speaking Clearly: The best leaders convey ideas well and listen actively.
• Providing Feedback: They provide regular, constructive feedback that helps team members grow and feel valued without insulting them.
• Encouraging Professional Development: To help their organizations become as great as possible, strong leaders support team members in acquiring new skills or knowledge.

5. Having Empathy

“A good leader can benefit from both intellectual and emotional understanding. People feel valued and respected when a leader takes the time to listen and process what they’re saying.” Jamie Birt, Indeed writer

• Perspective-Taking: They understand and value the feelings and perspectives of others. They can put themselves “in other people’s shoes” and absorb various points of view. By empathizing with team members, a leader can create a supportive environment where individuals feel understood and cared for, which in turn, boosts morale and productivity.
• Facilitating Conflict Resolution: Disagreements and conflicts are natural in any organization, but great leaders provide a framework for addressing arguments, compromising, and finding solutions that are mutually beneficial. 
• Expecting and Accepting Imperfections: Smart leaders know that everyone slips up and makes mistakes, so they foster an environment where employees can take ownership without being belittled and then continually refine their skills and processes. 

6. Resilience and Continuous Learning

“The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis.” Brian Tracy , author and motivational speaker

• Displaying Humility: Humility is an important aspect of being a good leader, as it fosters a “growth mindset” and encourages leaders to always look for ways to expand their knowledge and skills. The best leaders can own up to their mistakes and avoid blaming others.
• Learning From Mistakes: Strong leaders bounce back from setbacks, maintain a positive attitude, and embrace change. They remain accountable and see failures and setbacks as opportunities to improve.
• Reflecting and Adjusting: They regularly reassess decisions and are willing to make changes when needed. They can take notice of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses so that improvement is always within reach.

7. Fostering Collaboration

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” Jack Welch , American business professional

• Encouraging Teamwork: Facilitating brainstorming and valuing every team member’s contributions are principles of strong leadership. 
• Empowering Teams: Clearly defined principles enable teams to operate with autonomy. This helps teams know the broader guidelines so they can make decisions without waiting for micromanagement. As a result, a strong and supportive culture can improve employee morale, retention, and overall performance. 
• Building on People’s Strengths: Companies with strong leaders help their employees grow and evolve. They provide opportunities for learning so team members can reach their full potential.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy A dams , Former U.S. President

• They model desired behaviors: Effective leaders exemplify the attitudes and actions that they wish to see in their teams. They “lead by example” instead of only lecturing or pressuring their teammates or employees. For example, they treat customers and employees with kindness and put in extra work when a time-sensitive task presents itself.
• They recognize and reward accomplishments: When a team member completes an important project or task, a good leader acknowledges their efforts to further motivate and inspire them and others. This may take the form of verbal praise, sharing accomplishments with other team members, or giving an employee a promotion or raise.
• They prioritize people’s well-being: While good leaders have high standards, they also ensure that their work environment is healthy and that team members have a sustainable work-life balance. By respecting people’s time, leaders gain their team member’s trust and dedication. An example of this principle is allowing employees to work a fair amount of hours and to take time off to rest and rebalance.
• They address and resolve conflicts directly: In order to maintain people’s respect, successful leaders are on the ground, taking note of issues and resolving problems head-on. They practice emotional intelligence by avoiding gossiping or delaying tough conversations and instead address problems confidently and assertively.
• They face a crisis with calmness and clarity: When a company faces a major setback, like a PR scandal or a significant financial loss, a true leader doesn’t resort to blame or denial. Instead, they calmly gather their team, assess the situation with clarity, take responsibility for mistakes, and chart a course for rectifying the issue. 
• They hire people they trust and believe in: Instead of micromanaging every detail, a leader identifies the strengths and capabilities of each team member and delegates tasks accordingly. They trust their team to execute their responsibilities but are available for guidance, support, and to remove any obstacles that may arise. By empowering team members, the leader fosters growth, autonomy, and a sense of ownership among the team.

After studying how effective leaders operate, Alison Chadwick, owner of GrowPeople, and Matt Morgan, Chief Executive at Agency Inc., described the following characteristics seen in successful leaders : 

• Belief in the organization’s purpose
• Taking full responsibility for actions and mistakes
• The ability to move on and forgive
• Humility and openness to feedback
• An optimistic but realistic attitude
• Valuing others’ opinions and having confidence in one’s own opinion
• Self-acceptance of strengths and weaknesses

“Leadership is not just about giving energy . . . it’s unleashing other people’s energy.” Paul Polman , dutch businessman and speaker

In order for teams to benefit, many experts believe that leaders must shift the paradigm of traditional leadership, where the leader’s main goal is to lead, to one where the leader’s primary responsibility is to ensure the well-being, growth, and success of their team members . This concept describes “ servant leadership ,” a leadership philosophy rooted in the belief that the most effective leaders strive to serve others , rather than accrue power or take control. Servant leaders put the needs of their people first, fostering an environment of trust, collaboration, and mutual respect that drives success. 

Here are three tips for practicing servant leadership:

• Practice self-awareness: Servant leaders should continuously engage in self-reflection to recognize their strengths, weaknesses, biases, and emotional triggers. By understanding oneself better, a leader can avoid reactionary decisions, better serve the team’s needs, and grow in their role. 
• Give others your full attention : One of the foundational skills for a servant leader is the ability to listen intently. Active listening involves fully concentrating, understanding, and responding to what others are saying. By doing so, leaders can better understand the needs and concerns of their team members and make decisions that are in their best interest.
• Empower and develop your team : Instead of hoarding power, servant leaders empower their team members by delegating responsibility, providing necessary resources, and supporting their personal and professional growth so they feel valued.

Want to learn more about successful companies that have been built by effective leaders? Check out this article as an example:

14 Amazon Leadership Principles and Why They Matter

Leaders Media has established sourcing guidelines and relies on relevant, and credible sources for the data, facts, and expert insights and analysis we reference. You can learn more about our mission, ethics, and how we cite sources in our editorial policy .

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• Edmonds, L. (2019, September 3). Essay: The seven principles of leadership. IPA. https://ipa.co.uk/knowledge/ipa-blog/essay-the-seven-principles-of-leadership

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Qualities of a leader: 17 traits of effective leadership

Leaders aren’t just born that way. Most develop and hone skills ‌anyone can learn. These 17 traits are the core leadership qualities to develop if you want to become a better leader, both personally and professionally. In this article, you’ll learn what these leadership qualities are and how you can implement them in your own life.

If you’re looking to expand your leadership style and skills, you’re in luck. By demonstrating these important leadership qualities, you too can become an effective leader that inspires change.We’ve put together a list of the 17 most effective qualities in a leader. By learning traits like strategic problem-solving and active listening, you too can inspire those around you. 

1. Empowers team members

Empowering others should be one of your most important objectives as a leader. Your job is to help your team learn and succeed. That starts with daily motivation, relationship building, showing respect, and co-creating solutions to problems when they arise. 

Teams should feel empowered by your confidence in them and industry know-how. When they’re empowered, great work can be created. You can foster team empowerment by:

Encouraging team members to take on new challenges

Motivating your team to get back up when things go wrong 

Being a kind but honest communicator

When your whole team is empowered, individuals can shine in their roles and contribute their expertise to shared success.

When everyone on a team is empowered and trusted to manifest their full potential, each person becomes capable of so much more, which makes the company capable of so much more. Our experience is that, with the right team, distributed authority results in organizations that are happier and more effective in accomplishing their most ambitious missions.”

A leader's guide to change management

Learn how to be the leader your team needs during times of change. Get tips on when to set new business objectives, how to communicate transparently, and how to keep employees engaged.

2. Focuses on team development

Sharing your wealth of knowledge is just one of the many traits of strong leadership. A good leader not only develops themself but also helps others grow. This could be in the form of trainings, lunch and learns, or even co-creating solutions to problems with team members. 

Not only does it help those around you continue growing their careers, but it can teach you things along the way as well. You can work on developing others by:

Paying attention to what team members want to learn

Using mistakes as teachable moments

Giving constructive criticism even when it’s hard

The important thing to remember is to encourage and train others the way you wish you had been in your career.

3. Communicates effectively

Communication is a key piece of any successful team, especially as it pertains to great leadership skills. There is a fine line between too little and too much, but it’s always better to err on the side of too much. A lack of good communication skills can result in poor performance or lack of organizational clarity.

Your communication also needs to be effective, meaning it’s delivered in a direct yet personal way. This includes communicating about projects, as well as connecting as a team. You can work on your communication skills by:

Asking your team for feedback

Listening before speaking

Answering questions directly

Tailoring your message to your audience

The best part: effective communication skills can easily be taught and learned.

While working remotely, we’ve had to re-learn how to communicate in many ways. Slack, Asana, and integrations between these tools has replaced or supplemented a lot of in-person ways we used to communicate.”

4. Shows high emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to control and express your emotions, as well as handle interpersonal relationships. Why is that so important in the workplace? 

Strong leaders inspire and guide others rather than direct. This means it’s crucial to be empathetic toward teammates so they feel comfortable and open around you. You can work on your emotional intelligence by:

Considering how your team members may be feeling

Examining how your words or actions might affect others

Holding space for how others may feel about a situation 

Responding versus reacting to a conflict or difficult situation  

When in doubt, it’s okay to ask teammates how they’re feeling. A simple “How are you today?” can go a long way.

5. Possesses problem-solving skills

Of all the essential leadership qualities, having problem-solving skills is one of the most important. Team members will likely come to you about problems that need solving. It’s your job to be prepared with strategic advice for whatever comes your way. 

This doesn’t mean you need to have all the answers all the time. Instead, you should be prepared with resources that can empower your team to resolve the problem on their own. You can work on your problem-solving skills by:

Backing your advice up with data or an experience

Asking questions that lead your teammates down the right path

Providing multiple solutions for your team to try out 

Being an active listener to gain clarity 

In short, you don’t need to have all of the answers. You just need to give guidance. Letting a decision linger for too long is draining, so don’t let perfectionism keep you from providing input.

6. Respects others

Respect is something everyone deserves—whether you have 30 years of professional experience or three. Showing others respect can help create a healthy team dynamic based on mutual respect. 

While respect comes from a variety of sources, it’s important to begin by treating everyone as equals. Additional ways you can work on showing respect are by:

Communicating with team members as equals regardless of position

Listen to someone else’s perspective even if you disagree

Give recognition for a job well done

Have a positive attitude

Good leaders know that positivity and respect go a long way. A good rule of thumb is to acknowledge that everyone is a partner in what you’re trying to accomplish.

As a leader, I know it’s my responsibility to set the tone for our company culture.”

7. Prioritizes personal development

Personal development is an important part of career growth no matter where you are in your professional journey. Developing your skills can help you lead better and, by default, help your team feel secure in their work.

It’s also a good idea to have regular checkpoints for self-reflection. Where are you in your personal development journey, and how does that connect to the good of your organization? This can help both your personal and professional growth. You can improve your personal development by:

Attending industry-relevant conferences

Taking courses

Collaborating with other departments 

Pursuing personal development will help you network with like-minded individuals and bring new, high-impact ideas to the table.

8. Encourages strategic thinking

Leaders are constantly looking for ways to keep their team and organization moving forward. This can be anything from internal processes like roadmaps and technological advancements to external factors like SWOT analyses and product offerings.

From brainstorming techniques to prioritizing project tasks, a good leader motivates their team members to think strategically as well. You can practice strategic management by:

Listening to all ideas, whether you agree with them or not

Hosting team brainstorming sessions

Giving feedback that is backed by data 

Letting your team carry out their ideas and learn from mistakes 

Thinking strategically is important for both your own self-awareness and your team, so make it a priority to encourage new ideas.

It’s harder for remote teams to get recognized for their work—out of sight, out of mind, unfortunately. Be really deliberate about finding opportunities for your remote teams to present at company- or team-wide events (such as an all hands meeting) and make sure you’re looking for ways to get them visibility via team awards or shoutouts.”

9. Actively listens

Being a leader means listening more than speaking. It’s your job to pay attention to organizational problems and your team members’ thoughts in order to become a changemaker. 

It’s also important to listen to those around you to show respect and empathy. You can work on active listening by:

Giving team members full attention when they come to you with input or feedback

Asking questions before speaking your mind

Scheduling recurring times to check in with the team 

Attending meetings that your team leads  

Being a listener is an important, yet often overlooked, part of being a leader. Finding the right balance of inspiring with your words and inspiring with your ears is the difference between a good and great leader.

10. Delegates work

Most of us have had first-hand experience overcoming the challenge of delegating work. There’s a fine line between letting your team take on additional responsibilities and letting them take all the responsibility. 

A good leader knows that delegating work can help grow their team’s skill set and keep projects moving forward. After all, you can’t do everything all the time. Rely on your team and they’ll do the same for you. 

You can work on better delegating work by:

Asking your team members what projects they want to work on

Providing an outline or brief if the project is complex 

Giving honest feedback that improves work and skills 

Fostering time management skills to get work done on time

Not delegating enough is bad for both leaders and team members who could be growing with more autonomy . Your first instinct might be to get involved when work isn’t up to your standards, but it’s important to let your team members learn from their own mistakes.

I think of teamwork as a ship moving through an unlimited ice sheet. In this metaphor, the ship is the team, the ice represents possible problems to be solved, and the destination is always out of sight and unclear. It’s a manager’s job to figure out what to do with the ice we break—where to put it, how it impacts the plan and team, etc. It’s a leader’s job to clarify the ship’s direction and why it’s worth breaking all of this ice to get there.”

