Good leader or great leader? An early career leadership lesson

What makes a good leader? Ask a dozen people and you’ll likely hear some version of: visionary, confident, competent, compassionate. All valid—and all true. But the best leaders I’ve worked with and learned from embody something deeper. They stretch you. They believe in you. They walk alongside you when things get hard.

Early in my career, I had the privilege of working with a leader who changed the course of my professional life—Don Sipes. He didn’t just manage me. He mentored me. He cared about who I was as a human being. He knew my family, asked how I was doing, made space for growth and showed up for me when it mattered most.

When I was stepping into my first CEO role at a rural hospital in Chillicothe, Missouri. We were coming off a failed community vote to fund a desperately needed new facility. Morale was low. Trust needed rebuilding.

To say I was stretched would be an understatement. But Don didn’t just hand me the keys and wish me luck, he was invested in my success. He drove an hour and a half each way to attend meetings with me, coach me, and help me navigate the political and relational minefields I hadn’t yet learned to anticipate. He helped me understand that the fastest path from problem to solution isn’t always the best one in leadership. That consensus-building matters. That how people feel about a decision often shapes whether it succeeds.

Together, we didn’t just build a hospital. We also built trust. When we opened the doors, 5,000 people—nearly half the town—showed up. That kind of turnout happens because people feel part of something. Because they’ve been invited in.

And that’s what great leadership does.

A good leader casts vision. A great leader shows other people their part in making it a reality. A good leader drives results. A great leader lifts others up to achieve more than they thought possible. A good leader talks about values. A great leader lives them—especially under pressure.

I’ve learned this the hard way, too. During the pandemic, and in seasons of financial strain, I’ve found myself reverting to task over team—because the pressures were relentless. I know what it feels like to want to lead with empathy, but feel like you’re drowning in decisions. And that’s why I believe so deeply in equipping leaders with tools and processes that help keep relationships at the center—especially when time and stress threaten to push them to the margins.

At the end of the day, leadership isn’t about knowing everything or doing it all. It’s about how you make people feel. It’s about seeing potential in others and investing the time and energy to help them grow.

Don did that for me. And I try every day to pay it forward.

Because leadership is not just about the work—it’s about the people who do it.