Over the past six years, McKinsey has developed a map of capabilities we call centered leadership. This concept has five dimensions: meaning, or finding your strengths and putting them to work in the service of a purpose that inspires you; positive framing, or adopting a more constructive way to view your world and convert even difficult situations into opportunities; connecting, or building a stronger sense of community and belonging; engaging, or pursuing opportunities disguised by risk; and energizing, or practicing ways to sustain your energy on a long leadership journey.

We began this work by interviewing female leaders around the world to identify the traits that characterize them.¹ In 2008, we began conducting quantitative research with women—and men—to test our findings. When preparing for this year’s effort, we posed two overarching questions: “Is centered leadership as good for men as it appears to be for women?” and “Do all five capabilities matter?” This survey yields a “yes” to both questions. Responses from around the world show just how well this model predicts personal and professional satisfaction for men and women. Notably, the results highlight distinct leadership character-istics found in both sexes that are somewhat different from traditional male traits.