11. Takes accountability

While it’s necessary to let your team take ownership of projects, that doesn’t mean you’ve given up all accountability for their work. It’s important to support your team by taking accountability when things don’t go as planned.  

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that goals won’t be met all the time. Not meeting expectations provides opportunities for growth—both personal growth and for your organization. 

You can work on taking accountability by:

Taking action when goals aren’t met and providing solutions

Explaining where expectations weren’t met and why

Regularly monitoring the progress of key initiatives 

Taking accountability means owning up to things that could have gone better and working on problem solving with your team. Remember, we’re all in this together and a growth mindset can help you and your team learn from mistakes.

12. Shows deep passion for their work

The most successful leaders are the ones who are passionate about what they do. To put it simply, an executive role doesn’t make you a leader. Your knowledge, passion, and teamwork are what make you a leader. 

True leaders are the ones who motivate you to do better—even in the face of big challenges—pave the way for you to do great work. 

It’s this passion that sets a leader apart from an executive. Without it, it’s hard to be the best leader you can be. Leaders who are passionate about their work are likely to answer "yes" to the following questions:

Are you excited about your role and responsibilities?

Do you get energized about new projects?

Does motivating people give you a sense of accomplishment?

Are you working for something you believe in?

Reflecting on your passion for your work can help you connect with what truly energizes you and be a better leader in the long run. Additionally, it’s important that everyone on your team shares a common purpose and a clear understanding of why they’re doing what they’re doing.

For me, a leader is someone who helps you understand the Big Picture. What's the vision for the team, and how does that vision connect to a broader set of organizational objectives and mission? A manager is the person who gives you the support and mentorship needed to make an impact in your role and help make that Big Picture a reality. Sometimes the same person will occupy both roles within a team. Sometimes it's multiple people. But both roles are important for the success of any team.”

13. Is a visionary

A visionary is a rather broadly defined term, though you tend to know it when you see it. Visionaries can see the end result before anything tangible has been created. This is why business owners and entrepreneurs tend to be visionaries. They can see a good idea come to fruition before anything has been created. 

Though not everyone is a visionary, you can still practice visionary leadership to motivate your team. Regularly challenge yourself to visualize the future by:

Imagining what your team will accomplish in a year

Facilitating brainstorming and connecting ideas

Motivating others to challenge their thinking

14. Cares about others

Caring about others is different from respecting others. The biggest difference is showing you care versus saying you care. Both respect and care are needed for building trust and empowerment on your team. 

To inspire others, it’s important to invest in them and their career path. Without that personal connection, guidance can feel more like a directive. You can work on creating that personal connection by:

Connecting with team members about more than just work

Asking your team members about their professional goals and interests 

Being an empathetic listener 

Participating in team building games

Creating personal connections with your teammates can empower your working relationships. It can even help cultivate good communication within teams, strengthening overall collaboration.

To me, being a leader is about the ability to influence, coach, mentor, and guide others toward an achievement. Leaders provide vision, and their success is defined by the team—not themselves.”

15. Stays up-to-date on trends

These days, you have to be tech-savvy and stay up to date with new trends to deliver innovative results. From new software capabilities like business process automation to AI and more, staying ahead of the curve separates a good team from a great one. 

The best part about following industry trends is that there is an abundance of training and information out there. So if you’re not in the tech-savvy bucket just yet, here are some ways you can improve your knowledge base:

Dedicate time each week to learning something new

Follow technology leaders for industry trends

Attend conferences and networking events

Connect with a mentor who can teach you

Build a knowledge base with best practices and related resources

Due to the ever-evolving nature of trends, it’s good to practice these tips even if you’re skilled in your field. That way you can continue to share innovative ideas that grow your organization to new heights. 

16. Is adaptable

When you’re in a leadership position, you’re the first to know about challenges. You’re also expected to be one of the first to respond. But your response should be logical and thoughtful, not impulsive or based on emotion. This isn’t easy to do. Our natural reaction is often to feel stressed or worried in the face of problems. To build a better response system, practice workplace adaptability.

Building better adaptability in the workplace will help you react quickly to inevitable changes. To build it, you can:

Learn to embrace change

Practice mindfulness

Take risks and move beyond your comfort zone

Improve your problem-solving skills

Becoming more adaptable will help you be more comfortable in the face of change. When issues come up, others will look to you for guidance and leadership.

17. Stays open-minded

Open-mindedness helps you to see things from different perspectives. Like all good leadership qualities, becoming open-minded doesn’t always come naturally. It’s hard to view situations or team members without our own unconscious biases getting in the way. But open-mindedness can be developed over time. 

Create a more open mind in any scenario by asking this, not that:

“What are the facts?” vs. “What do I think?”

“What am I missing?” vs. “What do I see?”

“Is there more to this story?” vs. “Can I develop the story?”

“Who is impacted?” vs. “How am I impacted?”

By including all potential stakeholders from every vantage point, you’ll be able to see a bigger picture. This will help you to create a more open mind that shows others you’re always willing to see their point of view.

Leading your team to success

By honing the qualities of a good leader, you too can learn how to lead effectively and motivate your team to do their very best work. By working on leadership development and improving each of these 17 leadership traits, you’re not only cultivating leadership qualities and working to continuously improve your own skills, you’re also increasing your impact on your organization. 

For more ideas on how to effectively lead a team, find out if work management software is right for you. 

Related resources

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How Asana uses work management to optimize resource planning

How Asana uses work management for organizational planning

Understanding dependencies in project management

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5 Principles of Purposeful Leadership

• Hubert Joly

Understanding why you’re in the room is more important than being the smartest one in it.

The traditional model of the leader-hero who saves the day, knows it all, is the smartest person in the room, and is too often driven by power, fame, glory, or money is not appropriate in today’s environment. People today expect a different kind of leader. While each company needs to define its own leadership point of view, the author presents five attributes that characterizes leaders who are able to unleash the kind of human magic you see at work at some of the most high-performing companies. First, be clear about your purpose. Second, be clear about your role. Third, be clear about whom you serve. Fourth, be driven by values. Finally, be authentic.

Growing up, I thought successful leaders were supposed to figure out all the answers on their own. Being smart — and making sure everyone else knew it — seemed to be their most striking attribute. The best schools were supposed to lead to the best jobs, which produced the best leaders. Power, fame, glory, and money were the measure of professional success. Early in my career, prominent business leaders like GE’s Jack Welch were revered for their intellect, strategic sense, and hard-charging style. They were considered infallible geniuses, inspiring a quasi-cult following.

• Hubert Joly is the former chairman and CEO of Best Buy, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, and the coauthor of The Heart of Business .

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What Are Leadership Skills, and Why Are They Important?

Learn what leadership skills are with examples, why they are important, who needs them, and how you can further develop these essential skills.

Leadership skills are the qualities individuals in influential roles possess to direct and complete tasks, support initiatives, create a sense of unity within a team, and empower others. Learn about these key leadership skills and how you can benefit from developing them.

What is meant by leadership skills?

Leadership skills include the abilities or strengths shown by people in management roles that aid in guiding and encouraging a group of people and their team toward achieving a common goal or set of goals. These skill sets include communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, decision-making, and more.

Examples of leadership skills

Take a detailed look at some popular leadership qualities companies may value and look for in a candidate.

Communication

When you work in a leadership position, you must be able to clearly explain everything from expectations to goals and tasks. It is also important to establish open communication between yourself and your team members. Not only does creating an environment of open communication promote cohesiveness as a team, but it often encourages an atmosphere of transparency. Excellent communication considers not only what is being communicated, but how it is being communicated.

As an effective communicator, you do more than just clearly verbalize expectations. You also incorporate active listening, nonverbal communication, presentation skills, and engaging public speaking.

Negotiation

Negotiation involves two or more parties engaging in a conversation to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties. As a result, you and the person you are negotiating with may reach a formal agreement, such as a contract or a less formal verbal agreement. When used as a leadership skill, negotiation can foster a sense of fairness and equality, allowing all parties to be heard. Employees and coworkers may be more likely to feel understood when conflicts are handled with negotiation.

Effective negotiation involves understanding the interests of all involved parties and working to reach a solution that satisfies each one.

Conflict resolution

Compelling leaders understand how to avoid disputes and have the ability to resolve them quickly. Ideally, as a good leader, you should be able to maintain your composure and make thoughtful decisions when handling disagreements. A great example of conflict resolution is a human resources (HR) representative actively listening while working to help a manager and their subordinate settle conflict.

Adaptability

As an adaptable leader, you adjust your behavior in response to situational changes. You are resilient when things don't go as expected and recover quickly from setbacks by viewing them as an opportunity to grow. Showing adaptability in leadership involves being flexible and adjusting to changing conditions and environments.

Critical thinking

Analyzing information to fully comprehend an issue or topic is the act of critical thinking. The steps of the critical thinking process often entail gathering facts and data, posing deliberate queries, and examining potential answers. For instance, if you work in HR and must settle a dispute between two coworkers, using critical thinking skills can be helpful in determining the nature of the conflict and the appropriate course of action. Critical thinking is an important component of decision-making.

Decision-making

Effective leaders make decisions that benefit themselves, their team members, clients, stakeholders, and organizations. Using critical thinking skills in decision-making allows you as a leader to identify problems and develop solutions advantageous to your business and your employees. Decision-making by leaders must always be fair and objective and involve the use of appropriate language when communicating.

Problem-solving

Effective problem solvers in leadership have the ability to foresee issues in the workplace, define the problem, identify their causes, develop a plan to remedy the problem, and learn from the problem to avoid future issues. Problem-solving requires strong communication skills and respect for all parties involved. Viewing and presenting issues as opportunities can benefit leaders and staff alike. An example of this would be a decline in social media engagement viewed as an opportunity to increase social media presence rather than a problem.

Relationship building

The general nature of leadership roles revolves around people. Without understanding the people they are guiding, leaders cannot effectively lead. The ability to forge bonds and establish communities is necessary for an effective leader. A study conducted on relationships in the workplace by Olivet University shows that employees tend to be happier in their workplace when they have a degree of nonwork relationship with their superiors [ 1 ].

Time management

Time management involves planning and regulating how much time to devote to different tasks. Leaders who manage time effectively may accomplish more in less time, feel less stressed, and succeed in their careers [ 2 ]. Proper time management by leadership members affords leaders more time to invest in their team.

Reliability and trust

Trust is the cornerstone of a successful organization. Trust, or belief in another person's skills, integrity, and character, is frequently thought of as something built upon in personal relationships.

Leadership develops best through reliability. Leaders must ensure their words and deeds are consistent if they want to be trusted. If those you lead cannot trust you to keep your word, they will lose faith in you rapidly.

A creative mindset is open, not closed or rigid, and produces ideas and solutions that are both significant and effective. By encouraging a team of people to solve problems creatively, leaders provide the opportunity to develop goods and services that set the team apart from rivals, creating a competitive advantage. Creative leaders also foster an innovative culture by encouraging teams to showcase ingenuity as a unit.

Strategic approach

Leaders must think strategically and critically when making difficult decisions. Effective leadership involves making well-considered and critically-analyzed decisions to lead teams to success. Leaders who are successful will think before they act, or in other words, have a strategic plan before taking action. The time it takes to devise a strategy depends on the problem or decision. A good leader devotes the necessary time to strategy development.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness in leadership involves understanding your own personality, behaviors, and motivations and then considering how these traits and qualities influence your leadership skills. Self-reflection can be a powerful tool all on its own. Self-awareness and reflection can help you realize what you offer to your job as a leader and where you need improvement. Self-awareness entails identifying where you excel and where you should grow—and when your leadership excels, your company's productivity tends to follow.

Who needs leadership skills?

Whether a student, teacher, project manager, or CEO, anyone in a role that involves influence over others and decision-making can benefit from strong leadership skills. These skills can be especially helpful for early-career professionals, newly promoted leaders, and start-up leaders. Leadership skills are essential in roles that don’t even involve leading others as well. These are skills that also help you to exude confidence and may be beneficial in progressing your career into leadership positions.

What makes an effective leader?

While possessing leadership skills can make a leader effective, certain workplace skills or qualities also lend to effectiveness. Effective leaders are respectful, empathetic, patient, motivational, and willing to be held accountable.

When you make your team feel respected, cared for, and motivated, you are more likely to be successful in leading your team.

How to develop leadership skills

To succeed as a leader, it’s essential to commit to continued learning and plan personal growth and development. Becoming an effective leader involves gaining leadership skills and fine-tuning key workplace skills. You can accomplish these goals by receiving coaching or mentoring, gaining experience, taking courses, and enrolling in leadership certificate programs.

Coaching and mentoring

Leadership coaches work with leaders to help optimize their abilities and effectively manage a team. Leadership coaches and mentors act as supportive advisors who help those being coached better their workplace relationships and performance on the job.

Mentorship is more of a collaborative relationship between a successful leader and a leader in training. Mentor/mentee relationships are often more personal and can offer accountability and help the mentee make beneficial connections, whereby the mentor acts as an advisor.

Leadership experience can come in many forms. From playing on sports teams to participating in social groups and volunteering, you can gain experience in leadership in almost any aspect of life. While these experiences may not directly relate to your career, the skills gained from them can last a lifetime.

Courses and training 

For a more formal method of gaining leadership skills, enroll in training courses. This is a highly effective way to develop new abilities, enhance existing ones, and establish the foundation for a successful career in leadership.

Certification

In addition to courses and training, it is also an option to pursue leadership certifications. Through these programs, you can learn valuable leadership skills and earn a credential for your resume ato increase job prospects in your field.

