If an Argentine Tango leader starts comparing himself to more experienced leaders it will only lead to his frustation.  Once the leader realizes he will probably not be the best in the world or the best at the milongas and then just focuses on reaching his potential, he will become a better Argentine Tango dancer.

Some beginning and intermediate leaders often have the idea that followers like a bunch of figures. Women do enjoy the figures, but in moderation. Leaders just need to insert something different every once in a while; a sacada here or boleo there to make the dance more interesting.

The best thing a follower can do is to encourage the leader to concentrate on connection, not figures.  Even so, it can also be hard for a beginning tango leader to listen and interpret the music while at the same time doing his vocabulary.

A leader with less experience can often take the following approach to make his dance more interesting.  He begins the dance with just walking and gradually add more complex vocabulary during the tanda. 

The leader should remember to take pauses when walking and executing figures to let the follower play and do her adornments.  The goal is bring each dance and tanda to a sort of climax, going from simple to more complex figures.  When the beginning leader starts repeating some of the same figures, he can just resume walking.

It usually takes an Argentine Tango leader a couple of years, more or less, to learn how to walk, navigate,  be musical, and express himself while maintaining his own balance and axis.  Once a tango leader can hear the complexities of the music and hear what his partner is expressing through the embrace then he has become an experienced leader.