The Ordinary Skills Of Exceptional Leaders

New York Times-bestselling author, chartered psychologist and Professor of Leadership at the University of Exeter Business School, John Amaechi, has released It’s Not Magic: The Ordinary Skills Of Exceptional Leaders. 

It’s an important read for particularly managers, executives, board members, and other business leaders, and anyone else expected to motivate and inspire others to achieve great things.
 
The book walks you through the seemingly obvious but difficult-to-nail mindsets and intentions you’ll need to adopt to influence and motivate others. You’ll learn strategies and techniques you can apply immediately, including: 

• Easy-to-follow explanations of the straightforward behaviors you can model to improve your ability to lead others.
• Habits you can adopt immediately to motivate others in any setting, from the boardroom to the classroom or the battlefield.
• Data-driven insights into the tiny, little things that great leaders do every day and how to incorporate them into your emotional and behavioral repertoire. 

Furthermore, supported by a “Principles into Practice” portion at the end of every chapter to help readers tactically break down each concept, Amaechi distills decades of rich psychological and organizational counsel into simple, actionable Leadership principles, including: 

• The Power of Authentic Presence: The ability to project self-assurance, competence and authenticity in interactions and decision-making processes.
• The Art of Perceptive Listening: Giving equal weight to all opinions and viewing communication as reciprocal and shared between speakers and listeners.
• Empowerment Through Vulnerability: Strategically using vulnerability to build credibility, strengthen relationships and foster high-performance among teams.
• Building Contextual Intelligence: The ability and clarity to objectively re-engage with past experiences, both negative and positive. 

As you read the book, you’ll also learn specific actions to take to improve your leadership skills. They include:
 
Refine Your Observation Practice. Each observation is a chance to deepen your understanding, not to catch others out. Leaders who take observation seriously learn to notice patterns that others miss.
 

Action: Set aside short observation windows each day and record patterns, not anecdotes.

 
Normalize, Affirm and Reframe with Precision. Confidence grows strongest where people feel seen clearly and encouraged thoughtfully. It is easy to offer vague praise, but genuine affirmation demands precision. Leaders who normalize challenges and setbacks remind people they are not alone in facing difficulties.
 

Action: State behavior, impact, and next step in one sentence.

 
Sharpen Language to Sharpen Thinking. Sharper language builds sharper self-awareness and better decisions. Leaders who are careless with language often leave confusion and unintended consequences in their wake.
 

Action: Replace vague verbs with clear commitments and define success before you speak.

 
Model Reflection Openly. Leaders who model reflection permit others to think more deeply, not just perform better. When leaders show how they revisit their decisions, acknowledge their blind spots, and adjust their approach, they legitimize learning as a shared practice.
 

Action: This week, share one decision you would make differently and why.

 
Manage Your Physical Presence. Physical presence speaks loudly. Use it to invite growth, not inhibit it. From posture to tone of voice, from where you sit in a meeting to how you enter a room, your physicality shapes the atmosphere others inhabit.
 

Action: Adopt a default stance: open posture, slower tempo, eyes on the speaker. 

John Amaechi

Amaechi shares these additional insights with us:
 
Question: Why do leaders resist the idea that great leadership is built on simple principles?
 
Amaechi: Because it removes their excuses. If leadership rests on simple, learnable habits, then repeated failure is not about lacking rare talent, but about choosing not to practice them. That’s uncomfortable because it exposes that some leaders simply did not care enough to learn what was easily within reach, signaling to their teams that they were not worth the effort.
 
Question: How does strategic restraint work in contrast with today’s emphasis on leaders to dominate?
 
Amaechi: Strategic restraint is the discipline to hold back when speaking, acting, or asserting authority would serve only the leader’s ego. It prioritizes timing, listening, and deliberate action over the knee-jerk need for control for control’s sake. It creates space for others to contribute and for better decisions to emerge. In contrast, a dominance mindset confuses force with influence and usually undermines trust and collaboration.
 
Question: What makes reengaging in past experiences a useful decision-making tool?
 
Amaechi: Revisiting past experiences with fresh perspective turns memory into a living resource. It allows you to extract new insights, spot patterns they missed at the time and apply those lessons to current challenges.
 
This deliberate reengagement transforms experience from something you once had into something you can actively use.
 
Question: What differentiates someone seen as a credible leader from someone who has a leadership title?
 
Amaechi: A title grants authority, but leadership credibility comes from proving your authority is earned and deserved. Credible leaders earn trust through consistent actions, sound judgment, and visible care for their people’s success as well as team and organizational goals.
 
Question: What tools can leaders use to shift the direction of their team culture right away?
 
Amaechi: Set clear behavioral expectations. Ensure leaders model those behaviors themselves.
 
Give excellent, real-time feedback that reinforces behavioral expectations and boundaries. Visibly recognize and reward positive examples. Swiftly course correct when standards slip.
 
Question: What can people do to bring the “It's Not Magic” ideas into their lives right away?
 
Amaechi: Start small but be deliberate. Choose one principle, such as listening with full attention or upgrading your language, and apply it consistently every day. The transformation doesn’t come from grand gestures. It comes from simple, intentional actions, practiced so often they become part of who you are as a leader and as a person. 
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Amaechi OBE is a respected organizational psychologist, New York Times best-selling author, public speaker, executive coach, and Founder of APS Intelligence Ltd.
 
He has been recognized as one of HR's most influential thinkers by HR Magazine. John is former National Basketball Association (NBA) player.
 
Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.