Looking to gain or improve your current set of leadership skills? Consider taking online courses on Coursera from world-class organizations and educators that can help you enhance your career. Take the first step and enroll in one of these programs today:

Leading People and Teams Specialization : Gain important leadership skills, learn how to motivate and inspire others, influence without using a position of authority, and manage teams of people.

Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization : Learn the strategic, organizational, and human relations foundations for sustainable, impactful leadership.

Connected Leadership : Enhance your capacity to make the most of life, create your own leadership toolkit, and gain an understanding of the strength and complexity of system thinking.

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Article sources

Olivet Nazarene University. “ Study Explores Manager and Employee Relationships , https://online.olivet.edu/news/study-explores-manager-and-employee-relationships.” Accessed March 1, 2023.

Taylor & Francis Online. “ Stress prevention through a time management training intervention: an experimental study , https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01443410.2013.785065.” Accessed March 1, 2023.

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Module 10: Leadership

Assignment: evaluating leadership, preparation.

In your readings on Leadership, you learned the difference between management and leadership, as well as traits, styles, and situations of leaders and leadership. Many modern-day leaders were profiled in the text, including:

• Warren Buffett
• Martin Winterkorn
• Carrie Toldstedt
• Ginni Rometty
• Mark Zuckerberg

In this assignment, you will research and write about a modern leader of your choice. You may not select one of the leaders listed above .  The following steps will help you prepare for your written assignment:

• Thoroughly read the Leadership module.
• Carefully consider the traits, styles, and differing situations for leadership in today’s organizations.
• Select a leader to profile in your written report. You may select one you admire, or a “good example of a bad example.”  There are numerous websites naming leaders to get you started.  A quick search on “famous contemporary leaders” revealed millions of possible lists, OR you may select a leader in your personal or professional life: your boss, a coach, a team leader, etc.
• Research your chosen leader, identifying evidence of his/her traits, styles, and leadership situations. Relate your findings to the module concepts. For example, how did your chosen leader demonstrate the trait of “desire to lead”?  Prepare examples.
• First, introduce your leader, and state why you selected him/her. Was their leadership effective or not effective?
• Next, expand upon the traits and style of your leader, including at least three properly referenced and defined terms from the module reading. For example, if you select Drive, describe what the term means in the context of leadership and how your leader demonstrates it.
• Next, describe the leadership situation your chosen leader was in, using one of the Situational Leadership Models from the module reading. For example, if your leader was charged with a group of new or low-competence employees, did they use the Selling style prescribed by Ken Blanchard?
• Finally, conclude with a short description of your personal leadership style and how effective it has been for you to date.

Your written assignment will be graded using the  Written Assignment Rubric . Please review and keep it in mind as you prepare your assignment. Each component is weighted as follows:

10% Organization and Format

Adequate: Writing is coherent and logically organized, using a format suitable for the material presented. Transitions used between ideas and paragraphs create coherence. Overall unity of ideas is supported by the format and organization of the material presented.

40% Content

Adequate: All required questions are addressed with thoughtful consideration reflecting both proper use of content terminology and additional original thought. Some additional concepts are presented from properly cited sources, or originated by the author following logic and reasoning they’ve clearly presented throughout the writing.

40% Development – Critical Thinking

Adequate: Content indicates original thinking, cohesive conclusions, and developed ideas with sufficient and firm evidence. Ideas presented are not merely the opinion of the writer, and clearly address all of the questions or requirements asked with evidence presented to support conclusions drawn.

10% Grammar, Mechanics, Style

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5.4 Leadership: Ethics at the Organizational Level

• Why is ethical leadership important in organizations?

Organizational leadership is an important first step toward identifying and enacting purpose and ethical values that are central to internal alignment, external market effectiveness, and responsibility toward stakeholders. 22 The scholar Chester Barnard defined a values-based leadership approach in 1939 as one that inspires “cooperative personal decisions by creating faith in common understanding, faith in the probability of success, faith in the ultimate satisfaction of personal motives, and faith in the integrity of common purpose.” 23 Exhibit 5.4 illustrates how vision, mission, and values are foundational in guiding the identification and implementation of the strategic and operational questions and alignment of an organization—which is a major part of leadership.

Leadership is defined as the ability to influence followers to achieve common goals through shared purposes. 24 Organizational leaders are responsible to a wide range of stakeholders and stockholders as well as employees toward meeting the goals for the organization. How responsibly and ethically they choose to do so depends on a number of factors. From an ethical and related effectiveness perspective, the leader’s values count since these generally become the values of an organization. A leader’s influence is referred to as “the tone at the top.” While a leader’s values should align to those of the organization, its vision and mission, this is not always the case, as we know from the crises discussed earlier when referring to the classical failures at Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Wells Fargo, and other notable companies.

Since leadership is a most important element in forming and directing an organization’s strategy, culture, and governance system, it is often a shared responsibility among other officers and followers that cascades throughout the organization. As an example, the widely acknowledged Ethisphere, a private firm that evaluates firms’ ethical behavior and responsibilities, uses five criteria that produce a single Ethics Quotient (EQ) score. The first is a company’s ethics and compliance program, which accounts for 35% of the EQ. The second criterion is whether or not and the extent to which ethics is embedded into a company’s culture. The third element is corporate citizenship and responsibility, elements that measure companies’ environmental impact. The fourth component is corporate governance—whether a firm’s CEO and board chair are held by one or separate people. An increased focus recently emphasized diversity in board and leadership positions. The fifth criterion is leadership, innovation, and reputation. 25

There were, according to Ephisphere, 124 honorees in 2017, spanning 5 continents, 19 countries, and 52 industry sectors. Among the 2017 list are 13 eleven-time honorees and 8 first-time honorees. Honorees include “companies who recognize their role in society to influence and drive positive change in the business community and societies around the world. These companies also consider the impact of their actions on their employees, investors, customers and other key stakeholders and leverage values and a culture of integrity as the underpinnings to the decisions they make each day.” 26 Table 5.1 includes 10 of the 124 most ethical companies in 2017 as measured by Ethispher's criteria.

For ethical leaders, authenticity and integrity, in addition to their values, are also important components of character and behavior that must also be translated into attitude and action toward followers, external stakeholders, and broader communities. Leaders have a responsibility to show respect toward others, treat all stakeholders fairly, work toward a common good, build community, and be honest. These virtue-related values, also referred to as character-related, as discussed earlier, help create an ethical corporation and environment:

Show Respect for Others

Respecting others requires leaders to recognize the intrinsic worth of others and forces them to treat people as ends in themselves—never as means to an end. In other words, people should be seen as valuable because of who they are (a universal principle), not only because of what they can do for others or how they can help others advance. Showing respect for others includes tolerating individual differences and affording followers the freedom to think independently, act as individuals, and pursue their own goals. When a leader shows respect for followers by providing them autonomy, subordinates can feel more useful, valued, and confident. Such a situation often leads to greater loyalty and productivity among subordinates.

Treat All Stakeholders Fairly

Ethical leaders strive to treat everyone their decisions may affect in a fair and just manner. Equality is also a top priority for ethical leaders and needs to factor prominently into their decision-making. Ethical leaders must refrain from offering special treatment to others; failure to do so creates winners and losers—in-groups and out-groups—and can breed resentment between those who receive special treatment and those who do not. The only exception occurs when an individual’s specific situation warrants special treatment in order for a just outcome to be realized.

Preventing winners and losers from emerging is not always easy. Some situations require the distribution of benefits and burdens, and such situations can test a leader’s ability to ensure that justice is achieved. Beauchamp and Bowie defined the common principles that guide leaders facing such dilemmas; their findings can help leaders allocate responsibilities fairly and justly. 27 These principles stipulate that every person must receive an equal share of opportunity according to his needs, rights, effort, societal contributions, and performance.

Work Toward a Common Good

Mahatma Gandhi offers an example of what striving toward a common good entails. Known for his commitment to nonviolent protests and mass civil disobedience, the Indian activist and ideological leader spent 20 years in South Africa opposing legislation that discriminated against Indians. He spent the remainder of his life in India fighting for independence from foreign rule and working to reduce poverty and taxation, liberate women, and end multiple forms of discrimination. 28 He championed such causes not because he would personally benefit, but because a larger, more substantial population would. Gandhi devoted his life to furthering social causes he believed in and developed a personal sense of purpose and meaning that later translated into a societal and then global ethic.

Ethical leaders strive to further social or institutional goals that are greater than the goals of the individual. This responsibility requires the ethical leader to serve a greater good by attending to the needs of others. This type of behavior is an example of altruism: a steadfast devotion to improving the welfare of others. Altruistic behavior may manifest in a corporate setting through actions such as mentoring, empowerment behaviors (encouraging and enabling others), team building, and citizenship behaviors (such as showing concern for others’ welfare), to name a few.

Build Community

Whole Foods Market, recently purchased by Amazon, is well known for its community outreach programs on both local and global scales. Every Whole Foods store donates to community food banks and shelters and throughout the year holds “5% days,” when 5% of the day’s net sales are donated to local nonprofit or educational organizations. Globally, the company established the Whole Planet Foundation to combat world hunger and supports programs addressing issues such as animal welfare, nutrition, and environmentally friendly production methods.

The effort of Whole Foods to strengthen its stores’ local and global neighborhoods is a perfect example of leaders building community. When an ethical leader focuses on the needs of others rather than the self, other people will often follow suit. This can lead to a strong contingent of followers working with the leader to achieve a common goal that is compatible with the desires of all stakeholders. Furthering a common goal means that no one can place his needs ahead of the group’s goals and an ethical leader cannot impose his will on others. A successful CEO who works with many charities or other individuals to feed the homeless exemplifies a leader building community.

Honesty is considered desirable by practically everyone, but it is sometimes unclear what honesty actually demands of us. Being honest is not simply telling the truth and avoiding deceitful behaviors; it requires leaders to be as open as possible and to describe reality fully, accurately, and in sufficient detail. Telling the complete truth is not always the most desirable action, however. Leaders must be sensitive to the feelings and beliefs of others and must recognize that the appropriate level of openness and candor varies depending on the situation.

According to a recent survey, 58% of people internationally trust companies, but 42% are less sure. Being more transparent with customers, stakeholders, and stockholders should become a priority for leaders and boards of companies. 29 Dishonesty can be a disastrous practice for a leader. Dishonest leaders distort reality, which can lead to unfavorable outcomes for all stakeholders. Researchers Cialdini, Petia, Petrova, and Goldstein found that dishonest organizations suffer from tarnished reputations, decreased worker productivity, and various damages related to increased surveillance. They concluded that the costs of organizational dishonesty greatly outweigh any short-term gains from such behavior. 30

Stewardship and Servant Leadership Styles

Effective leaders, and followers, who lead by example and demonstrate virtuous practices while demonstrating successful practices are more numerous than the media or press reveal. Such examples are also entrepreneurs who practice both stewardship and servant leadership. Their names are not always recognizable nationally, but their companies, communities, and stakeholders know them well. For example, Inc.com’s recent 2017 list of top 10 leaders features four women CEOs who go beyond the “call of duty” to serve others while succeeding in business. For example, Brittany Merrill Underwood started and is CEO of Akola Jewelry and was named in Yahoo’s “Best Person in the World” series in 2014. Her company “reinvests 100 percent of their profits to support work opportunities, training, social programs, and the construction of training centers and water wells in impoverished communities throughout the globe.” 31

A classic example of these leadership styles is also represented by Aaron Feuerstein, a previous CEO of a manufacturing plant in Massachusetts, whose example continues to represent both a steward and servant leadership style. 32

Managerial Leadership

Servant leadership personified: aaron feuerstein at malden mills.

Aaron Feuerstein, a third-generation owner of Malden Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, suffered his factory burning to the ground on December 11, 1995. Feuerstein had the option of using the insurance money to rebuild the plant, but he instead paid the salaries and complete benefits of all the 3,000 workers for 6 months while the factory was rebuilt. He later said that he had no other option than to help the employees. His action was based on his study of the Talmud, and he presented at Xavier University:

“I have the responsibility to the worker, both blue-collar and white-collar. I have an equal responsibility to the community. It would have been unconscionable to put 3,000 people on the streets and deliver a deathblow to the cities of Lawrence and Methuen. Maybe on paper our company is worthless to Wall Street, but I can tell you it’s worth more.”

Feuerstein exemplified the two ethical leadership styles of stewardship and servant leadership, which focus specifically on how leaders work with followers. (Ethical leadership as a whole concerns the leader’s characteristics and encompasses actions in both the internal and external organizational environment.)

Source: Xavier University News and Events, “Former Malden Mills CEO Aaron Feuerstein speaking at Heroes of Professional Ethics event March 30”, March 24, 2009, https://www2.xavier.edu/campusuite25/modules/news.cfm?seo_file=Former-Malden-Mills-CEO-Aaron-Feuerstein-speaking-at-Heroes-of-Professional-Ethics-event-March-30&grp_id=1#.W6FLZPZFyUk

• How does Aaron Feuerstein exemplify servant leadership principles?
• If Feuerstein had decided to use the insurance money for other purposes, would he have not been acting ethically?

Stewardship is concerned with empowering followers to make decisions and gain control over their work. Servant leadership involves selflessly working with followers to achieve shared goals that improve collective, rather than individual, welfare. There is a wealth of information on both of these styles. We will briefly address both here, as both involve treating followers with respect—a key component of ethical leadership—and endowing followers with the ability to grow both personally and professionally.

