The Leadership Journey: How to Master the Four Critical Areas of Being a Great Leader Hardcover - 2016

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.