This article builds on the competency assessment of responsible leadership (CARL) developed by Muff et al. (Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management Journal, 2020, 27, 2254-2274 and assesses the data collected from a sample of 9'566 participants across 122 countries in the timeframe. The analysis reveals interesting, sometimes counter-intuitive, insights that advance current thinking on the topic of responsible leadership (RL). As such "self-awareness" emerges as the central element in RL. There is evidence suggesting that higher education leads to a better RL performance. Interestingly, the study highlights that participants in the African region outperform other participants. In addition, a sustainability affinity does not lead to a higher RL score, and CEOs from sustainability-conscious organizations do not perform better than their demographic peers. The data suggests that executives do not increase their RL performance after a leadership development course, while undergraduate students do. The paper explores some answers while acknowledging that more research is needed to understand how these insights inform leadership education.