Leasing Hive Power is different than purchasing Hive and then powering it up. With leasing, you are basically paying to rent someone else's Hive Power. Some people lease HP and then they use it to self vote or vote on all of their alt accounts, which could end up being worth it for them. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration with leasing HP, like the cost of the lease versus just taking that money and power up the Hive instead.

As far as suggestions, just keep being active in communities and curating posts. Curating is the best way to get a return on your investment that you have.