A preview of the journey and Chapter One
The Journey
This book is for everyone ready to embark on their leadership journey, whether you’re a fresh graduate eager to conquer the world or a seasoned employee at a Fortune 500 company. It’s designed to be a trove of wisdom applicable throughout your career. Read it in short, impactful bursts.
And be prepared: leadership is a rollercoaster filled with twists and turns. As you experience your career, you may not grasp how the threads of experience weave into the tapestry of your life until years later. I’ll try and tie these principles together for you.
Initially, I thought this would be a book about leadership and what makes a great leader. But over time, my perspective shifted. I’ve had the privilege of meeting leaders across various sectors, from healthcare to venture capital, and I’ve been involved with four start-up companies as an advisor or board member.
What I’ve learned has been eye-opening. People and companies everywhere are experiencing significant change. This transformation is driven by what I call the broken promise. We’re at a critical juncture in the relationship between employees and the companies they work for. The lofty vision that employees are shown at the start of their career has little connection to the daily grind, financialized goals, and tenuous job security that people actually experience. This divide grows wider by the day.
You can see this rift not only in corporate America but also in our government as well. It’s pervasive and problematic.
CHAPTER 1: A Call to Action to Empower Your Leadership
We find ourselves on the verge of a leadership crisis. This takes the form of two challenges: the broken promise and the overwhelmed workforce.
Challenge 1: The Broken Promise
In recent years, economic turbulence fundamentally damaged the middle class, ushered in by periods of downsizing and reorganizations. Companies that once guaranteed job security have abandoned the tradition of generous separation packages. The promise of unshakable employment now feels like a relic from days gone by, eroding the trust employees place in their organizations.
The implications are twofold: Employee engagement has reached historic lows, resulting in a disengaged workforce. In this landscape, a survivalist mindset has emerged, with employees focusing on safeguarding their positions and outcompeting colleagues. This relegates customer-centric values to a backseat, creating among employees a race for personal survival or the pursuit of new opportunities. Organizations must grapple with this disconnection.
Challenge 2: The Overwhelmed Workforce
In my final year at J&J, I traveled the nation speaking to the leadership of large healthcare companies. This is what I discovered. Downsizing has ushered in an era of relentless multitasking for employees. Tasks that once required a team of three now rest upon the shoulders of one.
In an age of advanced technology and perpetual connectivity, we have become a workforce that never clocks out. This environment compels employees to focus solely on their daily to-do lists, finding gratification in the completion of tasks rather than goals.
As a poignant example, consider a conversation I had with a manager overseeing seventy highly educated employees. He lamented:
“I no longer have the luxury of envisioning the future. We pay lip service to it, drafting annual plans that collect dust. The truth is, we can’t afford to contemplate it. Our perpetual struggle is to meet monthly targets. I used to cherish my job and our company, but now, I count the days until I can retire. Stay alive till fifty-five is the mantra. I’ve never worked harder for less job satisfaction. I’ve also lost faith in our senior leadership. Their focus on the bottom line has cost us our moral compass. It’s become an obsession with meeting financial goals, while the people who fueled our success are forgotten.”
We are perpetually consumed by immediate tasks, forsaking long-term thinking, and sidelining leadership development.
The Quest for Empowered Leadership
In a candid conversation I had with a healthcare company CEO about leadership and people development, he confessed:
“Over the past five years, we’ve had to tighten our belts, trim operating expenses, and repurchase our stock. Unfortunately, one of our first casualties in this fiscal tightening was our leadership programs.”
When asked about the impact, he acknowledged the erosion of employee engagement, and the annual employee satisfaction surveys had become a relic of the past.
This scenario has fostered an environment of overwhelming burdens and diminished trust. Experienced employees now count the days to their escape. Meanwhile, younger generations, disillusioned by their parents’ experiences, regard work as a means to an end, rather than an avenue for growth and fulfillment.
The concept of loyalty has faded into obscurity. People no longer trust the companies they work for.
A Call to Action
Consider this evolutionary shift: our employees are disengaged, overburdened, and struggling to trust their leaders. They’re consumed by daily tasks, with little thought for the future. Seasoned leaders are pushed aside, and youthful talents lack nurturing.
This book’s purpose is to address this crisis in leadership. It’s a call to action. Unless we break the cycle, we are destined to repeat our mistakes.
Leadership Is a Choice
Leadership is a daily choice that you make. When you wake up and face yourself in the mirror, you have a unique opportunity to decide whether you will lead or follow.
Being a leader is about consistently making a conscious choice to embrace leadership in your life. Some days, you may wake up too tired to lead, and that’s okay. It’s important to remember that striving to lead 100% of the time will get you to 80% or better.
Focusing on leadership every day brings it to the forefront of your consciousness. This is a critical aspect of any mission you undertake.
Developing Your Leadership Muscle
Leadership is not an innate talent; it’s a skill you must strengthen. Just as you keep your body fit through physical activities, developing leadership involves continuous effort.
By following these key steps, you can make leadership a consistent part of your daily life and improve your self-awareness, ultimately contributing to personal and professional growth:
- Daily Conscious Decision: Make a conscious choice each day to lead rather than follow, to actively participate and contribute positively.
- Realistic Expectations: Understand that there may be days when you can’t achieve all your leadership goals due to fatigue or other factors. Strive for your best.
- Focus and Reflection: Bring leadership to the forefront of your consciousness through daily reflection. Writing down your daily leadership goals adds tangibility and a basis for reflection.
- Self-Questioning: As a daily practice, ask yourself, “Will I lead today, or will I follow?” At the end of the day, review your performance.
Lead Like a Leader 
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