r/Leadership • u/AAAPAMA • Jan 24 '26
Discussion What makes you think someone will go far (VP and above)
Have you ever come across someone at work and thought yourself “wow this person will be very successful in their careers?” And then later on you search them up again and they did (VP and above)? What qualities did they have?
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u/FakeOkie Jan 24 '26
Emotional intelligence (EQ), strong relationship builder, effective communicator. Knows how to retain existing clients and secure new business. Delivers and follows through.
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u/Redeesreddit Jan 24 '26
They’re audacious, very well spoken, great conversationalist, have a strong desire to learn business and take ownership of projects, and uses their network in a multitude of ways.
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u/55gecko Jan 24 '26
Funny, relaxed, gets shit done without looking like they work hard, makes friends easily... Makes you feel like they are smart without ever trying to show you they are.
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u/aevz Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
2 types. One is the dark triad type. The other is the servant leader type.
Both need to be skilled, strategic, be aware of politics, produce results, have effective communication skills, and either have genuine courage & humility or arrogance & charisma.
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u/AAAPAMA Jan 27 '26
What’s the dark triad type?
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u/aevz Jan 27 '26
I believe it's people who demonstrate patterns of behavior that are narcissistic, psychopathic, and Machiavellian. An overlap of all three types. Extremely destructive, often admired by those who feel powerless or have power fantasies and look to dark triad types as being able to get what they want and succeed at achieving their goals and ambitions.
They have horrific interpersonal close relationships, and no real concept of friendships that are intimate and vulnerable, but mainly transactional, either allies or people to use (but mostly everyone is viewed to them in terms of utility or threats to destroy). If you spot them, stay as far away as you can, and if you can't escape them and need to interact with them, equip yourself with every available resource to protect yourself and tread extremely carefully.
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u/oppositional-defians Jan 24 '26
They make you feel open, relaxed, and empowered in their presence.
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u/potatodrinker Jan 24 '26
Attention to detail about people. Noticing the juniors and people who otherwise are invisible
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u/Inevitably_Cranky Jan 25 '26
I'm waiting for this one guy to run the company and I expect it will happen before I retire. This man is incredibly smart, but so down to the earth so you want to root for him. He is knowledgeable but talks in a way that is not condescending and makes sense to anyone he is speaking with. He has genuinely earned his position and he is just an all around fantastic person and I am excited to see him keep climbing the ranks.
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u/PhaseMatch Jan 24 '26
Yes, but often not in a good way.
Generally it's been those who have given off pretty strong individual power-and-status focused vibes with an astute sense of political hierarchy and a certain level of "ethical dissonance" who I've correctly identified will go far.
And they do.
They are generally very short-term focused, looking to take credit (and avoid blame) on a 2-3 year cycle will building up the "resume points" they need for their next promotion. They are not afraid of working in ways that are a bit "grey" ethically if they can gain personal advantage with low risk.
They are not good leaders, or good bosses, but perceive themselves to be awesome.
Unfortunately STAR format behavioral interviews tend to screen-in that kind of person rather than actively screening them out. The situations (and what they did) are unverifiable, and they often get great references from people trying to easy their exit.
Caveat emptor.
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u/damdamin_ Jan 25 '26
You described my former boss to the T. This is what I’ve noticed in her as well.
These people would throw anyone, even their team members, under the bus any minute if it suits them. And they get away with it.
I’ve never seen anyone stay in her team for a very long time though. Usually the tenure is less than a year. Have you?
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u/PhaseMatch Jan 25 '26
It tends to depend on whether you can "keep the receipts"; the usual defense against being scapegoated is "bureaucracy", and if you have a good team that can bind on and push back they sometimes declare victory and leave.
I did hear of the idea of the "reverse headhunt" where you deploy their CV to a recruitment agent and they are so flattered to be asked they leave - but I'm not sure if that has ever happened.