The stewardship approach instructs leaders to lead without dominating followers. Leaders who practice stewardship sincerely care about their followers and help them develop and accomplish individual as well as organizational goals. Effective stewardship breeds a team-oriented environment in which everyone works together. Organizations led by steward leaders are marked by decentralized decision-making—that is, leadership is not centered in one person, group, department, or administrative unity; power is distributed among all stakeholders. 33

The servant-leadership approach was formulated by Robert K. Greenleaf, who believed that leadership is a natural corollary of service. Servant leadership goes beyond stewardship by requiring leaders to eschew personal accolades and devote themselves entirely to a greater cause. Greenleaf stated, “The essential quality that separates servant leaders from others is that they live by their conscience—the inward moral sense of what is right and wrong. That one quality is the difference between leadership that works and leadership—like servant leadership—that endures.” The following aspects are central to servant leadership:

• Placing service before self-interest. The servant leader’s primary concern is helping others, not receiving recognition or financial reward.
• Listening to others. Servant leaders recognize the importance of listening to the ideas and concerns of stakeholders; they never attempt to impose their will on others. This aspect allows servant leaders to strengthen relationships, understand group needs and dynamics, and effectively allocate resources to improve the group’s welfare.
• Inspiring through trust. As we discussed earlier, ethical leaders must be trustworthy. It does not take much effort for servant leaders to be truthful because they usually have strong moral convictions.
• Working toward feasible goals. Servant leaders realize that many problems cannot be solved by one person. They also tackle the most pressing issues facing their groups.
• Helping others whenever possible. Servant leaders lend a helping hand when the opportunity arises. An example is the district manager of a fast-food chain who helps part-time employees flip burgers during a lunchtime rush hour. Another is the director of a business unit who observes that a team is short a member and needs help in meeting a deadline; the director joins the team for the afternoon to help meet the deadline. 34

Another way of understanding the distinguishing characteristics of servant leadership is offered by DeGraaf, Tilley, and Neal:

The main assumption is that true leadership should call us to serve a higher purpose, something beyond ourselves. One of the most important aspects of leadership is helping organizations and staff identify their higher purpose. The best test of the servant-leadership philosophy is whether or not customers and staff grow as persons! Do customers become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become “servants”? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit? Or, at least, not be further deprived? To achieve this higher purpose of public organizations, you, as a leader, must be passionate about your desire to improve your community and yourself! 35

Dark Side of Organizational Leadership

However, and as noted earlier, not all leaders lead or model high standards or values. Seven symptoms of the failure of ethical leadership provide a practical lens to examine a leader’s shortsightedness: 36

• Ethical blindness: They do not perceive ethical issues due to inattention or inability.
• Ethical muteness: They do not have or use ethical language or principles. They “talk the talk” but do not “walk the talk” on values.
• Ethical incoherence: They are not able to see inconsistencies among values they say they follow; e.g., they say they value responsibility but reward performance based only on numbers.
• Ethical paralysis: They are unable to act on their values from lack of knowledge or fear of the consequences of their actions.
• Ethical hypocrisy: They are not committed to their espoused values. They delegate things they are unwilling or unable to do themselves.
• Ethical schizophrenia: They do not have a set of coherent values; they act one way at work and another way at home.
• Ethical complacency: They believe they can do no wrong because of who they are. They believe they are immune.

Examples of highly unethical recent leaders and their dark side leadership practices are described in Fortune ’s “World’s 19 Most Disappointing Leaders.” Two illustrations are summarized here. Martin Winterkorn, the former chairman of Volkswagen, who led VW during “a disastrous scandal (which is far from over), as company engineers installed software that manipulated emissions on about 11 million diesel vehicles. Winterkorn has asserted ignorance of any wrongdoing.” He is also known as being a micromanager who formed a ruthless culture that emphasized winning over all else. Then there was Rick Snyder, governor of Michigan, who “left the impoverished city of Flint, Mich. with a lead-tainted water supply that is being blamed for illness and brain damage, especially among its youngest residents.”. Snyder also blamed “failure of government” and the Environmental Protection Agency for its “dumb and dangerous” rules permitting dangerous amounts of lead in the water systems.

A major takeaway from both the outstanding and undesirable ethical leadership examples presented here is that organizational culture counts and that without an ethical culture both poor and exemplary moral leadership decisions flourish. 37

Concept Check

• What role does leadership play in how ethically organizations and its members act and perform?
• Explain what stewardship is and the role of servant leadership.

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3 Core Leadership Tasks to Master

Emotional Intelligence expert Daniel Goleman writes how becoming a “resonant” leader can improve business results.

Daniel Goleman, author of the bestselling book “Emotional Intelligence,” is a regular contributor to Korn Ferry.

Leaders face similar basic responsibilities, whether they are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies or managers of small production teams. To lead a group of any size effectively, you must manage meaning, set the emotional tone, and put people in the right emotional range for their best performance. One key phrase to keep in mind when engaged in these tasks is "resonant leadership."

What is Resonant Leadership?

Resonance is a term in physics. Sounds resonate — becoming deeper and more meaningful — when they move on the same wavelength. The opposite of resonance, dissonance, occurs when sound waves come into conflict and don’t flow together. Leaders’ emotions resemble sound waves in how they impact the emotional states of those around them. Resonant leaders guide their colleagues onto a positive wavelength. In contrast, leaders who fail to manage their own disruptive emotions spread dissonance. In  Primal Leadership,  Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee, and I describe four styles of leadership that can create resonance in a group: Visionary, Coaching, Affiliative, and Democratic. When used appropriately, each style can enhance the emotional climate of a group, and improve business results. These three core tasks are crucial to all four styles:

Managing Meaning

Leaders manage meaning all the time. Effective leaders clearly communicate the mission of their group or organization. By situating day-to-day events in the context of that mission, leaders help their group make sense of its activities and what they mean in terms of this larger mission. More importantly, by emphasizing the mission, resonant leaders help group members look ahead to the future so they know where they’re headed — and feel good about it.

Setting the Emotional Tone

For good or bad, all leaders set their group's emotional tone. Resonant leaders start the process of setting a positive tone for the group by first managing themselves. Positivity flows naturally from leaders who project calmness, clarity, and knowledge about where the group is going. In contrast, dissonant leaders spread their own tension and aimlessness. Even when events work against the group’s goals, resonant leaders can continue to steer the group in a positive direction.

Preparing for Positive Performance

How can leaders help group members perform at their best? Sigal Barsade at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has conducted research  on the impact of emotions on work performance. Barsade and other researchers note that employees perform best when leaders convey enthusiasm, motivation, and a shared sense of meaning. Used carefully, negative emotions like anger and fear may improve performance briefly — but in the long term, they become toxic.

How Well Do You Handle These Tasks?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to evaluate your leadership style.

• How clearly and concisely can I describe the mission of my team/organization?
• How often do I frame requests or suggestions in relation to that mission?
• Does everyone in my team/organization understand how his or her current work relates to the mission?
• How emotionally self-aware  am I? Can I describe my feelings right now?
• How well do I manage my emotions?
• What emotions do I display at work? On a good day? When I feel challenged or upset?
• How would I describe the emotional atmosphere in my group?

To give yourself even more information about your handling of the leadership tasks, ask a trusted colleague to look over these questions and give you feedback on how he or she sees you in relation to each task. Consulting others, individually or in a full 360-degree assessment , can be extremely helpful as you work to identify potential areas for improvement.

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Lesson Plan: What Makes a Leader?

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Leadership vs. Management: What’s the Difference?

• 31 Oct 2019

The terms “leadership” and “management” are often used interchangeably. While there is some overlap between the work that leaders and managers do, there are also significant differences.

In a keynote discussion at Harvard Business School Online’s annual conference, Connext , HBS Professors Nancy Koehn and Joe Fuller explored the interplay between leadership and management and shared how they define the two disciplines.

Koehn referenced the work of HBS Professor John Kotter, who she said aptly defined the “activity of leadership.”

Leadership vs Management: What's the difference?

“ Leadership , he wrote, is the creation of positive, non-incremental change, including the creation of a vision to guide that change—a strategy—the empowerment of people to make the vision happen despite obstacles, and the creation of a coalition of energy and momentum that can move that change forward,” Koehn said.

Fuller, who teaches the online course Management Essentials , relayed his thoughts on how management compares.

“ Management is getting the confused, misguided, unmotivated, and misdirected to accomplish a common purpose on a regular, recurring basis,” Fuller said. “I think the ultimate intersection between leadership and management is an appreciation for what motivates and causes individuals to behave the way they do, and the ability to draw out the best of them with a purpose in mind.”

Watch the full keynote discussion between Nancy Koehn and Joe Fuller below:

While these definitions draw parallels between the roles of leaders and managers, they also allude to some key contrasts. Here are three differences between leadership and management.

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How Is Leadership Different from Management?

1. process vs. vision.

Effective leadership is centered on a vision to guide change.

Whereas managers set out to achieve organizational goals through implementing processes, such as budgeting, organizational structuring, and staffing, leaders are more intent on thinking ahead and capitalizing on opportunities.

“I think of management as working with other people to make sure the goals an organization has articulated are executed,” says HBS Dean Nitin Nohria in an interview for the online course Management Essentials . “It’s the process of working with others to ensure the effective execution of a chosen set of goals. Leadership is about developing what the goals should be. It’s more about driving change.”

2. Organizing vs. Aligning

In the book, On Becoming a Leader , scholar Warren Bennis presents a list of key differences between managers and leaders , including:

• The manager administers; the leader innovates
• The manager maintains; the leader develops
• The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people

Managers pursue goals through coordinated actions and tactical processes, or tasks and activities that unfold over stages to reach a certain outcome. For example, they may implement a decision-making process when leading a critical meeting , or when devising a plan for communicating organizational change .

Leaders, on the other hand, are less focused on how to organize people to get work done and more on finding ways to align and influence them.

“Your central function in a position of leadership is to mobilize others so they can execute a set of individual and collective tasks,” says HBS Professor Anthony Mayo in the online course Leadership Principles .

By developing a personal leadership style through self-reflection and honest feedback , leaders can learn how to empower their employees and inspire them to both believe in and pursue important organizational initiatives.

3. Position vs. Quality

The title “manager” often denotes a specific role within an organization’s hierarchy, while referring to someone as a “leader” has a more fluid meaning.

“Manager is a title. It’s a role and set of responsibilities,” says leadership coach Doc Norton in Forbes . “Having the position of manager does not make you a leader. The best managers are leaders, but the two are not synonymous. Leadership is the result of action. If you act in a way that inspires, encourages, or engages others, you are a leader. It doesn't matter your title or position.”

Leadership is a quality that needs to be shaped. Through developing emotional intelligence and learning how to influence others , professionals of all levels can build greater self-awareness and understand how to bring out the best in themselves and others.

For seasoned and aspiring managers alike, possessing strong leadership skills can not only lead to better job performance , but an improved knowledge of how to influence the context and environment in which decisions get made.

Related: How to Be an Effective Leader at Any Stage of Your Career

Unleashing Your Leadership Potential

Leadership skills can be developed at any stage of your career. By understanding the characteristics of effective leaders and how leadership differs from management, you can develop techniques for coaching colleagues, delivering feedback, and overcoming specific organizational challenges.

Do you want to become a more effective leader and manager? Download our free leadership and management e-book to find out how. Also, explore our online leadership and management courses to learn how you can take charge of your professional development and accelerate your career. To find the right course for you, download the free flowchart .

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Leadership Effectiveness in Healthcare Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Before–After Studies

Vincenzo restivo.

1 Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (PROMISE) “G. D’Alessandro”, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy

Giuseppa Minutolo

Alberto battaglini.

2 Vaccines and Clinical Trials Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Genova, Via Antonio Pastore 1, 16132 Genova, Italy

Alberto Carli

3 Santa Chiara Hospital, Largo Medaglie d’oro 9, 38122 Trento, Italy

Michele Capraro

4 School of Public Health, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milan, Italy

Maddalena Gaeta

5 Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Via Forlanini 2, 27100 Pavia, Italy

Cecilia Trucchi

6 Planning, Epidemiology and Prevention Unit, Liguria Health Authority (A.Li.Sa.), IRCCS San Martino Hospital, Largo R. Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy

Carlo Favaretti

7 Centre on Leadership in Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy

Francesco Vitale

Alessandra casuccio, associated data.

Data will be available after writing correspondence to the author.

To work efficiently in healthcare organizations and optimize resources, team members should agree with their leader’s decisions critically. However, nowadays, little evidence is available in the literature. This systematic review and meta-analysis has assessed the effectiveness of leadership interventions in improving healthcare outcomes such as performance and guidelines adherence. Overall, the search strategies retrieved 3,155 records, and 21 of them were included in the meta-analysis. Two databases were used for manuscript research: PubMed and Scopus. On 16th December 2019 the researchers searched for articles published in the English language from 2015 to 2019. Considering the study designs, the pooled leadership effectiveness was 14.0% (95%CI 10.0–18.0%) in before–after studies, whereas the correlation coefficient between leadership interventions and healthcare outcomes was 0.22 (95%CI 0.15–0.28) in the cross-sectional studies. The multi-regression analysis in the cross-sectional studies showed a higher leadership effectiveness in South America (β = 0.56; 95%CI 0.13, 0.99), in private hospitals (β = 0.60; 95%CI 0.14, 1.06), and in medical specialty (β = 0.28; 95%CI 0.02, 0.54). These results encourage the improvement of leadership culture to increase performance and guideline adherence in healthcare settings. To reach this purpose, it would be useful to introduce a leadership curriculum following undergraduate medical courses.

