Transformational leadership

Moving from transactional to transformative leadership

Leadership is all about movement: taking individuals, teams, or organizations (even your family members) on their journeys — from where they are to where they must go, and from who they are to who they must become.

Management and leadership are often distinct but potentially complementary; you manage structure and systems, but you lead people. Occasionally, you find both of these capabilities in a single individual — but rarely. From our view, the vast majority of great leaders are, more often than not, supported by one or more outstanding managers (people who can keep the trains running on time). For every Walt Disney, there was a Roy Disney; General George Patton’s strategic vision arguably needed the more empathetic and detail-oriented General Omar Bradley for implementation; and Ronald Reagan likely needed James Baker for the same reasons.

We believe expanding your ability to influence and persuade those around you requires an understanding of, and adherence to, the following five areas:

1. The comfort zone: Your most insidious and persistent adversary
2. Foundational principles: The universal truths that often govern success, failure, and fulfillment
3. The root cause of underperformance: An eight-point, sequential, diagnostic checklist
4. Pattern recognition: That people don’t have problems; they have patterns
5. Motivational structure: The move from external to internal motivation