I often reflect on a conversation from years ago with my former Army boss. It’s core to my understanding of leadership. He said that being a leader means you have to “Genuinely f-ing care.”
This simple advice helped me understand all the leaders I’d encountered up to that point. People will forgive many shortcomings and failures if they believe that their leader truly cares about what happens to them. And conversely, if they think you don’t care, nothing else matters.
You can’t fake it. You must genuinely care.