1. Introduction

Over the last years, patients’ outcomes, population wellness and organizational standards have become the main purposes of any healthcare structure [ 1 ]. These standards can be achieved following evidence-based practice (EBP) for diseases prevention and care [ 2 , 3 ] and optimizing available economical and human resources [ 3 , 4 ], especially in low-industrialized geographical areas [ 5 ]. This objective could be reached with effective healthcare leadership [ 3 , 4 ], which could be considered a network whose team members followed leadership critically and motivated a leader’s decisions based on the organization’s requests and targets [ 6 ]. Healthcare workers raised their compliance towards daily activities in an effective leadership context, where the leader succeeded in improving membership and performance awareness among team members [ 7 ]. Furthermore, patients could improve their health conditions in a high-level leadership framework. [ 8 ] Despite the leadership benefits for healthcare systems’ performance and patients’ outcomes [ 1 , 7 ], professionals’ confidence would decline in a damaging leadership context for workers’ health conditions and performance [ 4 , 9 , 10 ]. On the other hand, the prevention of any detrimental factor which might worsen both team performance and healthcare systems’ outcomes could demand effective leadership [ 4 , 7 , 10 ]. However, shifting from the old and assumptive leadership into a more effective and dynamic one is still a challenge [ 4 ]. Nowadays, the available evidence on the impact and effectiveness of leadership interventions is sparse and not systematically reported in the literature [ 11 , 12 ].

Recently, the spreading of the Informal Opinion Leadership style into hospital environments is changing the traditional concept of leadership. This leadership style provides a leader without any official assignment, known as an “opinion leader”, whose educational and behavioral background is suitable for the working context. Its target is to apply the best practices in healthcare creating a more familiar and collaborative team [ 2 ]. However, Flodgren et al. reported that informal leadership interventions increased healthcare outcomes [ 2 ].

Nowadays, various leadership styles are recognized with different classifications but none of them are considered the gold standard for healthcare systems because of heterogenous leadership meanings in the literature [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 12 , 13 ]. Leadership style classification by Goleman considered leaders’ behavior [ 5 , 13 ], while Chen DS-S proposed a traditional leadership style classification (charismatic, servant, transactional and transformational) [ 6 ].

Even if leadership style improvement depends on the characteristics and mission of a workplace [ 6 , 13 , 14 ], a leader should have both a high education in healthcare leadership and the behavioral qualities necessary for establishing strong human relationships and achieving a healthcare system’s goals [ 7 , 15 ]. Theoretically, any practitioner could adapt their emotive capacities and educational/working experiences to healthcare contexts, political lines, economical and human resources [ 7 ]. Nowadays, no organization adopts a policy for leader selection in a specific healthcare setting [ 15 ]. Despite the availability of a self-assessment leadership skills questionnaire for aspirant leaders and a pattern for the selection of leaders by Dubinsky et al. [ 15 ], a standardized and universally accepted method to choose leaders for healthcare organizations is still argued over [ 5 , 15 ].

Leadership failure might be caused by the arduous application of leadership skills and adaptive characteristics among team members [ 5 , 6 ]. One of the reasons for this negative event could be the lack of a standardized leadership program for medical students [ 16 , 17 ]. Consequently, working experience in healthcare settings is the only way to apply a leadership style for many medical professionals [ 12 , 16 , 17 ].

Furthermore, the literature data on leadership effectiveness in healthcare organizations were slightly significant or discordant in results. Nevertheless, the knowledge of pooled leadership effectiveness should motivate healthcare workers to apply leadership strategies in healthcare systems [ 12 ]. This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses the pooled effectiveness of leadership interventions in improving healthcare workers’ and patients’ outcomes.

2. Materials and Methods

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement guidelines [ 18 ]. The protocol was registered on the PROSPERO database with code CRD42020198679 on 15 August 2020. Following these methodological standards, leadership interventions were evaluated as the pooled effectiveness and influential characteristic of healthcare settings, such as leadership style, workplace, settings and the study period.

2.1. Data Sources and Search Strategy

PubMed and Scopus were the two databases used for the research into the literature. On 16th December 2019, manuscripts in the English language published between 2015 and 2019 were searched by specific MeSH terms for each dataset. Those for PubMed were “leadership” OR “leadership” AND “clinical” AND “outcome” AND “public health” OR “public” AND “health” OR “public health” AND “humans”. Those for Scopus were “leadership” AND “clinical” AND “outcome” AND “public” AND “health”.

2.2. Study Selection and Data Extraction

In accordance with the PRISMA Statement, the following PICOS method was used for including articles [ 18 ]: the target population was all healthcare workers in any hospital or clinical setting (Population); the interventions were any leader’s recommendation to fulfil quality standards or performance indexes of a healthcare system (Intervention) [ 19 ]; to be included, the study should have a control group or reference at baseline as comparison (Control); and any effectiveness measure in terms of change in adherence to healthcare guidelines or performances (Outcome). In detail, any outcome implicated into healthcare workers’ capacity and characteristics in reaching a healthcare systems purposes following the highest standards was considered as performance [ 19 ]. Moreover, whatever clinical practices resulted after having respected the recommendations, procedures or statements settled previously was considered as guideline adherence [ 20 ]. The selected study design was an observational or experimental/quasi-experimental study design (trial, case control, cohort, cross-sectional, before-after study), excluding any systematic reviews, metanalyses, study protocol and guidelines (Studies).

The leaders’ interventions followed Chen’s leadership styles classification [ 6 ]. According to this, the charismatic leadership style can be defined also as an emotive leadership because of members’ strong feelings which guide the relationship with their leader. Its purpose is the improvement of workers’ motivation to reach predetermined organizational targets following a leader’s planning strategies and foresights. Servant leadership style is a sharing leadership style in whose members can increase their skills and competences through steady leader support, and they have a role in an organization’s goals. The transformational leadership style focuses on practical aspects such as new approaches for problem solving, new interventions to reach purposes, future planning and viewpoints sharing. Originality in a transformational leadership style has a key role of improving previous workers’ and healthcare system conditions in the achievement of objectives. The transactional leadership style requires a working context where technical skills are fundamental, and whose leader realizes a double-sense sharing process of knowledge and tasks with members. Furthermore, workers’ performances are improved through a rewarding system [ 6 ].

In this study, the supervisor trained the research team for practical manuscript selection and data extraction. The aim was to ensure data homogeneity and to check the authors’ procedures for selection and data collection. The screening phase was performed by four researchers reading each manuscript’s title and abstract independently and choosing to exclude any article that did not fulfill the inclusion criteria. Afterwards, the included manuscripts were searched for in the full text. They were retrieved freely, by institutional access or requesting them from the authors.

The assessment phase consisted of full-text reading to select articles following the inclusion criteria. The supervisor solved any contrasting view about article selection and variable selection.

The final database was built up by collecting the information from all included full-text articles: author, title, study year, year of publication, country/geographic location, study design, viability and type of evaluation scales for leadership competence, study period, type of intervention to improve leadership awareness, setting of leader intervention, selection modality of leaders, leadership style adopted, outcomes assessed such as guideline adherence or healthcare workers’ performance, benefits for patients’ health or patients’ outcomes improvement, public or private hospitals or healthcare units, ward specialty, intervention in single specialty or multi-professional settings, number of beds, number of healthcare workers involved in leadership interventions and sample size.

Each included article in this systematic review and meta-analysis received a standardized quality score for the specific study design, according to Newcastle–Ottawa, for the assessment of the quality of the cross-sectional study, and the Study Quality Assessment Tools by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute were used for all other study designs [ 21 , 22 ].

2.3. Statistical Data Analysis

The manuscripts metadata were extracted in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to remove duplicate articles and collect data. The included article variables for the quantitative meta-analysis were: first author, publication year, continent of study, outcome, public or private organization, hospital or local healthcare unit, surgical or non-surgical ward, multi- or single-professionals, ward specialty, sample size, quality score of each manuscript, leadership style, year of study and study design.

The measurement of the outcomes of interest (either performance or guidelines adherence) depended on the study design of the included manuscripts in the meta-analysis:

• for cross-sectional studies, the outcome of interest was the correlation between leadership improvement and guideline adherence or healthcare performance;
• the outcome derived from before–after studies or the trial was the percentage of leadership improvement intervention in guideline adherence or healthcare performance;
• the incidence occurrence of improved results among exposed and not exposed healthcare workers of leadership interventions and the relative risks (RR) were the outcomes in cohort studies;
• the odds ratio (OR) between the case of healthcare workers who had received a leadership intervention and the control group for case-control studies.

Pooled estimates were calculated using both the fixed effects and DerSimonian and Laird random effects models, weighting individual study results by the inverse of their variances [ 23 ]. Forest plots assessed the pooled estimates and the corresponding 95%CI across the studies. The heterogeneity test was performed by a chi-square test at a significance level of p < 0.05, reporting the I 2 statistic together with a 25%, 50% or 75% cut-off, indicating low, moderate, and high heterogeneity, respectively [ 24 , 25 ].

Subgroup analysis and meta-regression analyses explored the sources of significant heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis considered the leadership style (charismatic, servant, transactional and transformational), continent of study (North America, Europe, Oceania), median cut-off year of study conduction (studies conducted between 2005 and 2011 and studies conducted between 2012 and 2019), type of hospital organization (public or private hospital), type of specialty (surgical or medical specialty) and type of team (multi-professional or single-professional team).

Meta-regression analysis considered the following variables: year of starting study, continent of study conduction, public or private hospital, surgical or non-surgical specialty ward, type of healthcare service (hospital or local health unit), type of healthcare workers involved (multi- or single-professional), leadership style, and study quality score. All variables included in the model were relevant in the coefficient analysis.

To assess a potential publication bias, a graphical funnel plot reported the logarithm effect estimate and related the standard error from each study, and the Egger test was performed [ 26 , 27 ].

All data were analyzed using the statistical package STATA/SE 16.1 (StataCorp LP, College 482 Station, TX, USA), with the “metan” command used for meta-analysis, and “metafunnel”, “metabias” and “confunnel” for publication bias assessment [ 28 ].

3.1. Studies Characteristics

Overall, the search strategies retrieved 3,155 relevant records. After removing 570 (18.1%) duplicates, 2,585 (81.9%) articles were suitable for the screening phase, of which only 284 (11.0%) articles were selected for the assessment phase. During the assessment phase, 263 (92.6%) articles were excluded. The most frequent reasons of exclusion were the absence of relevant outcomes ( n = 134, 51.0%) and other study designs ( n = 61, 23.2%). Very few articles were rejected due to them being written in another language ( n = 1, 0.4%), due to the publication year being out of 2015–2019 ( n = 1, 0.4%) or having an unavailable full text ( n = 3, 1.1%).

A total of 21 (7.4%) articles were included in the qualitative and quantitative analysis, of which nine (42.9%) were cross-sectional studies and twelve (57.1%) were before and after studies ( Figure 1 ).

Flow-chart of selection manuscript phases for systematic review and meta-analysis on leadership effectiveness in healthcare workers.

The number of healthcare workers enrolled was 25,099 (median = 308, IQR = 89–1190), including at least 2,275 nurses (9.1%, median = 324, IQR = 199–458). Most of the studies involved a public hospital ( n = 16, 76.2%). Among the studies from private healthcare settings, three (60.0%) were conducted in North America. Articles which analyzed servant and charismatic leadership styles were nine (42.9%) and eight (38.1%), respectively. Interventions with a transactional leadership style were examined in six (28.6%) studies, while those with a transformational leadership style were examined in five studies (23.8%). Overall, 82 healthcare outcomes were assessed and 71 (86.6%) of them were classified as performance. Adherence-to-guidelines outcomes were 11 (13.4%), which were related mainly to hospital stay ( n = 7, 64.0%) and drug administration ( n = 3, 27.0%). Clements et al. and Lornudd et al. showed the highest number of outcomes, which were 19 (23.2%) and 12 (14.6%), respectively [ 29 , 30 ].

3.2. Leadership Effectiveness in before–after Studies

Before–after studies ( Supplementary Table S1 ) involved 22,241 (88.6%, median = 735, IQR = 68–1273) healthcare workers for a total of twelve articles, of which six (50.0%) consisted of performance and five (41.7%) of guidelines adherence and one (8.3%) of both outcomes. Among healthcare workers, there were 1,294 nurses (5.8%, median = 647, IQR = 40–1,254). Only the article by Savage et al. reported no number of involved healthcare workers [ 31 ].

The number of studies conducted after 2011 or between 2012–2019 was seven (58.3%), while only one (8.3%) article reported a study beginning both before and after 2011. Most of studies were conducted in Northern America ( n = 5, 41.7%). The servant leadership style and charismatic leadership style were the most frequently implemented, as reported in five (41.7%) and four (33.3%) articles, respectively. Only one (8.3%) study adopted a transformational leadership style.

The pooled effectiveness of leadership was 14.0% (95%CI 10.0–18.0%), with a high level of heterogeneity (I 2 = 99.9%, p < 0.0001) among the before–after studies ( Figure 2 ).

Effectiveness of leadership in before after studies. Dashed line represents the pooled effectiveness value [ 29 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ].

The highest level of effectiveness was reported by Weech-Maldonado R et al. with an effectiveness of 199% (95%CI 183–215%) based on the Cultural Competency Assessment Tool for Hospitals (CCATH) [ 39 ]. The effectiveness of leadership changed in accordance with the leadership style ( Supplementary Figure S1 ) and publication bias ( Supplementary Figure S2 ).

