I recently came across a U.S. News announcement about their upcoming 2025 Best Leaders feature, which will highlight standout individuals in public service, business, healthcare, and education. Their approach to identifying top leaders involves assessing attributes across five key categories. While these categories offer a helpful framework, it raises an important question: is excelling in just one area truly enough to define a great leader?

For instance, being a game-changer—driven, strategic, and innovative—is undoubtedly valuable. But without qualities like empathy, humility, or collaboration, how effective can that leadership truly be? From my perspective, the most impactful leaders are not those who go deep in just one category, but those who demonstrate strength across multiple dimensions. It’s their ability to blend strategic thinking with empathy, pragmatism with vision, and humility with innovation that sets them apart.

Here are the categories U.S. News is using:

• Game-changer – Driven, strategic, innovative
• Servant leader – Loyal, optimistic, generous, humble
• Altruist – Empathetic, selfless
• Bridge-builder – Collaborative, diplomatic, inclusive
• Realist – Authentic, pragmatic, analytical

In my experience, the best leaders are broad in how they think and behave. It’s the intersection of these qualities that enables them to lead with both impact and integrity.

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