discovery was a huge aha moment for me because it allowed me to target the projects that I wanted to work on – especially in my coaching practice. I learned that I only wanted to work with already successful people who want to get to the next level. Imagine how gratifying it is for me when I can honestly and authentically say to the person with whom I am working: You are my ideal client; you are smart and successful, and you want to be even more successful. Although it took me some time to figure this out, my return on investment (ROI) was huge. I now have no doubt about what I love to do and what I am good at. My Inner Leader is smiling.
My only measure of success is the success of my clients.
I am often asked who my business heroes are. My answer without hesitation is…my clients. Each of them was already successful, and because of some external or internal force, each needed to make a change. Together we worked tirelessly to bring that change to the forefront and make it happen. Changing human behavior is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish. The personal changes that my clients have successfully made were hard to accomplish and yet they persevered. Their success has been unlimited and they are happy. This is why my only measure of success is the success of my clients because I know the hard work and dedication involved to get to their next step. Because of that hard work and dedication, they will forever be my business heroes.
About the Book
Are you excited to see what comes next? Are you ready to take on the challenges that await you in the following pages to make some very big changes in your leadership life? A cautionary question: What is going to be the biggest barrier to you making some of the changes suggested in the book? The answer is simple; change is hard. You might hear my suggested actions and think to yourself, “Oh yeah, I know that I need to do this, but (you fill in the blank) gets in my way of fully committing to take action.” Remember that you did not get to this place of leadership by taking the easy road. These exercises will require the hardest thing for anyone to do, to change your behavior from the inside out.
Just as in my coaching practice, I am not going to let you off the hook so easily. I encourage you to act. Just as in a coaching engagement, doing the exercises in this book is critical. I have set them apart and made them easy to spot and understand. The exercises are designed to result in some learning and profound change for you.
While reading this book, I request that you take it a step further. For that special thing that you want to do this year, figure out what is holding you back and address it…head-on. Pull on your Inner Leader and understand your values, strengths, skills, and past accomplishments to build a platform for future success. Drag all those positive attributes that you have kicking and screaming to center stage; let the world see what you can really accomplish. Who knows; you might even surprise yourself.
Acknowledgments
To all my clients, who have given me the joy of sharing in their personal journeys to unleash their Inner Leader. Your successes are my successes.
To my longtime friend Kelly Loy Morf, who believed in the book and found the opportunity for me to make it happen.
To Mary Charles Blakebrough, who painstakingly read and commented on almost every word.
To Alice Osborn, who helped me edit the original proposal for the book.
To Abby Weaver, for turning my ideas into great illustrations.
To all the people who read and commented on sections of the book, including Marguerite Lawn, Melissa Bennett, and Cheryl Pendergrass.
To the team at John Wiley & Sons and SAS for their editing, producing, and distribution support and for introducing me to the world of book publishing.
To all the individuals who shared their inspirational stories with me and in turn, with you, the reader.
To all the special people in my life who encouraged me during the writing process and constantly asked how it was going. Your support meant the world to me.
Chapter 1
You and Your Inner Leader
Coaching business professionals in high-impact industries to maximize their leadership performance is my expertise. This book is the culmination of the real-life experiences that my clients have faced: how they have unleashed their Inner Leader to live their legacies and develop into world-class leaders. The pages that follow are filled with real-life case studies, exercises, and personal stories that can help leaders like you to:
● Identify and leverage individual and team strengths to maximize performance
● Discover and understand how personal values drive your decisions and behavior
● Recognize and promote your career currency
● Take successful risks by discovering personal vision and purpose
● Build a personal brand and maximize both yours and the company's brand to make customers want to work with you
● Learn how to be more productive and how to delegate and empower your team
● Become a better mentor or mentee
● Communicate powerfully by improving your personal language
● Realize the power of networking to successfully evolve your career
● Understand how to better use the interview process to build a world-class team
● Determine and live your Leadership Legacy
Each chapter starts with a scenario (case study) based on a real client with whom I have worked (note that names have been changed to protect client anonymity). Each coaching session demonstrates an issue, challenge, or situation that the client has encountered. Based on this conversation, the pertinent parts of the situation are discussed and matched to a leadership concept. You are then engaged with powerful questioning that will prompt new thinking. The chapter continues with other examples of coaching sessions on related topics and with more discussion. Each chapter concludes with exercises that will help you incorporate this concept into your life. I highly recommend doing each of the exercises. It has been my experience that reading about a concept and thinking about it is the first step, and you will never make the desired change unless you take action and actually go through the steps to effect your own personal change. This is the recipe for lasting change that leads to success.
Part One of the Book
The book is organized into three parts. The first is dedicated to getting to know yourself. The concept being that leaders who are totally in touch with themselves and know what they are good at, what their vision is, and what impact they can make in their world; can begin to lead others and help others make their own impact.
In Chapter 2 you will meet Alexandra, who identified and leveraged her strengths to find her own voice. This then propelled her to negotiate a new position and then lead her new team from a position of strength. A strength is doing what you love to do and what you are good at. Once identified, you can leverage this to be happy in your career.
Understanding that your personal values are the rock that you stand on is one of the first tenets of leadership introduced in Chapter 3. When your environment is in sync with your values, you can produce your best work. When your values are being compromised, you are not on firm footing and your Inner Leader cannot shine through.
Chapter 4
