I guess, generally speaking, he adds a lot of new ideas to the kernel, and gets his assistants to the patch bugs and older versions, but he seems quite adamant about not messing things up. Remember "WE DON'T BREAK USERSPACE"?
https://stackoverflow.com/a/25954326
I think, considering how Linux was started as a hobby in the 90s, and it's still going and used by a lot of people 25 years later, he must have learned a lot about what works well and what doesn't, what actions to take and not to take, or else it would have all fallen apart by now.
Or maybe you just meant he can insult how people/companies do things and get away with it. Are other "leaders" like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates better? I guess to maximize $$$ out of their supporters they need to be more cautious about what they say and lie when it benefits the company's profits.