Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has a question he likes to ask founders about their companies: “Why do you deserve to exist?” It’s a provocation that’s not about market share, pitch decks, or investor appetite, but rather necessity. “The best generic answer I’ve ever received was, ‘if I don’t do it, no one else will,’” he recently told the tech news podcast TBPN.

It’s a striking question that more CEOs—or those aspiring to be—should be asked and even ask themselves. Leaders are often evaluated on their ability to scale an organization, manage complexity, inspire employees, and reassure investors. Those are critical competencies. But they don’t touch the deeper inquiry: If you didn’t lead, would anything meaningful be lost?

As Leslie Motter, CEO of Make-A-Wish, told me recently, becoming a chief

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