Top 20 LinkedIn Creators on Leadership (2026)

What changed in the top 20 LinkedIn leadership creators since our last ranking

The pool is smaller this time: 919 active leadership creators, against 1,024 in our previous edition. The 60-day activity rule is new in this edition.

Four names are new in this top 20: Steven Bartlett enters at #3, Richard Branson at #6, Susan Chen at #16 and Jamie Dimond at #19.

Dr. Brigette Hyacinth moves up from #2 to #1 and Mike Leber from #3 to #2. Justin Welsh climbs from #8 to #5, Mel Robbins from #14 into the top 10 and Reese Witherspoon from #17 to #12. Carolina Martins goes the other way, from #7 to #14.

Four creators from our previous top 20 are no longer in it.

#20 · Costas K. G., 2,313 median likes per leadership post

Costas K. G., an HR business partner in HR tech based in Greece, is down from #15 in our previous edition. Leadership is 79% of his feed, the highest share in the top 20, and those posts earn 35% more than his overall median.

His leadership median swung from 804 in 2024 to 2,879 in 2025, then fell to 589 on his posts so far in 2026: his place rests mostly on last year.

"A paycheck sustains you. But leadership shapes you. One funds your life. The other defines it." His most liked leadership post of the year, four short lines built as two contrasts: 8,261 likes and 411 comments. Read it

#19 · Jamie Dimond, 2,315 median likes per leadership post

Jamie Dimond (see the data biography) works in sales and marketing at CBF Labels and is new in this edition. Leadership is 24% of the feed, and those posts earn 154% more than the account's overall median, the second-largest premium in the top 20.

A 2.28% engagement rate is the third-highest in the top 20, and the leadership median more than doubled from 1,162 in 2024 to 2,521 in 2025.

"This is so true. I was a terrible manager when first given the opportunity." The account's most liked leadership post of the year puts an admission of failure in its second sentence: 10,431 likes, about 4.5 times the median. Read it

#18 · John C. Maxwell, 2,376 median likes per leadership post

John C. Maxwell, a leadership expert and trainer, is up from #20 in our previous edition. Leadership is 67% of his feed, and his 91 leadership posts in 12 months land within 2% of his overall median.

His posts run 38 words on average, the second-shortest among the top-20 creators we hold writing data for. His leadership median has held level: 2,469 in 2025, 2,487 so far in 2026.

"Great leaders know that there is no finish line. If you’re growing everyday, you’ll be amazed at how far you go!" His most liked leadership post of the year, two sentences and no list: 7,361 likes, about 3 times his median. Read it

#17 · Rob Dance, 2,395 median likes per leadership post

Rob Dance, chief executive and founder of ROCK in the United Kingdom, is down from #16 in our previous edition. His 159 leadership posts in 12 months are the third-most in the top 20, at 51% of his feed, and they earn 20% more than his overall median.

His leadership median has fallen each year, from 4,259 in 2024 to 3,441 in 2025 and 2,064 so far in 2026. His audience comments more than most: a median of 665, second only to Justin Welsh here.

"Rivalry can make individuals better. It can also make a business worse." His most liked leadership post of the year, which goes on to cite research on NBA players: 14,653 likes, about 6 times his median. Read it

#16 · Susan Chen, 2,621 median likes per leadership post

Susan Chen, a former Wall Street executive who now teaches meditation and high performance, is new in this edition and the smallest account in the top 20, at 24k followers.

Her 11.11% engagement rate is the highest in our leadership pool among accounts over 20k followers, almost four times the next creator in the top 20. Leadership is 6% of her feed and earns 28% more than her overall median.

"I lost a promotion to office politics. That wasn't the hardest part." Her most liked leadership post of the year: 3,954 likes, only 1.5 times her median, the smallest gap in the top 20. Read it

#15 · Colby Kultgen, 2,706 median likes per leadership post

Colby Kultgen, founder of 1% Better and a former accountant based in Canada, is up from #19 in our previous edition. Leadership is 6% of his feed, and those posts earn 31% more than his overall median.

Year on year, his leadership median has barely moved: 2,850 in 2025, 2,839 so far in 2026.

"Some advice I love from James Clear (author of Atomic Habits): Most people need consistency more than they need intensity." His most liked post tagged leadership by our classifier, a habits line borrowed from another author and broken into a list: 6,266 likes. Read it

#14 · Carolina Martins, 2,845 median likes per leadership post

Carolina Martins, a Brazilian speaker who teaches LinkedIn to executives, is down from #7 in our previous edition. Her leadership posts earn 1,248% more than her overall median, by far the largest premium in the top 20.

