Boring Beats Brilliant
Craig Groeschel began the 2025 Global Leadership Summit with the statement: “Great leadership is boring.” This is an unexpected way to open the world’s largest conference on leadership.
His point? Most people celebrate the results of great leadership without noticing the routines. We see the stage performance and ignore the work behind the scenes. Groeschel speaks on many stages and runs a popular leadership podcast, but those visible “leadership” activities are just a small percentage of his leadership practice.
Consistency is more important than charisma. If you want to grow your leadership capacity there is only one way: put in the work over and over (and over).
Charisma might generate early momentum or short-term good will, but it is consistency and faithful effort over time that generates lasting impact. As Groeschel reminded us: “consistency closes the gap between good intention and action.”
Drawing on the work of Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit), Groeschel argued that leaders must develop keystone habits. These are the habits that trigger a chain reaction of good. Keystone habits give you momentum. They remind you of your core identity.
What are your keystone habits?
For me, one of my recent keystone habits is writing and posting a reflection each day (like this one). Writing about a book I’m reading, or a recent conversation, or a group session forces me to slow down and gather insights and reflect on lessons learned.
Full disclosure: I was skeptical when I decided to start this keystone habit. But it worked! When I start the day with putting my thoughts out into the world, I have a noticeably different mindset. First, finishing a post is a small accomplishment to build on. Second, it invites others into my orbit – and interesting conversations ensue.
Like you, I catch myself craving quick wins and instant results. But lasting impact comes from putting in the work day after day.
It’s true - boring beats brilliant.
Inspiration
Craig Groschel. “Boring Your Way to Success.” Global Leadership Summit 2025