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A recent study concluded that gender inequality is costing the global economy $12 trillion annually, with North America accounting for 25 percent of that total followed by China’s 20-plus percent.

If diversity and gender equality have so much potential for improving business, why don’t we see more of it faster? What will be necessary to make it happen?

There are several kinds of responses to this question. The first is the “do it yourself” response, characterized by Sheryl Sandberg’s now-famous argument in her book, Lean In. Among other things, she challenges women to change their behaviors, to bolster their self-confidence and ambition, and become better job and wage negotiators while choosing a partner who can help share the load of a career.

When discussing business leadership, the distinction between good management and good leadership is often made. Managers are thought to be the budgeters, the organizers, the controllers — the ants, as one observer puts it — while leaders are the charismatic, big-picture visionaries, the ones who change the whole ant farm. But such a construction, those interviewed for this article agree, erroneously leads to a bimodal way of looking at something that should really be evaluated on two separate scales. "Everybody has got a little bit of each in them," says John Kotter, who admits he is sometimes guilty of using the dichotomy in an effort at simplification. "It's much better to think in terms of measuring people on a zero-to-ten scale for each quality."

Good leaders can steer a business through the nine to five, but great leaders can navigate a company into the next generation.

While a good leader is content with the status quo, a truly great leader has the ability to innovate and disrupt to ensure organisations stay on the cutting edge. They go above and beyond the duty of a manager to inspire staff and build a motivated workplace.

Stepping up from a good to a great leader could make a huge difference to the direction of a business and it's possible with some simple, but effective practices.

Here's an experiment: Name five iconic entrepreneurs. Actually, don't bother, because we can pretty much predict your answer. Every year, we ask the Inc. 500 honorees to name the entrepreneurs they most admire. The answers: Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates. We've also seen Mark Zuckerberg and Tony Hsieh. The list varies a bit each year, but one constant remains: They're all men.

That may not seem like much of a problem. After all, the entire country, and in many cases much of the world, has benefited from the contributions of these men: the jobs they've created, the technologies they've built, the instant access to European footwear. So what does it matter if they're all sporting a Y chromosome?

Reframing a problem helps you see it as an opportunity, and Seelig offers three techniques for finding innovative solutions:

1. Rethink The Question

Start by questioning the question you’re asking in the first place, says Seelig. "Your answer is baked into your question," she says.

Before you start brainstorming, Seelig suggests you start "frame-storming": brainstorming around the question you will pose to find solutions. For example, if you’re asking, "How should we plan a birthday party for David?" you’re assuming it’s a party. If you change your question to, "How can we make David’s day memorable?" or "How can we make David’s day special?" you will find different sets of solutions.

Being a leader is hard. Some people put themselves in a leadership role and others are there by accident or even default. It's unreasonable to expect that all leaders are naturally born. They need support and tools to be successful and bring others along.

My Inc. colleagues and I have seen lots of leaders in action. Some leaders are are just getting by, but others are amazing. We have witnessed several common tools these amazing leaders use to get performance from their teams. Here are some we have seen that work consistently.

Game of Thrones is set in a medieval world of knights, dragons, and magic, characterized by long, cold seasons, and populated with White Walkers. This most amazing and compelling TV series has captured the hearts and minds of people around the world. In the history of mankind, never has a TV series been so downloaded and watched, so are there leadership lessons we can take from this series?

Before I answer this question, I will tell you a story; I run a training company, after all. A man in a hot-air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced the altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

Pope Francis has approval ratings any leader could envy: 88 percent of American Catholics think he's doing a good job, and nearly three quarters of Americans in general view him with favor. What is he doing right?

To answer that question, business author Jeffrey A. Krames examined His Holiness's approach from a leadership perspective, and the result is Lead with Humility: 12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis. Though a non-Catholic, Krames was inspired to write about the pontiff because he is the child of Holocaust survivors, he explains. "When I saw Pope Francis, I thought he was the anti-Hitler."

