Why Great Leadership Is Built 1% at a Time

As a competitive gymnast, I was trained to think about the 1%. Not the huge leap. Not the dramatic transformation. Not the perfect 10. Just the 1% better I could be in the next practice, the next routine, the next competition. A straighter leg. A slightly higher flip. A smoother turn. A more controlled finish.

And leadership is a lot like that.

You’re never going to get it 100% right all the time. You’re not going to score a perfect 10 as a leader every day. Sorry, it’s just not going to happen.

But that 1%? That can make all the difference.

It can be the difference between someone feeling ignored or seen.

Between feedback landing badly or helping someone grow.

Between a conversation being avoided or handled with care.

Between a team member feeling stuck or supported.

Leadership greatness is rarely built through one big moment. It’s built through small, consistent improvements over time. That’s how you, as we like to say, step up your greatness.

Here are four actions you can take to get you there:

1. Understand what’s needed

In gymnastics, we watched videos of our routines so we could see what was really happening. Not what we thought was happening. What was actually happening.

Leaders need the same kind of awareness, because you can’t improve what you can’t see.

So ask yourself:

• What am I observing?

• What feedback am I getting?

• What am I not being told?

• What patterns are there?

Find ways to increase your awareness, whether that’s through feedback, reflection, leadership tools like our Behaviour Awareness Tool (BAT), or simply asking better questions.

2. Choose the 1% that matters most

Not every 1% improvement has the same impact, which means deciding where to focus isn’t always straightforward.

When deciding which 1% to focus on, it helps to think about two things:

1. Who will this impact?

2. How much difference could it make?

Sometimes the best place to focus is something that could positively impact multiple people across your team, even if progress starts with one small step. Other times, the most important 1% is something that makes a meaningful difference to one person who really needs it.

The key is thoughtfully balancing who the change will impact with the difference it could make, so you focus on the 1% that matters most right now.

3. Learn from when you don’t get it right

You won’t always land it.

Maybe you recognised someone for doing a great job, only to realise later that two other people contributed and now feel overlooked.

That doesn’t mean recognition is bad. It means next time, you pause and ask:

• Who else contributed?

• Do I have the full picture?

• How can I make sure the recognition is fair, specific, and meaningful?

Mistakes are useful when we learn from them. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s progress.

4. Review and recalibrate

In gymnastics, you don’t improve by doing one routine, getting feedback, and never looking at it again. You review. Adjust. Practise. Try again.

Leadership needs the same rhythm.

Every so often, ask yourself:

• What’s working?

• What’s not landing as well as I hoped?

• What has changed in the team?

• What’s the next 1% I need to focus on?

Because the 1% that mattered six months ago may not be the 1% that matters now.

The best leaders don’t wait until something is broken before they grow. They keep paying attention. They keep adjusting. They keep improving.

So, what’s your 1%?

What’s one small shift, improvement, or action that could make the biggest difference right now - for you, your team, or even just one person who needs it?

Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect plan. Start with the next conversation, the next meeting, the next piece of feedback, or the next opportunity to support someone better.

Because leadership greatness is rarely built through one giant leap. More often, it’s built through the small improvements we choose to make consistently over time.

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If you'd like to learn more about our feedback/awareness tool or workshops we design and deliver for your leaders and managers, we'd love to chat. Please contact us.