As a coach, I am a professional question asker. One of my favorites to ask clients is: What do you want to be known for?

It's a daunting question. It feels BIG and important and complicated to find the answer.

But what I've discovered through over a decade of coaching people through navigating their careers is that it's not so much about finding the answer as it is about holding the question.

One of my clients is in the process of earning her graduate degree in organizational leadership and learning.

She’s taking a course this summer on leadership development, and she shared with me that the course materials included a list of 45 must-have core skills for leaders. She wondered about my take on the topic.

My eyes bugged out of my head for a second.

I definitely have a take: 45 core skills for leaders is an impossible standard. It sets all leaders up for failure. It’s unwieldy and overwhelming. And it puts leadership in a place where it will always be just out of reach.

My own leadership philosophy took a while to crystallize, but it's quite simple…