The Leadership Journey

The Leadership Journey charts a course through four critical areas of being a great leader. Written by Korn Ferry CEO Gary Burnison, this book brings world-renown people and talent development expertise to bear in a discussion about 'good' versus 'great' leadership. Successful leadership at any level is about getting results, but how do the best of the best manage to consistently deliver bigger and better things? This book shares the 'secret sauce' of successful leadership, and provides an actionable framework for discovering—and developing—your own leadership skills and potential. Anyone can have the right hands-on skills, but true leadership finesse lies in the much tougher realm of developing self-awareness to lead yourself first ('Look in the Mirror'); navigating by a fixed point of personal and organizational purpose ('Embody Purpose'); journeying with others who want to follow you ('Don't Walk Alone'); and plotting a course that's beyond the line of sight of what everyone sees ('Navigate Beyond the Horizon'). By distilling the broad and complex topic of leadership into highly accessible points and discussions, The Leadership Journey is perfect traveling companion for everyone along the leadership path.

Effective leaders help people do more—and become more—than even they ever thought possible. This book gives you a practical framework for becoming the kind leader your team needs to succeed.

• Master the key elements of great leadership
• Understand why hard skills aren't enough
• Learn how to motivate and lead others
• Achieve more by helping others inspire and empower themselves

Grounded in practical and proven real-world experience, this invaluable guide packs a powerful punch. When it comes to great leadership, reaching your destination requires a precise, well-planned journey that covers all critical ground. The Leadership Journey gives you a clear roadmap with expert direction and world-class advice.

Introduction A Leader’s Path 8

Look in the Mirror 18

Lead Yourself 22

Radiate Purposeful Passion 28

Embody Purpose 34

Start with the “Why” 39

Define the “How” 44

Don’t Walk Alone 50

It’s all About the People 55

Celebrate… Always 60

You are the Message 64

Be in the Moment 69

Navigate Beyond the Horizon 72

Don’t be the Pilot of the Inevitable 77

Anticipating Beyond the Known 82

Course Corrections in Real Time 86

Be the Catalyst of Curiosity 92

Destination Leadership 94

Afterword

The Leader’s Journey of Influence 100

GARY D. BURNISON is Chief Executive Officer of Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), the preeminent global people and organizational advisory firm. Gary is the New York Times bestselling author of No Fear of Failure: Real Stories of How Leaders Deal with Risk and Change, and other bestselling leadership titles. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, FOX Business, and Bloomberg TV, and is regularly featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Financial Times, and other international news outlets.

Successful leadership is about getting results, but how do the best of the best manage to consistently deliver bigger and better things? The Leadership Journey uncovers what it takes to be an outstanding leader and includes a proven leadership approach.

In The Leadership Journey, Korn Ferry's CEO Gary Burnison charts a course for discovering and developing the skills needed for becoming a great leader. Good leaders excel at the left-brain, technical side of leadership and know the frameworks, theories, and decision-making models. As Burnison explains, what separates good from great leaders is the right-side brain of leadership skills, the ability to inspire others. Grounded in the author's real-world experiences and drawing on advice from noted leaders, The Leadership Journey explores the four essential (and often overlooked) elements that combine to make executives the kind of leaders their organizations need.

The Leadership Journey explores the four critical areas of being a great leader:

Look in the Mirror: Develop the ability to lead yourself first by acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses. Just as your day starts in the mirror with washing and grooming, so too does your daily leadership begin by looking candidly at yourself, making sure that you radiate purposeful passion—with enthusiasm and authenticity.

Embody Purpose: Purpose is the fixed point—the True North—by which to navigate at all times. Purpose creates alignment to enact the vision through the strategy.

Don't Walk Alone: Leadership is always a journey with others. In fact, it's all about others and what they achieve, which must be celebrated—always. Because there is no leadership without followership, you become the message and commit to being "in the moment" at every step.

Navigate Beyond the Horizon: Plot the course beyond the line of sight of what everyone sees. You anticipate what is around the next bend, but not yet visible, while correcting the course in real time when the unexpected inevitably arises.

To master these four critical areas, a savvy leader looks "outside-in" at the forces that influence the journey, as well as "inside-out" at the organizational capability and alignment. To be effective, leaders must always walk this way.

By distilling the broad and complex topic of leadership into highly accessible points and discussions, The Leadership Journey is a perfect traveling companion for everyone along the leadership path.

DISCOVER THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP!

"Effective leaders do the left-brain technical stuff that identifies the opportunities and challenges—finding 'the opening in the sky.' But???they don't stop there. They are equally capable of using their right brain to empower others to believe they will make it through that opening in the clouds. Importantly, these multidimensional leaders are also humble, acutely self-aware, insatiably curious, always authentic, and quite courageous.

Adventurous leaders know the topography—the map of the leadership world and the human brain. They understand that throughout the day—from dawn to dark, and often well into the night—they must continuously address four crucial aspects of leadership."
—From the Introduction

Let Korn Ferry's CEO Gary Burnison take you on a leadership journey. In this remarkable book, he helps you chart a course for discovering and developing the skills needed for ramping up your game. Now you can go from being a merely good leader to becoming a great leader.

The Leadership Journey outlines a practical four-phase approach for becoming an effective and dynamic leader who can inspire others to action. With this resource as your guide, you will master the key elements of great leadership and gain an understanding of why it isn't enough to simply develop the hard skills of leadership. In addition, Burnison shows how to achieve more by helping others inspire and empower themselves.

Solidly grounded in the author's real-world experience and filled with guidance from celebrated leaders, this invaluable guide packs a powerful punch. When it comes to great leadership, reaching your destination requires a precise, well-planned journey that covers all critical ground. The Leadership Journey gives you a clear road map with expert direction and world-class advice.