Multi-regression analysis indicated a negative association between leadership effectiveness and studies from Oceania, but this result was not statistically significant (β = −0.33; 95% IC −1.25, 0.59). On the other hand, a charismatic leadership style affected healthcare outcomes positively even if it was not statistically relevant (β = 0.24; 95% IC −0.69, 1.17) ( Table 1 ).

Correlation coefficients and multi-regression analysis of leadership effectiveness in before–after studies.

3.3. Leadership Effectiveness in Cross Sectional Studies

A total of 2858 (median = 199, IQR = 110–322) healthcare workers were involved in the cross-sectional studies ( Supplementary Table S2 ), of which 981 (34.3%) were nurses. Most of the studies were conducted in Asia ( n = 4, 44.4%) and North America ( n = 3, 33.3%). All of the cross-sectional studies regarded only the healthcare professionals’ performance. Multi-professional teams were involved in seven (77.8%) studies, and they were more frequently conducted in both medical and surgical wards ( n = 6, 66.7%). The leadership styles were equally distributed in the articles and two (22.2%) of them examined more than two leadership styles at the same time.

The pooled effectiveness of the leadership interventions in the cross-sectional studies had a correlation coefficient of 0.22 (95%CI 0.15–0.28), whose heterogeneity was remarkably high (I 2 = 96.7%, p < 0.0001) ( Figure 3 ).

Effectiveness of leadership in cross-sectional studies. Dashed line represents the pooled effectiveness value [ 30 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ].

The effectiveness of leadership in the cross-sectional studies changed in accordance with the leadership style ( Supplementary Figure S3 ) and publication bias ( Supplementary Figure S4 ).

Multi-regression analysis showed a higher leadership effectiveness in studies conducted in South America (β = 0.56 95%CI 0.13–0.99) in private hospitals (β = 0.60; 95%CI 0.14–1.06) and in the medical vs. surgical specialty (β = −0.22; 95%CI −0.54, −0.02) ( Table 2 ).

Multi-regression analysis of leadership effectiveness in cross-sectional studies.

* 0.05 ≤ p < 0.01.

4. Discussion

Leadership effectiveness in healthcare settings is a topic that is already treated in a quantitative matter, but only this systematic review and meta-analysis showed the pooled effectiveness of leadership intervention improving some healthcare outcomes such as performance and adherence to guidelines. However, the assessment of leadership effectiveness could be complicated because it depends on the study methodology and selected outcomes [ 12 ]. Health outcomes might benefit from leadership interventions, as Flodgren et al. was concerned about opinion leadership [ 2 ], whose adhesion to guidelines increased by 10.8% (95% CI: 3.5–14.6%). On the other hand, other outcomes did not improve after opinion leadership interventions [ 2 ]. Another review by Ford et al. about emergency wards reported a summary from the literature data which acknowledged an improvement in trauma care management through healthcare workers’ performance and adhesion to guidelines after effective leadership interventions [ 14 ]. Nevertheless, some variables such as collaboration among different healthcare professionals and patients’ healthcare needs might affect leadership intervention effectiveness [ 14 ]. Therefore, a defined leadership style might fail in a healthcare setting rather than in other settings [ 5 , 13 , 14 ].

The leadership effectiveness assessed through cross-sectional studies was higher in South America than in other continents. A possible explanation of this result could be the more frequent use of a transactional leadership style in this area, where the transactional leadership interventions were effective at optimizing economic resources and improving healthcare workers’ performance through cash rewards [ 48 ]. Financing methods for healthcare organizations might be different from one country to another, so the effectiveness of a leadership style can change. Reaching both economic targets and patients’ wellness could be considered a challenge for any leadership intervention [ 48 ], especially in poorer countries [ 5 ].

This meta-analysis showed a negative association between leadership effectiveness and studies by surgical wards. Other research has supported these results, which reported surgical ward performance worsened in any leadership context (charismatic, servant, transactional, transformational) [ 47 ]. In those workplaces, adopting a leadership style to improve surgical performance might be challenging because of nervous tension and little available time during surgical procedures [ 47 ]. On the other hand, a cross-sectional study declared that a surgical team’s performance in private surgical settings benefitted from charismatic leadership-style interventions [ 42 ]. This style of leadership intervention might be successful among a few healthcare workers [ 42 ], where creating relationships is easier [ 6 ]. Even a nursing team’s performance in trauma care increased after charismatic leadership-style interventions because of better communicative and supportive abilities than certain other professional categories [ 29 , 47 ]. However, nowadays there is no standardized leadership in healthcare basic courses [ 5 , 6 , 12 ]. Consequently, promoting leadership culture after undergraduate medical courses could achieve a proper increase in both leadership agreement and working wellness as well as a higher quality of care. [ 17 ]. Furthermore, for healthcare workers who have already worked in a healthcare setting, leadership improvement could consist of implementing basic knowledge on that topic. Consequently, they could reach a higher quality of care practice through working wellness [ 17 ] and overcoming the lack of previous leadership training [ 17 ].

Although very few studies have included in a meta-analysis examined in private healthcare settings [ 35 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], leadership interventions had more effectiveness in private hospitals than in public hospitals. This result could be related to the continent of origin, and indeed 60.0% of these studies were derived from North America [ 38 , 41 , 42 ], where patients’ outcomes and healthcare workers’ performance could influence available hospital budgets [ 38 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], especially in peripheral healthcare units [ 38 , 41 ]. Private hospitals paid more attention to the cost-effectiveness of any healthcare action and a positive balance of capital for healthcare settings might depend on the effectiveness of leadership interventions [ 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Furthermore, private healthcare assistance focused on nursing performance because of its impact on both a patients’ and an organizations’ outcomes. Therefore, healthcare systems’ quality could improve with effective leadership actions for a nursing team [ 40 ].

Other factors reported in the literature could affect leadership effectiveness, although they were not examined in this meta-analysis. For instance, professionals’ specialty and gender could have an effect on these results and shape leadership style choice and effectiveness [ 1 ]. Moreover, racial differences among members might influence healthcare system performance. Weech-Maldonado et al. found a higher compliance and self-improvement by black-race professionals than white ones after transactional leadership interventions [ 39 ].

Healthcare workers’ and patients’ outcomes depended on style of leadership interventions [ 1 ]. According to the results of this meta-analysis, interventions conducted by a transactional leadership style increased healthcare outcomes, though nevertheless their effectiveness was higher in the cross-sectional studies than in the before–after studies. Conversely, the improvement by a transformational leadership style was higher in before–after studies than in the cross-sectional studies. Both a charismatic and servant leadership style increased effectiveness more in the cross-sectional studies than in the before–after studies. This data shows that any setting required a specific leadership style for improving performance and guideline adherence by each team member who could understand the importance of their role and their tasks [ 1 ]. Some outcomes had a better improvement than others. Focusing on Savage et al.’s outcomes, a transformational leadership style improved checklist adherence [ 31 ]. The time of patients’ transport by Murphy et al. was reduced after conducting interventions based on a charismatic leadership style [ 37 ]. Jodar et al. showed that performances were elevated in units whose healthcare workers were subjected to transactional and transformational leadership-style interventions [ 1 ].

These meta-analysis results were slightly relevant because of the high heterogeneity among the studies, as confirmed by both funnel plots. This publication bias might be caused by unpublished articles due to either lacking data on leadership effectiveness, failing appropriate leadership strategies in the wrong settings or non-cooperating teams [ 12 ]. The association between leadership interventions and healthcare outcomes was slightly explored or gave no statistically significant results [ 12 ], although professionals’ performance and patients’ outcomes were closely related to the adopted leadership style, as reported by the latest literature sources [ 7 ]. Other aspects than effectiveness should be investigated for leadership. For example, the evaluation of the psychological effect of leadership should be explored using other databases.

The study design choice could affect the results about leadership effectiveness, making their detection and their statistical relevance tough [ 12 ]. Despite the strongest evidence of this study design [ 50 ], nowadays, trials about leadership effectiveness on healthcare outcomes are lacking and have to be improved [ 12 ]. Notwithstanding, this analysis gave the first results of leadership effectiveness from the available study designs.

Performance and adherence to guidelines were the main two outcomes examined in this meta-analysis because of their highest impact on patients, healthcare workers and hospital organizations. They included several other types of outcomes which were independent each other and gave different effectiveness results [ 12 ]. The lack of neither an official classification nor standardized guidelines explained the heterogeneity of these outcomes. To reach consistent results, they were classified into performance and guideline adherence by the description of each outcome in the related manuscripts [ 5 , 6 , 12 ].

Another important aspect is outcome assessment after leadership interventions, which might be fulfilled by several standardized indexes and other evaluation methods [ 40 , 41 ]. Therefore, leadership interventions should be investigated in further studies [ 5 ], converging on a univocal and official leadership definition and classification to obtain comparable results among countries [ 5 , 6 , 12 ].

5. Conclusions

This meta-analysis gave the first pooled data estimating leadership effectiveness in healthcare settings. However, some of them, e.g., surgery, required a dedicated approach to select the most worthwhile leadership style for refining healthcare worker performances and guideline adhesion. This can be implemented using a standardized leadership program for surgical settings.

Only cross-sectional studies gave significant results in leadership effectiveness. For this reason, leadership effectiveness needs to be supported and strengthened by other study designs, especially those with the highest evidence levels, such as trials. Finally, further research should be carried out to define guidelines on leadership style choice and establish shared healthcare policies worldwide.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph191710995/s1 , Figure S1. Leadership effectiveness by leadership style in before after studies; Figure S2. Funnel plot of before after studies; Figure S3. Leadership effectiveness in cross sectional studies by four leadership style; Figure S4. Funnel plot of cross-sectional studies; Table S1. Before after studies included in this systematic review and meta-analysis; Table S2. Cross-sectional studies included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. All outcomes were performance.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, V.R., A.C. (Alessandra Casuccio), F.V. and C.F.; methodology, V.R., M.G., A.O. and C.T.; software, V.R.; validation, G.M., A.B., A.C. (Alberto Carli) and M.C.; formal analysis, V.R.; investigation, G.M., A.B., A.C. (Alberto Carli) and M.C.; resources, A.C. (Alessandra Casuccio); data curation, G.M. and V.R.; writing—original draft preparation, G.M.; writing—review and editing, A.C. (Alessandra Casuccio), F.V., C.F., M.G., A.O., C.T., A.B., A.C. (Alberto Carli) and M.C.; visualization, G.M.; supervision, V.R.; project administration, C.F.; funding acquisition, A.C. (Alessandra Casuccio), F.V. and C.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to secondary data analysis for the systematic review and meta-anlysis.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Assignment Cards & Scripture Prompts

• December 29, 2014
• 2015 Outline Songs , Scripture Prompts , Susan Fitch

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8 thoughts on “Assignment Cards & Scripture Prompts”

Hi Camille, When I tried to open the file for the talk and prayer assignmets, I got a Google Drive Error saying it couldn't be opened and referred me to Googles privacy and terms agreement. Any ideas? Thanks again for your incredible resources!

Me Again, I am getting the same error message for the Scripture Document:

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In the meantime, if you contact me using the tab above, I'll get your email address and send you any file you need, just let me know which ones.

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I just uploaded new copies of the 2 above documents to Google Drive and created new links…it appears to be working now. Let me know if you still have problems.

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Hey Camille, I LOVE THIS! I am wondering if you have an assignment card for the article of faith as well?

I just updated the post to reflect an Article of Faith version. Hope that helps!

Hi! When trying to download the assignment cards for Primary prayers, talks, etc. the Primary talk template keeps openging instead. Can you email me the assignment cards? Boys and girls? I appreciate your talent for those of us who can use it! Thank you! Jolyn [email protected]

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The Judicial Council of California, seeks proposals from hotels for the Primary Assignment Orientation Conference. 

Location: Downtown Los Angeles, LAX, Long Beach, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Pasadena, Burbank and Downtown San Diego. 

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An essential morning newsletter briefing for leaders in the nation’s capital.

Progressives stare down primary challengers

with research by Tobi Raji

Good morning, Early Birds. The Ramones’ debut album came out 48 years ago today. Their music remains timeless. Tips: [email protected] . Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here . Thanks for waking up with us.

In today’s edition …  Some top K Street firms report record first-quarter revenue … Day 6 of the hush money trial … but first …

The campaign

A liberal house democrat stares down a primary challenger.

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) has taken a harder line against Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza than most House Democrats.

Today will determine whether Democratic primary voters punish her for it.

Lee, a freshman who represents Pittsburgh and its inner suburbs, is facing a challenge in today’s primary from Bhavini Patel , a community outreach manager, who is running as a more moderate Democrat. Patel’s TV ads have accused Lee of undermining President Biden and have tried to portray her as a radical.

The ads don’t mention Israel --- but that’s the subtext of the race.

A super PAC backing Patel has attacked Lee in its ads for giving Biden “the cold shoulder at the State of the Union” — without mentioning that Lee and other Democrats refused to stand and applaud the president in protest of his handling of the war in Gaza.

Lee was one of the first House Democrats to call for a cease-fire after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and she was one of 37 House Democrats who voted on Saturday against sending military aid to Israel alongside humanitarian aid to Gaza.

• “She’s clearly picked a side in this situation and completely disregards her entire district,” Patel told our colleague Dylan Wells in a Saturday interview in Pittsburgh.

Lee’s ads, in contrast, are upbeat and tout her support for Democratic priorities such as reproductive rights, Social Security and Medicare.

Lee disputed on Sunday that the race is a referendum on her views on Israel.

