In this episode, Mary connects with Jim Kouzes, the coauthor with Barry Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, now in its sixth edition, with over 2.8 million copies sold. He also currently serves as a Fellow with the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University, and previously was the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. During the episode, Mary and Jim discuss practices to help leaders at every level be the best they can be, how these practices have shifted in times of disruption, and how all of us regardless of role or title can be extraordinary leaders. 

Jim has co-authored over a dozen books, including Stop Selling & Start Leading, Learning Leadership, The Truth About Leadership, Credibility, Encouraging the Heart, A Leader’s Legacy, and Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership as well as the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI)—the top-selling off-the-shelf leadership assessment in the world. The Wall Street Journal named Jim one of the ten best executive educators in the U.S., and he received the Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). He was presented the Thought Leader Award by the Instructional Systems Association. Jim has also been recognized as one of HR Magazine’s Top 20 Most Influential International Thinkers, as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America. Jim believes it was on January 20, 1961 when he was first inspired to study leadership. That was the day he was one of only a dozen Eagle Scouts who served in John F. Kennedy’s Honor Guard at the Presidential Inauguration.

Resources mentioned in this episode

* The Leadership Challenge by Barry Posner and Jim Kouzes* Shared Values Make a Difference: An Empirical Test of Corporate Culture by Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner and Warren Schmidt* Edelman Trust Barometer* Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck