Honestly I feel very strongly that you come out ahead when you are using leased SP to build your account with normal engagement if you can get above 500sp. The slider bar really does help you a LOT as does having higher total vote value when you want to stand out.
It's something I did early in my steemit days and still feel it's worth doing. I personally lease over 1000sp on top of my owned 1000sp to make sure my vote is felt. There just aren't that many people on steemit who can give a 10c vote so being one of them helps me stand out a little over the masses who are giving 0-3c votes. That isn't me being elitist, just making a point that people do without question notice the size of your vote.
It's why I'd love to get pifc up to a $1.00 vote at full power. Then when leaving 30% votes it would really make a large difference to the accounts we are helping. Sadly right now that takes 18,000sp and just can't afford that type of a lease without some serious support from a whale or two on a regular basis.
So getting creative with new ideas like this will hopefully bridge the gap.