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We've designed our leadership process to have two main parts—one focused on the psychological, emotional, and human aspect of leading yourself, called "It Starts with You," and one focused on the human side of leading teams and building organizations, called "Moving beyond Yourself." In other words, how do CEOs learn to lead from the inside out?

In the first part of the process, we help you to learn how to listen to your inner self, and how to overcome your own barriers and biases. What is it you really want to accomplish? What assumptions are you making—including about yourself—that stand in the way? This requires that you assess your situation in an unbiased manner. Here we help you learn how to deeply listen to your network of stakeholders who can help you understand their own needs and offer advice to you as a leader. The result is a deeper self-awareness and self-reflection that helps you develop a clear inner compass for navigating competing views and for finding the confidence and resilience to make the right decisions—all while embracing a more human leadership approach.

How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out: A Human-Centric Leadership Approach

1. Humility

2. Confidence

3. Selflessness

4. Vulnerability

5. Resilience

6. Versatility

Part 2

Part 2 of The Journey of Leadership'= is all about unleashing the potential of your people and making positive change in your organization by leveraging the aspirations, the deeper self awareness, and the human leadership attributes that you cultivated in part 1. In other words, once leaders know how to lead their inner selves, they are prepared to lead individuals, teams, and systems from the inside out. We explore how to deliver on your mandate in a way that enacts true change in an organization. You learn how to engage your team in your radical plan for change, to get them to speak truth to power, to be flexible when unexpected circumstances hit, to feel a sense of purpose, and to be willing to go the extra mile to make the business a success. We're not by any means suggesting that leaders abandon their hard-nosed, analytical leadership skills. The challenge is to balance them with their soft leadership skills. Think of it as a professional tennis player who masters all the basic strokes—forehand, backhand, serve—but then must balance that technical knowledge with resilience, psychological toughness, and an understanding of their opponent's strengths and weaknesses. A player who is only technically excellent will rarely win big tournaments.

One of our coauthors and a Bower Forum coach, Hans-Werner Kaas, points out that an executive's ability to balance seemingly contradictory mindsets is a topic that gets a lot of play these days. At one program, the participants were struggling to balance the need for a CEO to be confident about the company's strategy with a desire to encourage their teams to question existing plans and redefine them. As one Bower Forum participant framed it, "Developing such a differentiated culture and capability is essential for my organization." Hans-Werner's co-faculty partner Admiral Eric Olson, the former head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, explained to the group that the best leaders are versatile, taking different approaches based on a current understanding of the situation. A CEO might be heavily invested in a well-defined, rigorous plan, but the best leaders balance that with the understanding that they and their teams must be ready and capable to adjust—or at times completely redefine—plans based on changing external and internal circumstances. As Olson put it to the group and as he has emphasized with the Navy SEALs, "When the map differs from the terrain, then go with the terrain."

Hans-Werner uses this insight to discuss the importance of what we call the five balancing acts of CEOs, a major takeaway for many of the CEOs who attend our Bower Forums.

Great leaders balance:

1. Being certain about what they know and discovering new ideas and approaches (including adjusting original plans) through rapid, creative, and unbiased reassessments and learning.

2. An obsession with financial performance with the needs of all the company's shareholders and stakeholders.

3. Being a steward of the business with being someone who occasionally takes bold and well-calculated risks and moves when opportunities arise.

 

4. Being in control with empowering teams to take the initiative.

5. Being a hardheaded professional with someone who takes a more humane approach.

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***** TABLE OF CONTENTS *****

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE: IT STARTS WITH YOU

1. You're Not the Smartest Person in the Room

2. You Really Do Belong Here

3. Stop Trying to Prove Yourself

4. It's Okay to Be Yourself

5. So You Failed. Now What?

6. Learn to Be Agile

PART TWO: MOVING BEYOND YOURSELF

7. The Impossible Begins with You

8. Take Fear out of the Driver's Seat

9. Control Is an Illusion

10. Everyone Keeps Things from the Boss

11. Practice Making Mistakes

12. For People to Care, Show Them You Care

CONCLUSION: The Journey Never Ends