“The hyper-focus that we have seen on Israel is because Israel has been used by right-wing — particularly MAGA — Republicans as a wedge issue,” Lee told Dylan and other reporters. “And when we play into that, when we play into the idea that that is the only issue that is important to voters … we do our communities a disservice, because people are looking for holistic representatives.”

Sending a message

The primary is in some ways a test of whether moderate Democrats can defeat members of the “Squad” and their allies, who have worked to push the Democratic Party further to the left.

Justice Democrats PAC , which helped elect several members of the Squad, has run ads in the race. A super PAC backing Patel, Moderate PAC , has been funded in part by an $800,000 contribution from Jeffrey Yass , a Republican megadonor.

The donors trying to sway the election are targeting “the people who threaten them the most first,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told the crowd at a rally for Lee on Sunday. “Summer Lee, top of the ticket right here. But it’s not just Summer.”

The same people are going after Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ocasio-Cortez said. All three are members of the Squad facing primary challengers this year.

“Tuesday is the first of the rest of these races,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “So, Pittsburgh, what you’re doing on Tuesday is sending a message to the country.”

Looking ahead

Two super PACs that have backed primary challengers who took on Democrats who have been critical of Israel in the past, meanwhile, chose not to get involved in Lee’s primary, but they’re eyeing others this year.

Mark Mellman , the president of Democratic Majority for Israel , which backs Democrats who support Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza, disputed that Lee’s race was a sign of how other primaries this year would turn out. DMFI did not endorse in the race and its super PAC spent no money.

• “The national pro-Israel community did not engage in this race, which means it’s not really a serious test,” Mellman told us. “But there will be tests yet to come.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee — which spent millions of dollars in Democratic primaries in the midterms via its super PAC — didn’t back Patel, either. But it has endorsed Wesley Bell , who’s challenging Bush, and George Latimer , who’s running against Bowman.

United Democracy Project , AIPAC’s super PAC, is polling in 15 to 20 other races and is likely to spend in Bowman’s primaries in June and Bush’s primary in August, according to a person familiar with its strategy who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its plans.

Bell and Latimer have raised much more money for their races than Patel. Bell raised nearly $1 million and Latimer raised $2.2 million in the first quarter of the year, while Patel raised less than $300,000, according to campaign finance filings.

Thanks to our colleague for Dylan Wells for contributing reporting. Follow her on X: @dylanewells .

On K Street

The lobbying business traditionally slows in a presidential election year, but it doesn’t seem to have happened yet.

Some of K Street’s top firms reported record revenue in the first quarter of the year, according to newly filed disclosures shared with The Early. Here are the figures, compared with the fourth quarter of last year:

• Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck reported $16.2 million in lobbying revenue, up from $16 million.
• Cornerstone Government Affairs reported $11.2 million, up from $10.9 million.
• BGR Group reported $10.9 million, up from $10.8 million.
• Invariant reported $10.2 million, up from $10 million.
• Mehlman Consulting reported $7.4 million, up from $6.8 million.
• Thorn Run Partners reported $7.2 million, up from $7.1 million.
• Cassidy & Associates reported $6.5 million in revenue, up from $6.1 million.

Other firms saw dips in revenue, although in some cases it was down only slightly from recent record highs:

• Holland & Knight reported $12.4 million, down from $12.7 million in the fourth quarter but up from $10.8 million in the first quarter of last year.
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld reported $13.8 million, down from $14.2 million in the fourth quarter but up from $13.4 million in the first quarter of last year.

What we're watching

In the senate.

The national security supplemental: The Senate will come into session today to take up the House-passed national security package that provides funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and humanitarian aid for Gaza and elsewhere. 

The Senate passed its version in February but must vote again because of differences in the two chambers’ bills. The House turned a portion of the Ukraine funding — the 20 percent that goes directly to the Ukrainian government — into a loan, and passed a fourth bill that seizes Russian assets and would ban TikTok if it isn’t sold by its Chinese parent. 

The bills are combined into one in the Senate. It will hold a vote at 1 p.m. today to move on the measure.  

Some Republicans and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are demanding votes on amendments. If there is no agreement on whether any of the amendments will receive a vote, final passage is expected tomorrow night. The earlier package received 70 votes in February. The vote tally this week should be similar. 

On the campaign trail

President Biden’s campaign now appears to be viewing Florida as a battleground state, as he heads to Tampa to give a speech on abortion .

In a new memo this morning ahead of Biden’s trip to Florida today, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez writes that abortion rights are a top issue in “Every Single Key Battleground” — a list that includes Florida along with the eight states that Biden visited in March.

It’s the latest indication that the campaign is making a play for Florida after the state’s Supreme Court allowed a six-week abortion ban to take effect while also allowing an abortion rights measure to appear on the ballot. We’re watching what Biden says about abortion.

From the courts

Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for a labor case involving Starbucks, a Seattle-based coffee giant that has fired baristas for organizing unions in their local coffeehouses. 

At issue is whether the standard that federal judges use to determine whether workers should get their job back, when requested by the National Labor Relations Board , should be stronger, our colleague Lauren Kaori Gurley reports . 

In the states

Leigh Ann will interview former New Jersey governor and former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie this evening at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics . We’re watching to see what he says about a lot of things, including former president Donald Trump ’s trials and the future of the Republican Party. You can watch the event here . 

Day 6 of the hush money trial

The sixth day of Trump’s hush money trial will open with a hearing on whether the former president violated a court-issued gag order that prohibits him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors or family members of the judge and the Manhattan district attorney. 

Manhattan prosecutors allege that Trump violated the gag order 10 times and are asking New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to impose a fine of $1,000 for each violation.

Afterward, David Pecker , the former publisher of the National Enquirer and a longtime Trump ally, is expected to continue testimony about his relationship with Trump and the tactics he used to prevent negative stories from surfacing. He will also be cross-examined by Trump’s attorneys.

Here’s what else you need to know: 

More on the prosecution’s first witness: Pecker “is alleged to have helped broker the payment to [adult-film actress Stormy Daniels ] in his role at the time as chief executive of American Media Inc. , the tabloid publisher,” Derek reports. “It was part of a practice known as ‘catch-and-kill,’ in which the National Enquirer sought to bury negative stories about Trump to help his presidential bid. Prosecutors say Pecker and a National Enquirer editor contacted Cohen — another key witness in the case — shortly before the 2016 election and told him Daniels was shopping around a story alleging a tryst with Trump. Soon after, Cohen reached out to Daniels offering the $130,000 payment.”

The defense’s strategy: In his opening statement, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told the panel that the prosecutor’s case would collapse because it was built on Cohen’s lies, our colleagues Devlin Barrett, Shayna Jacobs, Tom Jackman and Hannah Knowles report . Blanche also slammed the prosecution’s attempt to characterize the payment as a “long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.” “There’s nothing illegal about what happened between AMI, Mr. Pecker, Mr. Cohen and President Trump,” Blanche said.

Expect bank records, emails and Trump’s “own words” as evidence: “Colangelo said the jury will be convinced Cohen is telling the truth about the hush money payments because his statements will be ‘backed up by testimony from other witnesses’ as well as bank records, emails and text messages,” Devlin, Shayna, Tom and Hannah report. “Trump will provide some of the evidence that will prove his guilt, Colangelo said, because jurors will hear ‘Donald Trump’s own words on tape, in social media posts, in his own books and in video of his own speeches.’”

More hush money reads from our colleagues: 

• A president’s guide to dozing in public . By Maura Judkis.
• Takeaways: The Trump Trials: Live from New York, it’s opening day . By Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett . 
• Related: Trump attorneys agree to new conditions on $175 million bond . By El M. Calabrese .

From The Post: 

• The fate of emergency abortion care rests with Supreme Court. By Dan Diamond, Ann Marimow and Caroline Kitchener.
• Trump continues his reversal on TikTok, accusing Biden of wanting to ban it . By Patrick Svitek .
• U.S. cites a litany of rights violations in Israel, Gaza and West Bank . By Missy Ryan and Michael Birnbaum .

From across the web: 

• For Biden, aid package provides a welcome boost on the world stage . By the New York Times’s Peter Baker .
• Republicans are starting to worry about RFK Jr. By Politico’s Lisa Kashinsky, Brittany Gibson, Jessica Piper and Steven Shepard .
• How Columbia University became the epicenter of disagreement over the Israel-Hamas war . By USA Today’s Zachary Schermele .

I bet he’s not even that good

Visual evidence of Herschel Walker back at UGA, where he re-enrolled last year after he lost a U.S. Senate bid. H/t @RedcupGeorgia #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/qaWOAJJzro — Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) April 22, 2024

Thanks for reading. You can also follow us on X: @theodoricmeyer and @LACaldwellDC .

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Summer Lee Has Been a Vocal Israel Critic. Will It Matter in Her Primary?

The race in Pennsylvania once seemed primed to become a major test of Democratic attitudes about the Middle East. But in much of the district, an expected ideological battle has not arrived.

By Katie Glueck and Anjali Huynh

Photographs by Jeff Swensen

Reporting from Pittsburgh, Pa.

As a progressive insurgent in her last primary campaign, Summer Lee barely eked out a victory in a Pittsburgh-area congressional race, facing fierce opposition from local Democratic leadership and an onslaught of spending from outside groups.

Two years later, Ms. Lee — now a congresswoman aligned with the left-wing “Squad” in Washington — heads into Tuesday’s primary contest as the dominant front-runner, backed by much of the party establishment even as her criticism of Israel has deeply angered some Jewish constituents.

“It was just the development of Congresswoman Summer Lee,” said Mayor Ed Gainey of Pittsburgh, asked about the biggest difference between the 2022 primary contest and this one. “No one can doubt her influence.”

The Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 12th District seemed primed to become a major test of party attitudes about the Middle East, following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people in Israel , and the Israeli military response that has devastated Gaza.

Ms. Lee has condemned the Oct. 7 attack . But she is also one of the most vocal critics of Israel in Congress, breaking with much of her party on an array of Israel-related legislation and calling for a cease-fire nine days after the Hamas attack, a position at odds with many Democratic officials at the time.

Yet interviews with more than a dozen voters, party leaders and activists in the Pittsburgh area suggest that the once-expected ideological battle has been significantly limited.

In part, that reflects how politics have changed since October: Amid a spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where local authorities say the death toll has climbed past 30,000, many Democrats have become increasingly critical of the Israeli government’s conduct of the war.

And in part, it is a function of campaign fundamentals.

Ms. Lee did not attract a well-known primary challenger — she is facing Bhavini Patel, a young council member in Edgewood, Pa., whom Ms. Lee has vastly out-raised. National pro-Israel organizations that spent heavily against Ms. Lee last time are now focused on what they see as stronger opportunities elsewhere.

As she has built a record in Washington and established more relationships as a congresswoman, Ms. Lee is also enjoying the powerful benefits of incumbency.

Ms. Lee, the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress, is backed by mainstream party leaders including top House Democratic leaders , Pennsylvania’s senators, major labor unions and the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, which previously opposed her.

Ms. Lee also has the support of prominent left-wing lawmakers including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who rallied with Ms. Lee on Sunday .

In Pennsylvania, she and her allies have emphasized local matters, especially her work to secure federal funding for the district.

And on a swing through Pittsburgh, some voters said Ms. Lee struck the right balance between pressing progressive policies and not wading too far into intraparty criticism.

“She’s a good Democrat with the party,” said Doug Croft, 73, who is retired from a career in finance. But, noting that sometimes she pushes “a little from the left,” he added, “I like that combination.”

Ms. Patel, however, is casting Ms. Lee as outside the political mainstream and insufficiently supportive of President Biden.

“It is coming down to the 2024 general election and support for Biden,” Ms. Patel said. “There’s a desire in many ways to see rejection of extremism on both sides.”

Ms. Lee said that “there is no question about where my support will lie,” and that she would “help Joe Biden earn every single vote of this coalition.”

Her allies have noted that Mr. Biden shouted out Ms. Lee, among other Pennsylvania lawmakers, while in the state last week. They argue that her diverse base of support positions her to help Mr. Biden engage voters indicating growing discontentment with him — in particular, young people and voters of color .

“No one has worked harder in Western Pennsylvania to expand the electorate and turn out voters,” said Usamah Andrabi, the spokesman for Justice Democrats, which supports progressive candidates.

But Ms. Lee has clearly broken with Mr. Biden on Middle East policy, alongside a growing number of other Democrats.

Ms. Lee, who wore a kaffiyeh , a scarf associated with Palestinian nationalism, to the State of the Union address, was one of several lawmakers to draw attention for appearing to respond tepidly at times to Mr. Biden’s speech.

That is a subject of advertising from Moderate PAC, a super PAC backing Ms. Patel. It is funded in significant part by Jeff Yass , the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor. (Ms. Lee’s allies have sharply criticized Ms. Patel and tied her to Mr. Yass; Ms. Patel said she disavowed the spending.)

The moment caught the attention of Jan Margo Brennan, 74.After Ms. Patel knocked on her door, Ms. Brennan told a reporter that she was bothered by Ms. Lee’s State of the Union posture.

“I’m thinking, ‘Do you really support him?’” she said.

Charlene Turner, 64, had the opposite reaction, saying the scene demonstrated Ms. Lee’s commitment to her convictions.

“She’s keeping it real,” Ms. Turner said.

“I want her to work with him,” Ms. Turner added in an interview in Homewood, a historic Black neighborhood in Pittsburgh. “At the same time, I don’t care who the president is. If you’re against something, stand against it.”

Ms. Lee’s early and sustained opposition to the Gaza war impressed some voters, like Aditi Sridhar, 23, a filmmaker.