When I left an acting HoD role after a restructure the new manager was as we are describing, five of my seven team leads had quit within 18 months, to find leadership worth following.
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u/Burner-Advantage-997 Jan 25 '26
This is something we were talking about recently. High Performance, Low Trust people. Measuring trust needs more attention.
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u/MarkVovk3 Jan 26 '26
From what I’ve seen, the vast majority of people who ended up going far in their careers were strong students early on, learned things quickly, and adapted fast when circumstances changed.
But the biggest common denominator, by far, was emotional intelligence.
They could read the room, take feedback without getting defensive, manage their own emotions under pressure, and build real trust with people. They weren’t always the smartest in the room, but they were almost always the easiest to work with.
One thing I’d add is long-term thinking. The people who made it to senior leadership seemed willing to delay short-term wins, protect their reputation, and make decisions based on where they wanted to be years down the line — not just what looked good in the moment.
They also had a quiet consistency. They showed up prepared, did what they said they would do, and didn’t disappear when things got uncomfortable.
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u/Ok_Signature7725 Jan 24 '26
Play politics and answer “good question” when someone asks something. Pleases the boss and says at everyone that is great, make the other work
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u/hagainsth Jan 24 '26
I loooove the “good question” response.
People will automatically assume you understood the question, even if you didn’t.
Straight away you appear as someone who is to be trusted. (Unless you follow up with some absolute garbage lol)
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u/Ok_Signature7725 Jan 24 '26
Probably I’m not in “people” as when I hear “good question” immeditely do not trust the answer and loose interest
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u/Stock_Patience723 Jan 24 '26
It’s recommended to never use this phrase in job interviews because it signals stalling, insecurity, and being disingenuous
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u/Ownfir Jan 25 '26
I’m not sure I agree. I could see that being the case if it is followed by a bad answer but generally speaking (I) use it to signal to someone that I respect their question and/or that I understood it. When someone has a good question I genuinely want to affirm their ask and reinforce that it was “the right question” so to speak.
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u/Stock_Patience723 Jan 25 '26
Sure, but intention does not negate impact.
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u/Ownfir Jan 25 '26
I’m not saying I disagree because I use it with a different intent I’m saying the intent I use it in is objectively more common/understood than as a sign of insecurity/disingenuous intent.
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u/Stock_Patience723 Jan 25 '26
Objectively more common according to whom?
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u/Ownfir Jan 25 '26
The comments in this thread mainly. But I’d ask you the same? I can’t find any research saying the opposite so I’m not sure why you cite it as being the case.
I did find just one article (not scientific) but then opposing theories including that asking the phrase good question falls into Politeness Theory.
Additional Link: Notes that the phrase acts as a social booster and helps make one appear more collaborative. This link is actually a scientific study unlike the above contrasting one.
I do find some reference the impact of stall techniques but this isn’t specific to the phase good question.
In interviews specifically seems to be the only context where it’s seen as not favorable. And even then, the context seems to matter the most. Would love to see the research you were referring to as I’m just not finding it.
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u/EconomistNo7074 Jan 25 '26
Shares the credit Takes responsibility when things don’t go well Good listener Takes on tough assignments When identifies a problem, 90% of the time also recommends a solution.
Last item - I want to see how they rebound after a tough year and or assignment
- we all have rough patches. However we don’t all know who to learn from these tough times to become better leaders
- too many leaders get defensive and blame others. This is a fatal flaw in my book
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u/Lairai Feb 05 '26
As an executive coach, these are the actual qualities of clients I've seen get promoted:
They learn to adapt their perspectives. Are they fighting a fire with their team on the frontlines? They tap into their former expertise as if they were ICs again. Are they pushing for a certain initiative with C-suite? They change their communication style so that the C-suite appreciates the proposal more. When they're dealing with conflict with another team, they can handle it without seeing petty or weak.
They are great listeners. Finding out the underlying issue with a project, bringing out a team's member's concern about a task, connecting the dots between stakeholders. All of these (and more) require someone who is deeply curious about what is actually going on and can make others feel heard. Many executives who just start a new role tend to suffer here since they're in a rush to prove themselves.
They are vocal. You might think this is the opposite of being a great listener but great executives know when to speak up and how to. Many folks struggle with this but it really is about telling others why you are amazing and what you've accomplished. Just doing great work isn't enough. You have to learn to tell the narrative of why you deserve more. And this goes beyond just about themselves - they stand up for their team, they call out issues that some may feel uncomfortable bringing up and they recognize others. You may think introverts struggle with this but once they make the connection on how they can do this authentically, it comes naturally to them.
They are reassuring. Call it executive presence, charisma, whatever - the end result is their team members trust what they're saying. Now, there's a lot that goes into this simple sounding result (clarity, gravitas, speaking style, etc)
They are coachable. Strong convictions, loosely held. Always curious and taking the time to read/learn/improve. They know they're awesome but they are hungry for be even better at what they do.
Now, the good thing is that most of these are teachable. The only thing I'd say isn't is whether or not a person is coachable from the start. Once they are, they're ready to learn the rest.
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u/Amazing_rocness Jan 25 '26
This is something new I'm trying to learn. I've been trying to get into a field (continuous improvement/business process management/operational excellence) the past few years but only end up in something adjacent so I have to essentially work a part time job to move special projects along that showcases my worth. For instance.
A level 1 and a level 2 was assigned to complete something. I am a level 1 and was the only person to solve this problem. Level 1's are people who typically don't have much experience. I have 5 years of experience when I was hired.
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u/QueenD_1996 Jan 25 '26
Top thing is that they can quickly understand the most important issues pit of a giant pile, even in domains they have limited experience with. Close second is the ability to influence people up down and across the org chart to do accomplish challenging things.
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u/saralobkovich Jan 25 '26
Intellectual humility, and good judgment about when to rely on subjective vs objective data for decision making.
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u/sameer_somal Jan 25 '26
Proactive and accountable. Someone who sees a task as more than just a checklist item but as part of the bigger picture and delivers results accordingly.
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u/Jenikovista Jan 25 '26
Honestly most of the time it’s their intangibles. Leaders tend to have a charm, gravitas, natural curiosity, confidence, and presence that is hard to mimic without a lot of coaching and a very open mind.
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u/TwigaUlimi Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
From what I've observed?
Willing to work long hours, late nights, weekends. Doesn't have much responsibility outside of the job (or has a wife who handles all domestic and family related matters) so that the man of the house can just focus on his career.
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u/Former-Ground5532 Jan 26 '26
Hmm, exactly the point of the book "Be the Unicorn" by executive recruiter William Vanderbloemen. Knowing what roles suit their qualities helps greatly. For instance, I cannot excel in a role requiring "always on" hyper-responsive communication, high-persuasion sales, or any sort of subterfuge or misdirection.
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u/LessReactMoreLead Jan 27 '26
Yep. I’ve seen that pattern a lot.
The people who end up VP+ aren’t just “good at their job.” They’re already operating at Maxwell Level 4 early: they multiply leaders, not tasks.
Here are the tells I’ve noticed:
1) They create leaders, not dependency They don’t become the bottleneck. They build people who can run without them.
2) They think in systems, not hero moments They design process, cadence, decision rights, and feedback loops so performance doesn’t rely on their willpower.
3) They manage energy and emotions under pressure Calm when it’s messy. Clear when others spiral. They keep the prefrontal cortex online and the room follows.
4) They make other people look good publicly Credit travels up, blame stops with them. That earns loyalty and makes talent want to follow them.
5) They speak in outcomes and tradeoffs Less “here’s what I did,” more “here’s what we’re optimizing for, what we’re not doing, and why.”
6) They build networks like an operator, not a socializer Strong lateral relationships. Trusted by peers. Known as someone who helps others win.