The gap comes from her base. Her overall median is 211 likes, so her 33 leadership posts, 23% of her feed, carry the profile. Her audience rarely comments: a median of 86, the lowest here.

"Eu acho curioso quando colocam no home office a culpa por problemas que, na verdade, são de liderança. Cultura não é um lugar." Her most liked leadership post of the year moves the remote-work argument onto managers: 11,332 likes and 137 comments. Read it

#13 · Rafael Juan, 2,930 median likes per leadership post

Rafael Juan, chief executive of Vicky Foods in Spain, holds #13. Leadership is 62% of his feed, and his 64 leadership posts land 4% below his overall median.

He writes in Spanish, and he also ranks second in our ranking of the top LinkedIn CEOs. His audience comments little: a median of 107, second-lowest in the top 20.

"Hay una pregunta que separa a los líderes que construyen grandes empresas de los que terminan limitándolas: ¿te atreverías a contratar a alguien mejor que tú?" His most liked leadership post of the year opens on a hiring question: 19,364 likes, almost 7 times his median. Read it

#12 · Reese Witherspoon, 2,954 median likes per leadership post

Reese Witherspoon, actress, producer and founder, is up from #17 in our previous edition. Her 2.99% engagement rate is the second-highest in the top 20, on 99k followers.

Her 12 leadership posts, 23% of her feed, earn 16% less than her overall median, the steepest discount here.

"Avoid the bottom third. While training for a movie where I played a professional softball player, I had the privilege of working with a 12-time NCAA championship coach, Sue Enquist." Her most liked leadership post of the year gives the rule first and its source second: 6,449 likes. Read it

#11 · Carsten Maschmeyer, 3,037 median likes per leadership post

Carsten Maschmeyer, an entrepreneur and startup investor in Germany, is down from #10 in our previous edition. Leadership is 37% of his feed and earns 6% more than his overall median.

His leadership median peaked at 5,516 in 2024, then eased to 4,250 in 2025 and 3,307 so far in 2026. He ranks first on three neighboring themes of this edition: management, HR and work culture.

"Dinge, die mir als Chef komplett egal sind: Ob jemand 22 oder 62 Jahre alt ist. Kompetenz kennt kein Alter." His most liked leadership post of the year, a list of what he does not judge as a boss: 9,619 likes and 479 comments. Read it

#10 · Mel Robbins, 3,039 median likes per leadership post

Mel Robbins, author of The Let Them Theory and host of The Mel Robbins Podcast, is up from #14 in our previous edition and enters the top 10.

She gives leadership 10% of her feed, and those posts earn 74% more than her overall median. Her leadership median rose from 2,638 in 2025 to 4,405 so far in 2026, the steepest rise from 2025 to 2026 in the top 20.

"I am always honored when YOU spend time with me, and now TIME Magazine is honoring me" Her most liked post tagged leadership by our classifier, an award announcement that thanks her audience before the magazine: 15,467 likes and 820 comments, about 4 times her usual comment count. Read it

#9 · Dr. Elizabeth Lindsey, 3,355 median likes per leadership post

Dr. Elizabeth Lindsey, a National Geographic Explorer who advises chief executives, holds #9. Her 135 leadership posts are the fourth-most in the top 20, and they earn 20% more than her overall median.

Her leadership median dropped from 3,647 in 2025 to 2,977 so far in 2026. Volume still pays: she ranks fifth in total leadership likes (473,480).

"Character isn't built in big moments. It's built in small ones. When no one's watching." Her most liked leadership post of the year, three short lines before any example: 10,262 likes, about 3 times her median. Read it

#8 · Justin Wright, 3,517 median likes per leadership post

Justin Wright, chief executive of KnownLeaders and a former CIO, is up from #11 in our previous edition. Leadership is 60% of his feed, and his 202 leadership posts are the second-most in the top 20.

Those posts earn exactly his overall median (+0%): on a feed this focused, leadership is the usual fare. He ranks second in total leadership likes, at 794,397.

"Smart people are a blessing. Not a threat." His most liked leadership post of the year follows the hook with a three-item list: 10,690 likes, 3 times his median. Read it

#7 · Simon Sinek, 3,736 median likes per leadership post

Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why and The Infinite Game, is down from #5 in our previous edition. He is the second-biggest account in this ranking, at 9.1 million followers.

