We ask, “How many people are on the top leadership team?” One leader responded, “Nine.” “Now, how many direct reports do those nine people have?” He started doing the math in his head. “Maybe 84.” “So, there are 93 leaders in the top three levels of Leadership (CEO, his direct reports, and their direct reports, L1–L3). How many employees do you

The truth shall set us free, but first it may make us miserable.

Warren Bennis said, the process of developing extraordinary leadership is the same process as becoming an extraordinary person. To fulfill the Leadership Imperative, we need to rethink how we develop leaders. Our efforts need to be long-term and systemic (not piecemeal and episodic), individual and collective, and integrative of the inner and outer

in every conversation she has three objectives: 1) increase understanding and buy-in, 2) achieve the desired outcome, and 3) improve the relationship.

Steve Jobs said: “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. This practice requires that we trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my

Leadership's primary job is to enhance creative capacity by developing collectively effective leadership.

Rollo May states: “Whenever there is a breakthrough of a significant idea . . . [it] will destroy what a lot of people believe is essential to the survival of their intellectual and spiritual world… As Picasso remarked, ‘Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.’ The breakthrough carries with it also an element of anxiety. For it

“There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself” (Bonhoeffer, 1998). If we orient our lives on safety, we remain constantly insecure. If we choose the opposite and orient on our

In leadership positions, more people get fired for their caution than for their courage. If we play for purpose, we accept the inherent risk of leading, of living full-out, and that brings with it an inherent sense of security. This security is not rooted in powers outside ourselves, upon which our future seems to depend. It is rooted in our