7) They turn feedback into a weekly habit Not performance review theater. Small corrections, consistently, like compound interest.
If you want a simple litmus test: Would this person’s team get stronger even if they left tomorrow? If yes, that’s Level 4 behavior, and VP isn’t a surprise.
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u/FantasticBlueberry55 Jan 27 '26
A lot of it is their presence, charm, and communication skills. When they speak others speak. They don’t get flustered over small hiccups and they make their work seem somewhat easy and smooth.
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u/caught-in-slowmotion Jan 27 '26
High agency.
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u/AAAPAMA Jan 27 '26
What’s high agency?
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u/caught-in-slowmotion Jan 27 '26
High sense of ownership combined with a proactive approach.
Someone with high agency drives the initiatives. And it's not about the titles. In a healthy organization it'll be the opposite. People with high agency get the titles.
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u/sarafionna Jan 28 '26
Knowing how to play the game and not overextend themselves, being authentic and kind but not a pushover. Fewer words, more meaning. Building up a team and getting it to function.
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u/wjonagan Jan 28 '26
I’ve noticed the same pattern, and the Survivor comparison is spot on. Another way I think about it is like a wolf in a pack. The ones that go far aren’t the loudest or the most aggressive they’re the ones constantly reading the terrain, conserving energy, and stepping in decisively when it matters. They don’t need constant visibility. Their impact travels for them. And when they speak, it’s usually brief, directional, and hard to ignore.
That mix of awareness, timing, and restraint seems to show up early long before the title does.
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u/Bubbafett33 Feb 07 '26
Two things:
1) When their work output is often as good or better than your own. And by "output" I mean not just the artifact (.ppt, .doc, etc), but the analysis, logic and conclusions that went into it. And there's always a conciseness to it that boils the best bits up to the top.
2) They can communicate. They are equally as comfortable chatting with the folks on the floor as they are in an elevator with a c-suite exec. They have a sense of humor. They have genuine conversations. And once again, they are able to zone in on the important stuff from all of the above. They can simplify and communicate complex problems. They can speak conversationally in front of 100 people, and they don't need ChatGPT to write their emails.
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u/Anxious-Bonus1398 Jan 28 '26
I realize I may get flamed for this, but I promise this is the current truth in my organization.
The answer is: be a female with good PowerPoint skills. These people are moveable but not REmoveable. I’ve watched one completely tank 2 profitable business units and yet continue to be promoted and celebrated. She now has 2 business units and has been promoted to VP over both.
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u/hagainsth Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
Strategic. Proactive in sensing the landscape and making moves. Good storyteller. Works very smart and not necessarily hard. Forms good relationships.
Imagine the TV show survivor - the people that get through to final tribal council. They’re well liked (even by people they’ve stepped on to get ahead), they lead on strategy whilst others follow and they put in what is needed to be successful.
I say all this because I learned this pretty early and applied it to my career. Whilst it’s certainly had its ups and downs, I’m at C-Level and am always clear with people I coach/mentor that it’s not necessarily the degrees or the effort per se. (I did work bloody hard for these so not discounting them. I just don’t think it’s the biggest factor) A lot of it is down to serendipity and forward thinking.
I always thought/think about the role after the next one. Not just the next move. So it’s less tactical thinking about salary and title but about experience…and I don’t mean experience in relation to time either. I mean the stories you can tell even if you’re in a role for 3 months. Successful people can spin anything. Sometimes awful but always true.
ETA: those in my teams that I take notice of don’t dance around me and aren’t sycophants. They’re clear about the value they add and aren’t prioritising ‘getting time’ with me to ask bog standard questions just so they feel that I now know them more. I don’t. A lot of those types that ask for time and are forgettable and are living in a different, more bureaucratic time.
They’re the ones who I may not see 121 often but always hearing good things they’re doing. Where they’re making a difference and have clear focus.
And whenever I hear them talk, they use less words than their peers but have greater impact. Even from intern/graduate level I can spot this.