Here are some practices that make Pope Francis so effective--and that any business leader could use:

1. Reach out to non-customers.

Although a lot of people are reminded to be thankful on Thanksgiving, gratitude shouldn't be reserved for special occasions. Showing just a little appreciation for what you have could greatly improve your life year-round. Here are nine powerful ways gratitude can change your life:

After writing my last column, an overview of the very disheartening book called Leadership BS, I practically had to wipe my tears off of my keyboard. The book’s author, Jeffrey Pfeffer, presents research to demonstrate that the business environment encourages aberrant leadership behaviors — selfishness, immodesty, lying, and so on — in spite of their negative impact. And, during my interview with Pfeffer, he squelched my dream of a conscious capitalist utopia when he stated his belief that companies routinely named the best places to work because of their open, honest, and transparent environments will continue to be the exception rather than the rule. “Leaders will trade off money and performance for ego, power, and control” time and time again, he told me.

But now that I’ve had some time to get over the shock of having my hopes dashed so summarily, my tears have dried. And, upon reflection, I have to respectfully disagree. In the fight for talent, the current dismal state of employee engagement is no longer tenable. Furthermore, there are too many “best of” exemplars of companies that are doing things right and turning a profit at the same time for firms and leaders to rationalize their bad behavior as “just business.” I believe we can, want, and must to do better.

Few things are as damaging to an organization as a dysfunctional leader. Left unaddressed, the corrosive impact will show up in low morale, stifled development and poor results. Sadly, most toxic leaders are blithely oblivious of the damage they create. If the slackers would just do their jobs, they think, performance would go up.

Leaders come in all kinds of styles and dispositions ranging from tyrants to wimps. What follows are five signs of a dysfunctional leader and tips any leader can use to become more functional.

Ever since NPR's Serial broke the internet last year, it seems like we've been in the middle of a podcast boom. But while podcasts like Serial can be fun and fascinating to listen to, there are some podcasts that are about more than just smart storytelling. These gems can actually teach you to be smarter, more resilient, and a better leader.

Here are some of the best podcasts for honing your leadership skills. They give you the chance to tune in (for free) and learn invaluable lessons from some of the most successful people and high performers in the world. Make sure to add to the list in the comments section below!

A leader is best when people barely know he exists. … Of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves. -Lao Tzu

While it might not seems so from the outset, most introverts are in an ideal position to become leaders, because of the nature of their personality. Introversion and extroversion are considered two opposing points on a scale, but in reality, everyone has certain elements of each trait.

One of the big questions in business is this: Are great leaders born that way, or do they practice a set of habits that anyone can learn and practice? The current thinking is that leadership is a set of habits that can be learned by anyone. The more consistent you are in living and applying these habits, the better leader you will become.

There are plenty of possible habits you can adopt to become a great leader, but here are 9 that will get you far along your own personal leadership journey.

There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. Whether they're individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves.

- Simon Sinek

The idea of being a leader always appealed to me. I held my first management position at 22, leading a small production team in a bookbindery. I loved being in charge--making decisions and trying to motivate my team. But one day, I heard a comment I've never forgotten. After chastising a line worker for a mistake, he snapped back:

You know, you're the type of manager the rest of us hate.

Very few founders, startup CEOs, board members, investors, and others supporting the entrepreneurial community actively pursue and advocate disciplined, professional leadership development. This is an enormous missed opportunity.

Entrepreneurs, especially founders and startup CEOs, need not wait to be encouraged to do this work. They should not consider their own development as a nice-to-have, an indulgence, or an unnecessary expense. They certainly should not delay until their jobs are threatened by their poor performance. 

Here are seven reasons (among many) that every founder and entrepreneurial CEO should actively develop their leadership, and a question about each.

1. I Believe I Can Fly - R. Kelly

You awake to a new, beautiful, and sunny day. The birds are singing and you are feeling amazing. As you bounce out of bed,you realize that you are a manager and leader—inspirational and empowered. A song comes to your lips and you start singing.

“There are miracles in life I must achieve, but first, I know it starts inside of me. Oh, if I can see it, then I can be it. If I just believe it, there's nothing to it. I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day; spread my wings and fly away. I believe I can soar. I see me running through that open door.”

And with that you run through the door and to your car.