“Especially initially, all of the deaths that were happening in Gaza, and the health care crisis that’s happening there, there were not a lot of politicians, I think, speaking out,” she said. .”

But Ms. Lee’s approach has troubled some Jewish community leaders and other voters who are often highly politically engaged .

In Squirrel Hill — the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, and the home of the Tree of Life synagogue, believed to be the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history — the pain of Oct. 7 and anxiety about rising antisemitism since were palpable on a recent visit.

And there, the primary feels much more like a competitive race.

A kosher grocery store displayed images of people taken hostage. Some houses had lawn signs showing support for Israel, alongside signs backing Ms. Patel. And in interviews, some denounced Ms. Lee’s position on the war and questioned whether she had shown sufficient empathy to a community shaken by the Oct. 7 attack.

“The Jewish community, specifically in the district, has really been hurt by some of her activities and her votes,” said Rabbi Yitzi Genack, who signed letters to Ms. Lee from Jewish clergy members expressing concerns.

In an interview, Ms. Lee said that “everyone has a right to vote the way that they feel is best” but promised to “be a representative” for all. She argued against treating the war as “the only issue that is important to voters.”

“It’s a shame that there are people who, while this community has been in its grief and it’s been in pain, that they’ve used it as a political opportunity,” she said.

She pointed to meetings she has held in Washington with relatives of those taken hostage to Gaza, and in Pennsylvania with Jewish community leaders and organizations. Ms. Lee also obtained federal dollars to rebuild the Tree of Life synagogue and support a group that helps those affected by the 2018 shooting.

Primary Day falls during Passover, and there have been efforts to encourage observant Jewish voters to cast early ballots. Mr. Genack, who said that as a rabbi he was not endorsing, said he dressed up for Purim as a mailman with a mail-in ballot.

Sam Hens-Greco, the chairman of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, said that Ms. Lee was broadly in a strong position.

But, he added, the war “has energized and activated a group, especially within the Jewish community,” including people who have not historically been politically active.

Basya Grossman, 40, an assistant in a local preschool, is one of them, at least on the Democratic side.

“I actually used to be a registered Republican,” said Ms. Grossman, who voted against Ms. Lee. “I switched because of this primary.”

Certainly, Ms. Lee has plenty of support from Jewish voters, too.

“There is this feeling and a portrayal that we all row in the same direction at all times, especially when it comes to things regarding Israel,” said Jonathan Mayo, a Squirrel Hill resident who is active in a “Jews for Summer” group and has close family ties to Israel. “There are a lot of Jews who support what Summer is doing.”

Kate Borger, 65, was grappling with her choice on Thursday while walking in Squirrel Hill.

“We feel so, so incredibly disturbed and horrified by what’s going on in Gaza,” she said.

But Ms. Borger, who is Jewish, said that she had friends “who are also horrified,” but felt that Ms. Lee brushed past the acts of Oct. 7.

That troubled her, too.

“I’m really torn up about it,” she said of the race. “I’m divided within myself.”

By Sunday, Ms. Borger was still conflicted, but said she was inclined to support Ms. Patel.

Katie Glueck covers American politics with a focus on the Democratic Party. More about Katie Glueck

Anjali Huynh , a member of the 2023-24 Times Fellowship class based in New York, covers national politics, the 2024 presidential campaign and other elections. More about Anjali Huynh

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Primary in Pennsylvania is here: A 2024 election guide from ballot issues to House races

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have essentially clinched their party’s 2024 nominations for the White House. But Pennsylvania voters on Tuesday will cast their ballots in a slew of contentious and potentially decisive congressional and state races that are still sure to make waves as the campaign chugs toward November.

The primary results in this pivotal swing state are certain to reveal insights about the major issues shaping the general election, namely on abortion and the Israel-Hamas war.

All 17 members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation are running for re-election in 2024 and three of those incumbents are facing serious primary challengers. Several others are also watching to see who their opponent will be in the fall. And, in some cases, the outcome of Tuesday’s races could determine which way those seats swing on Election Day. 

While it's a far-flung possibility, which party has a majority in Pennsylvania's congressional delegation also could have major implications on the presidential race. If the 2024 White House election is contested or tied, each state’s congressional delegation will have a single vote in deciding the winner. Currently, Democrats have a 9-8 advantage — meaning one general election race in November could make all the difference.  

At the state level, Democrats are hoping to hold on to their majority in the state House and take control of the state Senate. Republicans currently hold a 28-22 majority in the Senate, and Democrats are hoping to flip at least three seats to make it 25-25, giving them the majority via a tie-breaking vote from Democratic Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis.  

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Five Democrats and two Republicans are also battling for the open state attorney general position, once held by Democratic Gov.  Josh Shapiro . Michelle Henry, who is completing the remainder of Shapiro’s term since he was elected governor in 2022, is not running for the position.   

Candidates across these races are running on some of the biggest issues facing the country — from abortion to the war in Gaza to election integrity. And the candidates whom Democratic and Republican voters pick on Tuesday could give larger insights about their views on topics that appear central to this fall's general election.  

Here's a look at what to expect in Tuesday's primary. 

Abortion at play in Pennsylvania races  

Abortion has roiled down-ballot races across the country, and Pennsylvania is no exception. Reproductive rights have been a major topic in the attorney general’s race and in the Republican primary for the 1 st Congressional District.  

All five Democratic candidates for attorney general have committed to protecting the right to abortion and access to FDA-approved medications such as mifepristone . Meanwhile, the Republican candidates have said that they do not believe the state constitution guarantees the right to an abortion. As attorney general, both would leave the issue for the state legislature to decide. 

In Pennsylvania’s 1 st Congressional District, longtime Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is being challenged on his right flank by a candidate who believes abortions should be banned in nearly all circumstances — including in cases of rape and incest.  

Mark Houck, Fitzpatrick’s opponent, was acquitted of criminal charges stemming from an altercation at an abortion clinic.  The incident reportedly inspired him to run for public office. A devout Catholic, Houck co-founded the men's religious group The King's Men. He's worked as an author, motivational speaker and human resources manager.

Fitzpatrick is a moderate Republican. He is one of a handful of Republican representatives serving in districts that Biden won in 2020.  

The primary race could demonstrate just how important the issue of abortion is for the Republican Party’s base.  

Pennsylvania Democrats clash on Israel-Hamas war  

In Pennsylvania’s 12 th District, which includes Pittsburgh and some of its suburbs, first-term progressive Rep. Summer Lee, is facing a primary challenge over her opposition to the Israel-Hamas war. Bhavini Patel, a more moderate Democratic congressional candidate has tried to closely align herself with President Joe Biden. 

Lee, who is affiliated with the “squad,” was among the early advocates in Congress calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. She has been an outspoken opponent of providing U.S. military aid to Israel. 

Patel is a 29-year-old municipal council member who also describes herself as a progressive. She has framed the incumbent's criticism of Israel as detrimental to Biden’s re-election efforts and unrepresentative of a district that is home to a large Jewish community. 

The election on Tuesday could reveal just how salient the issue of the war is for Democratic voters — particularly in swing areas of the country. It may also forecast how other progressives facing similar challenges from moderate Democrats could fair in their races.  

What are the key Pennsylvania House races to watch? 

There are several other high-profile House primary races to watch in Pennsylvania.  

Six Democrats are competing for the chance to challenge GOP Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, which includes Harrisburg and Hershey.  

Perry was a former chair of the Freedom Caucus, one of the most conservative factions of the Republican Party, with members including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Perry was also a key figure in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

While the area leans Republican, Democrats say they can win over independents and moderate conservatives in the area with a message centered around protecting democracy. They plan to tie Perry to Trump and conservative extremism.  

Out of the six Democratic candidates running to unseat Perry, news anchor Janelle Stelson and former "Top Gun" fighter pilot Mike O’Brien appear to have the best shot. The other candidates include Harrisburg City Council member Shamaine Daniels, progressive businessman John Broadhurst and former radio executive Black Lynch.  

To the northeast of Harrisburg, in the Lehigh Valley, three Republicans are competing to take on Democratic Rep. Susan Wild. Her seat, in Pennsylvania’s 7th District, is a top target for Republicans in November.  

Wild barely eked out a victory against her Republican opponent, Lisa Scheller, in 2022. She won 51-49.  

Pennsylvania’s state legislature hangs in the balance  

If Pennsylvania Democrats hold their narrow majority in the state House and win the state Senate in November, it would give Gov. Shapiro enormous power to pass his agenda in the last two years of his term.  

It would also mark the first time in three decades that the party controlled the state Senate; Tuesday’s elections could determine whether that’s possible.  

Because the local districts tend to lean Democratic or Republican, the results of the primary elections can have a large sway on the race.  

Democrats currently hold a two-seat majority in the state House, and Republicans hold a five-seat majority in the state Senate.   

Tuned out or turned off? What the Pennsylvania primary results mean for Biden and Trump

With the top-ticket races already decided, Pennsylvanians voted sparsely, perhaps begrudgingly, in the primary this week.

An unofficial and preliminary estimate from the USA TODAY Network put voter turnout at less than 30%, several percentage points lower than turnout for the 2020 presidential primary. Nearly a quarter-million Pennsylvanians also voted against both President Joe Biden and his likely Republican opponent, Donald Trump, in favor of candidates who already had conceded and are no longer campaigning.

"I spend time with college-age voters every day and they could not be less enthusiastic about a rematch between Trump and Biden, and not just because it's a rematch and not just because it's candidates that are maybe not exciting to them," said Jennie Sweet-Cushman, a political science professor at Chatham University in Pittsburgh.

"There's a real lack of their views in politics being represented. It's not a big jump to go from, 'Those candidates are 80ish,' to, 'Why would they care about my future or the potential for me to have a family?' They're very tuned out as a result."

'If you don't vote in the primary can you vote in the general election in PA?'

Both Biden and Trump became the presumptive nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively, more than a month ago.

Two years ago there were signs there could be at minimum a showdown between Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was rallying in Pittsburgh with Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano in September 2022. But DeSantis lost the Iowa Caucus to Trump by 30 points in mid-January this year and dropped out entirely before the end of that month.

"Pennsylvanians are at a huge disadvantage compared to many other states in terms of their influence of presidential nominations," said Joseph Morris, chair of the political science department at Mercyhurst University in Erie.

Presidential primaries are often decided long before voters in the commonwealth have a chance to weigh in because Pennsylvania's primary is weeks after many other states primaries.

"What incentive (to vote) do people really have besides offices that they don't really understand, like auditor general?" Morris said.

This sentiment may have been best reflected by a popular internet search Wednesday: "If you don't vote in the primary can you vote in the general election in PA" was a breakout query on Google Trends.

"I don't know that we can say too much about November based on what we saw yesterday," Morris said. "Who knows who decided to stay home and who showed up to vote?"

The protest vote

With approximately 96% of the ballots counted, 68,490 Pennsylvania Democrats, or 7%, had cast a vote for presidential dropout Dean Phillips instead of Biden.

An even higher percentage of Pennsylvania Republicans snubbed Trump for Nikki Haley and her defunct campaign. Haley received 156,986 votes, nearly 17% of the total.

"Neither the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate is at all popular," Morris said.

"Joe Biden has probably the worst approval ratings of any president in the last 20 years, at least at this point in their time in office. And when it comes to favorability, both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are underwater. People just don't like these candidates."

Last year, Morris said, he was convinced the general dislike of Biden and Trump would result in an independent or third-party candidate capturing the national attention, similar to Ross Perot's surge more than 30 years ago.

"By June of 1992, Ross Perot was polling at just under 40% nationwide. Robert F. Kennedy has a long way to go to reach a Ross Perot level," Morris said.

If Kennedy hangs around in the race and makes the ballot in Pennsylvania, according to Morris, he'll make a repeat victory more difficult for Biden. He cited polling that shows Kennedy siphoning slightly more support from Biden than Trump when included on a hypothetical ballot.

"'Slightly' is going to be enough to determine the outcome of the election," Morris said.

Kyle Kondik, a political analyst with the University of Virginia Center for Politics, isn't as certain about Kennedy's potential effect. He believes Kennedy could win over more Trump supporters than Biden supporters because of his outspoken criticism of the COVID vaccines and Anthony Fauci, the nation's former chief medical adviser.

Kondik also said he believes the "protest" vote against Biden, for instance, could come from "ancestral Democrats" in coal-mining counties such as Cambria who've come to more closely align with the GOP despite never changing their party registration.

"Likewise, you probably still have some registered Republicans in southeast Pennsylvania who don't vote (for Trump)," Kondik said. "Party registration can be kind of a lagging indicator of reality."

How will Pennsylvania vote in November?

Because Pennsylvania is among a handful of swing states likely to determine the outcome of the presidential election, both polling and campaign strategies in the commonwealth should remain of national interest.

"There was such a significant protest vote for Nikki Haley," Sweet-Cushman said. "I'm curious ... are those voters who are willing to consider Biden? Are those voters who are going to stay home? Are those voters who can be won over to Trump, (or) are those voters who might consider a third party?"

She added that motivating these disaffected Pennsylvanians to support their candidate — or convincing certain demographics to vote third party, or perhaps not at all — will almost certainly be central to the Biden and Trump campaigns moving into the summer and the heat of the general election.

"I just don't think we have any precedent for who may be mobilized," said Sweet-Cushman, who spent Tuesday talking to voters as a poll worker. "There's a lot of time and a lot can happen."

Bruce Siwy is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Pennsylvania state capital bureau. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @BruceSiwy.