Leadership is 28% of his feed and earns 12% more than his overall median. His leadership median slipped from 4,277 in 2025 to 3,329 so far in 2026, and his posts are the shortest among the top-20 creators we hold writing data for, 34 words on average.

"Great leaders see and invest in employees as whole persons. Which of these approaches can you try out this week?" His most liked leadership post of the year, a video clip framed by a question to the reader: 24,887 likes, nearly 7 times his median. Read it

#6 · Richard Branson, 3,931 median likes per leadership post

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, is new in this edition at #6 and has the biggest audience in the ranking, 18.6 million followers.

Leadership is 8% of his feed, 13 posts, and those posts earn 145% more than his overall median. On that audience his engagement rate is 0.02%, the lowest in the top 20.

"Kindness is the most underused tool in business." His most liked leadership post of the year, one sentence long: 18,483 likes and 1,063 comments, about 3 times his usual comment count. Read it

#5 · Justin Welsh, 3,974 median likes per leadership post

Justin Welsh, the writer behind The Saturday Essay (see his data biography), is up from #8 in our previous edition. Leadership is 5% of his feed, the smallest share in the top 20, and it earns 24% more than his overall median.

His audience talks back more than any other here: a median of 1,195 comments, about one for every three likes.

"I don't care if you like me or not. I'm rooting for you." His most liked post tagged leadership by our classifier, a note of support to readers: 9,321 likes and 1,574 comments, close to one comment for every six likes. Read it

#4 · Brené Brown, 4,962 median likes per leadership post

Brené Brown, a researcher at the University of Houston and the University of Texas at Austin, holds #4. Leadership is 27% of her feed, 14 posts in 12 months, and they earn 5% more than her overall median.

Her leadership median so far in 2026 is 5,048, above her 12-month figure.

"This is the dedication from Strong Ground." Her most liked leadership post of the year is the single biggest post on this page: 40,720 likes, 8 times her median, and 1,041 comments. Read it

#3 · Steven Bartlett, 5,123 median likes per leadership post

Steven Bartlett (see the data biography), founder of Steven.com, the company behind FlightStory and FlightCast, is new in this edition at #3. Leadership is 10% of his feed and earns 29% more than his overall median.

He also tops our thought leadership ranking. His leadership median has stayed between 4,559 and 4,908 every year since 2024.

"I hired someone who's CV was two lines. Their experience was zero..." His most liked leadership post of the year sets a hiring story against the usual criteria: 18,941 likes and 952 comments. Read it

#2 · Mike Leber, 5,585 median likes per leadership post

Mike Leber, an executive advisor to senior leaders based in Austria, is up from #3 in our previous edition. He posts more leadership than anyone in the top 20: 249 posts in 12 months, 71% of his feed, at 14% above his overall median.

His leadership median rose from 4,448 in 2025 to 5,676 so far in 2026. He leads the total-likes table below by a wide margin and holds a 1.75% engagement rate on 319k followers.

"The worst boss you ever had might have been your greatest teacher. Pain educates fast." His most liked leadership post of the year, set out one short line at a time: 13,372 likes and 867 comments. Read it

#1 · Dr. Brigette Hyacinth, 7,284 median likes per leadership post

Dr. Brigette Hyacinth, chief executive and founder of Leadership EQ, moves up from #2 in our previous edition to #1, with 7,284 median likes per leadership post, 79 times the typical leadership post we measured.

Her 76 leadership posts in 12 months make up 62% of her feed and earn 17% more than her overall median. Her leadership median was 9,205 in 2025 and stands at 7,100 so far in 2026: she leads despite the dip.

She ranks third in total leadership likes (559,146), and her audience leans toward the like button: about 27 likes for every comment.

"Shoutout to the leaders whose kindness isn’t a strategy, but a way of life." Her most liked leadership post of the year: 20,556 likes, almost 3 times her median, and 386 comments. Read it

Where do these cards come from? We computed every figure on this page from public posts with MagicPost's LinkedIn analytics: median engagement per theme, share of feed, theme premiums and trajectories, across 919 creators and 54,869 leadership posts. It works on your profile too, including a side-by-side with anyone on this list.

Which leadership creators just missed the top 20?

Five names sit right behind the cut, the closest one 175 likes short of number twenty:

Alex Hormozi, at #23, posts leadership often, 16% of a 619-post year, but those posts earn 14% less than his overall median of 2,360 (see his data biography).

Chase Dimond, at #25, shows the opposite pattern: leadership is 6% of his feed, and it earns 1,019% more than his overall median of 160 likes.

