Leadership is often described as a blend of clarity, character, and courage — but in practice, leadership is far more everyday than grand. It lives in conversations, decisions, corrections, and commitments. It shows up in how we plan, how we prepare, how we respond, and how we hold ourselves accountable when no one is watching.
In my years of leading teams, organizations, and markets, I’ve learned that leadership is most powerful when it is intentional — when it is guided by a philosophy rather than impulse, pattern, or urgency. That belief sits at the center of my book and its guiding system: the ABWeED Framework.
Born out of real-world leadership challenges and years of coaching commercial bankers, executives, and emerging leaders, ABWeED offers a simple but rigorous structure for bringing intention into every aspect of leadership. While originally designed for banking professionals, its application extends far beyond any one industry. The truth is universal:
Intentional leaders outperform accidental ones.
What follows is an adapted leadership essay based on the principles behind ABWeED — focused on what intentional leadership looks like, why it matters, and how leaders can use everyday moments to build trust, drive clarity, and elevate performance.
1. Awareness: Leadership Begins With Seeing Clearly
The first step of leadership is awareness — of people, of patterns, of expectations, of problems beneath the surface.
Awareness is the antidote to the reactive leader who only moves when pushed by circumstance.
High-performing leaders cultivate awareness in three ways:
Awareness of Self: strengths, gaps, triggers, values, and blind spots
Awareness of Others: what motivates people, what frustrates them, what they need to succeed
Awareness of Context: how the environment is changing, and what those changes demand
Leadership goes wrong when leaders assume they already know.
Leadership goes right when leaders stay curious long after others get comfortable.
Awareness isn’t passive. It’s the discipline of noticing.
2. Belief: The Fuel Behind Action
Belief is often misunderstood as optimism or enthusiasm.
In leadership, belief is much simpler:
It’s the conviction that what you’re doing matters enough to do well.
People can sense belief.
They can also sense its absence.
Belief gives leaders:
The courage to take responsibility
The credibility to influence others
The confidence to move forward during uncertainty
Belief is contagious. It shows up in the tone you use, the standard you set, and the way you speak about your mission.
When a leader believes deeply — in the work, in the team, in the possibility of growth — people rise.
But without belief, even the best-strategized plans fall flat.
3. Work Ethic: The Unseen Side of Leadership
Leadership is not a “job title” activity; it is an effort-based activity.
And effort — consistent, disciplined, repeatable effort — builds trust.
Work ethic in the ABWeED model is not about exhaustion or hours.
It’s about ownership.
It means:
Preparing before the meeting so you don’t waste the meeting
Following up when others forget
Keeping commitments even when they become inconvenient
Doing the work that builds credibility, not just the work that is visible
Work ethic creates momentum, and momentum creates belief.
It is where leaders signal that excellence isn’t assumed — it’s earned.
4. Execution: Turning Intention Into Outcomes
Strategy matters, but execution wins.
Leaders often stumble not because they lack ideas, but because they fail to organize, communicate, and follow through with precision.
Execution requires:
Clear expectations
Sequenced priorities
Closed feedback loops
Honest accountability
Consistent measurement
Execution is the muscle of leadership.
Without it, trust fades, performance slips, and teams fall into patterns of excuses and reactivity.
Great leaders simplify execution.
They make the next step obvious, the expectation clear, and the standard unmistakable.
Execution is clarity in motion.
5. Empathy: The Human Element of Results
Empathy may be the most misinterpreted element of leadership.
It is not softness. It is not avoidance. It is not permission.
Empathy is one thing:
Understanding people well enough to lead them effectively.
Empathy allows leaders to:
See what people struggle to say
Respond to challenges before they become failures
Coach with precision instead of frustration
Earn commitment instead of compliance
Empathy fuels trust — one of the most valuable currencies in leadership.
People don’t follow leaders who understand the work.
They follow leaders who understand them.
Empathy turns performance conversations into growth conversations.
It turns conflict into clarity.
It strengthens relationships that execution alone cannot sustain.
6. Discipline: The Glue That Holds Leadership Together
Discipline is the final — and often most difficult — element of intentional leadership.
It is the ongoing choice to:
Show up consistently
Maintain standards when no one is watching
Protect your calendar and say “no” with purpose
Reset and refocus when distractions threaten progress
Discipline ensures that leadership doesn’t drift.
It keeps intention from dissolving into inconsistency.
Leaders don’t rise because they are disciplined once.
They rise because they build systems that make discipline predictable.
Discipline is what transforms leadership behaviors into leadership identity.
Leadership Is Not Something You Have. It’s Something You Do.
The ABWeED framework was never about complexity.
It was about giving leaders a way to practice leadership — daily, deliberately, and with increasing clarity.
When leaders are:
Aware
Acting from Belief
Demonstrating Work Ethic
Executing with consistency
Leading with Empathy
And anchored by Discipline
They don’t just manage results.
They shape people. They strengthen culture. They elevate organizations.
Leadership becomes less about authority and more about influence.
Less about image and more about example.
Less about being at the front and more about lifting others along the way.
This is what intentional leadership looks like.
This is what ABWeED was built to teach.
And this is the type of leadership that endures.