The 1% Advantage: How Marginal Gains Leadership Drives Big Wins

Business and leadership success almost never comes from bold, sweeping declarations or earth-shattering breakthrough ideas. No, it comes from brushing your teeth. What we mean is: success almost always stems from the unremarkable, habitual acts of discipline that are easy to dismiss but impossible to ignore when repeated consistently.

It’s called the principle of marginal gains leadership. And if you’re a leader, it might just be your most underutilized asset.

The Myth of the Breakthrough Moment

We’re seduced by stories of sudden transformation: the unicorn startup, the 90-day turnaround, the pitch that sealed the deal.

But beneath the surface of these click-bait stories lies something much deeper: tiny improvements, stacked consistently over time, create exponential results.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, puts it this way: “If you get just 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”

“37 times better?” we hear you cry…

Yes. That’s not magic. That’s math.

The British Cycling Revolution: A Marginal Gains Leadership Case Study

In 2003, British Cycling was in a slump. No Tour de France wins. Just one Olympic gold in 100 years. Their reputation was so poor, top bike manufacturers refused to sell to them.

Enter Sir Dave Brailsford, who brought a radical idea: focus on 1% improvements across everything.

From optimizing bike seats to refining handwashing techniques, to painting the inside of trucks white to spot dust, every small tweak was captured and compounded.

The result? 16 Olympic gold medals and five Tour de France victories in six years all by focusing on the small stuff. Impressive. 

Why Marginal Gains Leadership Matters

You’re not running a cycling team. But you are leading a human performance system which includes yourself, your team, your company.

Tiny, repeated improvements can be game changers, making a huge difference to you and your business. And it will be exactly the same for you (if you do it right that is).

1. Your Own Habits 

Practicing marginal gains leadership is not what you do once a quarter at an offsite. It’s how you show up. Every. Single Day.

• A 10-minute morning check-in with your calendar = 1% gain in intentionality.
• One thought-provoking question in every meeting = 1% gain in coaching.
• Five minutes of daily reflection = 1% gain in self-awareness.

Together, these small habits transform how you lead. 

For more daily leadership habits that separate the good from the great, check out our blog: 7 Daily Practices for Leadership Growth. 

2. Your Team Culture

Embedding marginal gains leadership in your business norms and culture isn’t posters or perks. It’s what happens almost every day when no one’s watching. And it’s built, bit by bit:

• Saying “thank you” more often = 1% gain in recognition.
• Giving timely feedback = 1% gain in agility.
• Starting meetings on time = 1% gain in respect.

Norms drive culture and culture drives performance.

3. Your Operations

Systems of marginal gains in operational tweaks can free up massive capacity:

• Saving 3 minutes per process for 50 people = 2.5 hours daily.
• A clearer CRM field = better data.
• A tighter agenda = shorter meetings, higher energy.

Small changes add up to great efficiency and they’re often easier to implement than dramatic overhauls.

4. Your Strategy Execution

Leadership gains momentum through consistent action because big strategies often fail due to small oversights like poor follow-up, unclear ownership, and slow decision-making. The devil is always in the details.

• A 15-minute weekly project check-in = 1% gain in accountability.
• Documenting decisions in real time = 1% gain in clarity.
• Nudging follow-through = 1% gain in momentum.

With marginal gains in leadership, strategy execution becomes a rhythm, not a rescue mission.

The Science Behind Marginal Gains Leadership

A 2022 study in Frontiers in Psychology found consistent leaders build more trust and psychological safety. Predictability reduces cognitive load and teams perform better when they don’t waste energy guessing how their leader will react.

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln study showed that steady, manageable challenges enhance both performance and well-being. That’s the essence of marginal gains leadership: consistency without overwhelm.

The Compounding Effect

Small gains multiply:

• Improve 1% each day = 37x better in a year.
• Decline 1% daily = a steep slide into underperformance.

Leadership is a compounding game. Every small step is either building or eroding your results and your reputation. And if you’re reading this, we’re pretty sure you’re all about building and not eroding.

How to Apply Marginal Gains to Your Leadership

Here’s how to begin leading with marginal gains leadership: small, consistent actions that build momentum, strengthen your team, and create lasting impact over time.

1. Choose 3 Micro-Behaviors 

Pick three frequent leadership actions and make each 1% better.

• Ask one thoughtful question per meeting.
• Start all 1:1s with: “What are you most proud of this week?”
• Batch-reply to emails instead of ad-hoc.

2. Track for 21 Days (or 31!) 

Use a notebook, app, or whiteboard. Track your 1% gains for 21 days. Don’t aim for perfection, aim for ruthless consistency.

And if you’re ready to go deeper, try leadership development journaling.

Leadership journaling makes your boat go faster as it earns compound interest at a very healthy rate. By reinforcing growth-based thinking and tracking decisions and emotional triggers, this powerful tool of daily reflection helps you to build resilience and reframe unproductive habits.

Our My Daily Leadership Program integrates daily journaling with leadership tools, mental models, and structured prompts to help leaders transform mindsets and strategies.

Want to start today? Download our FREE 31 Days of Leadership Journal Prompts. Because 31 is better than 21!

Note: We recommend reading our book My Daily Leadership: A Powerful Roadmap for Leadership Success before downloading these prompts to maximise your 31-day development journey.

3. Involve Your Team Invite your team into the process:

• What’s one small improvement they want to make?
• How will they track it?
• What support do they need from you?

This opens a feedback loop that reinforces learning and boosts team engagement.

4. Celebrate the Small Wins

Every 1% win matters. Acknowledge it. Reward it. Reinforce it.

Don’t wait for a major milestone. Remember, it’s the micro-successes that build the momentum.

5. Build a Feedback Flywheel 

Marginal gains thrive on data. Use pulse surveys, quick retrospectives, and 5-minute debriefs to capture insights and improve your tweaks.

Iterate. Improve. Repeat. This is where marginal gains in leadership really compound.

Final Thoughts: The Power of Marginal Gains Leadership

We live in a world obsessed with scale and transformation. But most leaders don’t need reinvention, they need traction.

And traction doesn’t come from moonshots. It comes from 1% gains, daily.

Brush your leadership teeth. Drink your leadership water. Do the unsexy reps.

Because the difference between a decent leader and a world-class one? It’s not magic. It’s marginal gains leadership. It’s. Just. 1%.