Rethinking Success: The True Measure of Leadership
- Terry Cullen
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
The Leadership Playbook is im4u.world’s go-to guide for practical, actionable insights. Each article translates leadership theory into practice, offering quick reads designed to help you move from understanding to action right away.
🌍 The Myth of the Successful Leader
In our modern culture, success has become synonymous with wealth, status, and visibility. The higher the title, the larger the bank account, the more followers on social media—so the story goes, the more successful the leader.
Yet this is a dangerously narrow view of leadership. It measures only what can be counted and ignores what truly counts.
True leadership has never been about accumulation. It has always been about transformation—of people, systems, and societies.
A successful leader is not the one who stands tallest, but the one who lifts others.
So what does it mean to be a successful leader today? And how can we, as emerging global leaders, redefine the metrics of success?
⚡ The Poverty of Power-Based Leadership
History offers no shortage of powerful figures who failed the leadership test. Their legacies, built on dominance, crumbled when the systems they controlled lost faith in their humanity.
Power without principle breeds fear, not loyalty. Wealth without wisdom creates dependency, not empowerment. Titles without trust erode faster than time can record them.
A recent study in the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies found that leaders motivated primarily by power or recognition exhibit higher rates of burnout and lower team morale (Luthans & Avolio, 2021). Those led by purpose and service demonstrate stronger resilience and enduring impact.
When leadership becomes performance art for prestige, it ceases to be leadership—it becomes theater.
🧭 Redefining Success—The Leadership Trinity
To rethink leadership success, we must move from achievement to alignment.
True success arises from three interwoven dimensions:
Integrity of Self – Who you are when no one is watching.
Impact on Others – How you elevate those within your sphere of influence.
Influence on Systems – How you shape structures that outlast your presence.
These form what we might call The Leadership Trinity.
The Anchor archetype embodies Integrity of Self, grounding decisions in authenticity.
The Cultivator represents Impact on Others, nurturing growth and potential.
The Strategist and Visionary bring Influence on Systems, designing pathways for others to follow.
Success is not a trophy but a legacy. It’s measured not by what you acquire, but by how deeply you align your actions with your values.
💰 The Mirage of Material Success
Our obsession with material outcomes—revenues, rankings, reach—creates a mirage that confuses visibility with value.
Imagine two leaders:
One grows a company to millions in revenue but leaves behind a trail of burnout.
Another builds a smaller, values-driven organization that transforms its community.
Which is more successful?
The Ethical Decision Maker archetype would point to the latter. Their impact is regenerative, not extractive.
The Connector reminds us that leadership cannot exist in isolation. Real success is relational—it thrives in trust, collaboration, and shared purpose.
As Simon Sinek (2019) wrote:
“Great leaders are willing to sacrifice the numbers to save the people. Poor leaders sacrifice the people to save the numbers.”
📏 The Metrics That Matter
If money and power are insufficient, what should we measure instead?
Here are five more meaningful indicators of success:
Trust – Do people believe in your integrity, even when it costs you? (Builder)
Empowerment – Are those you lead more capable because of you? (Facilitator)
Resilience – Can your team stay true through crisis? (Innovator)
Adaptability – Are you learning faster than your challenges? (Strategist)
Legacy – Will your influence outlast your role? (Visionary)
Real leadership success is not about outcomes—it’s about the quality of outcomes.
💡 The Inner Work of Leadership
Leadership begins within. Before you can lead others, you must master yourself.
The Anchor archetype reminds us that integrity is the true north of leadership.The Communicator teaches that voice follows vision—without inner clarity, outer expression rings hollow.
Daniel Goleman’s research shows that up to 90% of leadership effectiveness stems from emotional intelligence, not technical expertise (Goleman, 2018).
Authenticity bridges the gap between intention and impact. It turns leadership from performance into presence.
🤝 Power Reimagined—From Control to Stewardship
Leadership power must evolve—from control to stewardship.
The Negotiator archetype models this well. True negotiation isn’t domination; it’s building shared ground in divided realities.
Likewise, the Executive reminds us that authority without accountability corrodes from within.
Desmond Tutu (2012) said:
“Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.”
The successful leader wields power with love—and love with power. That balance defines the future of leadership.
🌐 Leadership as Collective Intelligence
The most transformative leaders today see leadership not as personal ownership, but as collective intelligence.
The Facilitator and Connector archetypes embody this mindset—turning teams into ecosystems of innovation.
A 2022 Harvard Business Review study found that organizations led through “collaborative intelligence” outperform traditional hierarchies in innovation and engagement.
The best leaders don’t hoard influence—they distribute it.
🧮 A New Leadership Equation
Let’s redefine leadership success:
Success = Integrity + Impact + Influence
Integrity keeps your compass true.
Impact ensures others rise with you.
Influence allows your ideas to outlive you.
Every im4u.world archetype contributes:
The Anchor grounds it.
The Builder systematizes it.
The Communicator expresses it.
The Visionary expands it.
True leaders are not specialists—they are integrators. Balanced. Adaptive. Human.
🌱 From Success to Significance
Success is personal. Significance is generational.
The leaders who will shape this century are not those who amassed the most, but those who mattered the most.
The Cultivator nurtures others toward purpose.
The Ethical Decision Maker ensures every choice uplifts, not exploits.
The Strategist ensures meaning is scalable.
The future belongs to integrated leaders—those who see no contradiction between wisdom and compassion, ambition and humility, profit and purpose.
✨ Your Journey to Integrated Leadership
The best leaders do not choose between material success and moral success.They know that a system without heart is tyranny, and a heart without system is chaos.
The real work of leadership is integration—building structures that are disciplined yet deeply human.
Your unique leadership identity is the key to this balance. By understanding your top archetypes through the im4u.world Leadership Compass, you can embrace your natural strengths and consciously develop the ones that complete you.
This isn’t about changing who you are—it’s about becoming the most complete version of yourself.
✅ Take the Next Step
Your journey to integrated leadership begins with self-awareness.
Take the im4u.world Leadership Compass — discover your top leadership archetypes and areas for growth.
Explore our practical, affordable leadership courses — including our Visionary course designed to help you lead with purpose, clarity, and impact.
References
Luthans, F., & Avolio, B. (2021). Authentic Leadership Development: Positive Organizational Behavior in Uncertain Times. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies.
Goleman, D. (2018). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam Books.
Sinek, S. (2019). The Infinite Game. Penguin Business.
Tutu, D. (2012). The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World. HarperOne.
Harvard Business Review (2022). The Rise of Collaborative Intelligence: How Shared Leadership Drives Innovation.
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