Which LinkedIn leadership creators have the highest engagement rate?

Raw likes flatter the largest followings, so divide by reach: engagement rate on leadership posts, median likes divided by followers (20k followers and over). One name stands far ahead:

Susan Chen (#16) leads at 11.11% on 24k followers, more than three times anyone else in the table. Reese Witherspoon (#12) is the only other member of the top 20 here.

Casper Kirketerp-Møller, co-founder and chief executive of Clever in Denmark, Joshua Freedman, chief executive of Six Seconds, and Maryann (MJ) Jamieson, a former MD at ANZ, BMO and Barclays, based in Australia, complete the five.

The top 20 itself runs from Susan Chen's 11.11% down to Richard Branson's 0.02%. For how leadership compares with other subjects, see our study of LinkedIn engagement rate by topic.

Which leadership creators get the most total likes on LinkedIn?

One more cut counts the total likes on leadership posts over 12 months, where frequent posters gain ground:

Mike Leber leads by a wide margin, about 1.7 times Justin Wright in second. Six of the eight come from the top 20.

Eric Partaker and Ronnie Kinsey make the table on volume, 246 and 253 posts, without a place in the top 20. Simon Sinek gets there on 69 posts, the fewest in the table.

Which LinkedIn leadership creator gets the most comments per post?

This cut divides comments by likes. The record in our leadership pool belongs to Okeowo Temiloluwa Emmanuel, founder of Funnel Upscale, who builds backend systems for businesses: 189 median comments against 131 median likes, about 1.4 comments for every like.

The typical top-20 creator gets one comment for every 11 likes. Valerii Popov, an engineering manager in fintech, and Peter Weiss, a leadership mentor, complete the podium at 1.40 and 1.32 comments per like (counting creators with 100+ median likes).

Are the top LinkedIn leadership creators full-time leadership voices?

Some are. Of the 919 creators who post leadership consistently, 89 give it at least half their feed, and 7 of them sit in this top 20. Costas K. G. (79%), Mike Leber (71%) and John C. Maxwell (67%) lead that group.

At the other end sit Justin Welsh (5%), Colby Kultgen and Susan Chen (6% each) and Richard Branson (8%).

The premium splits along the same line. The four largest go to creators who give leadership under a quarter of their feed:

• Carolina Martins: +1,248%

• Jamie Dimond: +154%

• Richard Branson: +145%

• Mel Robbins: +74%

Smaller ones go to the seven residents, from -4% (Rafael Juan) to +35% (Costas K. G.). In all, 16 of the 20 earn more on leadership than on their other posts, 3 earn less, and Justin Wright earns exactly his median.

The top 20 is mostly American: 10 creators are based in the United States and 2 in the United Kingdom, with one each in Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Greece, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago. Richard Branson's profile carries no country in our data.

Four of them also lead their country's ranking: Steven Bartlett in the UK, Carsten Maschmeyer in Germany, Rafael Juan in Spain and Colby Kultgen in Canada. The other country pages: the United States, Brazil, the full series.

Leadership overlaps with our other rankings. Dr. Brigette Hyacinth also leads our ranking of LinkedIn founders, and Mike Leber leads our ranking of LinkedIn coaches.

For neighboring subjects, see the top LinkedIn creators on management, where Carsten Maschmeyer ranks first, and on entrepreneurship. And if showing up in these creators' comment sections is part of your plan, an engagement feed keeps it to a five-minute daily habit.

How we ranked the top LinkedIn leadership creators

All of this is MagicPost's own research. We went through 54,869 leadership posts from the last 12 months and ranked 919 creators by median likes on their leadership posts.

Only creators with at least one post in the last 60 days are ranked. The method:

• Floors: at least 5,000 followers and 10 leadership posts in the window; deleted posts excluded.

• Median rather than average: no single viral post can buy a place.

• Leadership posts only: each post gets a theme from our own classification, and only those posts count.

• Leadership posts analyzed: the posts our dataset holds per creator, sometimes fewer than they published.

• Per creator: share of feed, premium over their own median, leadership median by year, engagement rate and comment ratio.

Six of the twenty medians rest on fewer than 20 leadership posts, the lowest on 12, so a few posts can move those ranks. Rankings refresh as the data does. No placement here was sponsored; every rank comes straight from the median.

Study them, then study yourself. With MagicPost you can analyze any leadership creator the way we just did (median engagement by theme, share of feed, premiums, trajectory) and benchmark your own profile against the pool. The data on this page is the product.