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their organization. Think of the best
manager you’ve ever had. He or she
might have been a walking contradic-
tion, achieving all of these things at
once:
•
Care for and understand team mem-
bers AND set aggressive perfor-
mance targets.
•
Help team members succeed AND
expect responsibility for successes
and failures.
•
Provide recognition AND push con-
tinuous improvement.
•
Help you enjoy your job AND en-
sure everyone maximally contrib-
utes.
THREE ACTIONS TO BECOME MORE
BANKABLE
1.
Gather the Facts
Just like you can’t start a weight-
loss program without getting on a
scale, you must begin your journey
by learning the truth about yourself.
We’re often the worst evaluators of our
behavior. You may have placed your-
self in the middle of the continuum,
believing you place an equal emphasis
on People and Results—but your team
might say, “Are you kidding? You’re a
total slave driver!” Use your resourc-
es and gather the facts, whether it’s
through an assessment or feedback in
the form of conversations.
2.
Be Laser-Focused
For executive teams, research by
Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi
of Booz & Company shows that as
their quantity of goals increases, rev-
enue declines. Similarly, leaders often
choose too many development goals.
Give yourself the greatest chance for
victory by developing one thing at a
time. It is far better to make progress in
one area than to make little or none in
five!
3.
Practice Daily
It’s likely that you’ve had a de-
velopment plan before – that gathered
dust in a drawer. You were probably
engaging in Delusional Development:
the futile hope that just by wanting to
get better at something and knowing
enough to be dangerous, you’ll show
improvement. The amount of deliber-
ate practice you choose will be pro-
portionate to your improvement. The
journey to Bankable Leadership is like
learning a violin concerto: You have to
learn the concepts (reading music) and
behaviors (playing the violin). Then
you practice every day to create beau-
tiful music.
BANKABLE LEADERSHIP HAPPENS
DAY BY DAY
From music to science to athlet-
ics, people with average talent have
achieved extraordinary things. Sci-
entists used to think that superior
athletes achieved greatness because
of biological differences. But we now
know that the best marathon runners,
for example, simply train more in the
weeks leading up to the marathon.
The same is true for exceptional
leaders. That’s why the “I just wasn’t
born to be a leader” excuse doesn’t
hold water. A person may not want to
be a leader, which is entirely different.
But with focus and commitment, anyo-
necan become a more effective leader.
The daily commitment it requires isn’t
always sexy—but will make you a
more bankable leader…guaranteed.
A proud leadership geek, executive
coach, speaker, and author, Dr. Eurich is
the author of
She also helps orga-
nizations succeed by improving the effec-
tiveness of their leaders and teams. With
a strong passion, Dr. Eurich pairs her
scientific grounding in human behavior
with a practical approach to solving leader-
ship challenges. Her decade-long career has
spanned roles as an external consultant
and a direct report to both CEOs and hu-
man resources executives. The majority of
Dr. Eurich’s work has been with execu-
tives in large Fortune 500 organizations,
including CH2M HILL, Xcel Energy,
Western Union, IHS, Destination Hotels
and Resorts, Newmont Mining, Centura
Health, CoBiz Financial, the City of Cin-
cinnati, and HCA.
With an M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial-
Organizational Psychology from Colorado
State University and B.A.s in Theater
and Psychology from Middlebury College,
she serves on the faculty at the Center for
Creative Leadership. She has served as an
adjunct faculty member in Colorado State
University’s Psychology and Business
Schools. She is also a popular guest speaker
at the University of Denver and Colorado
State University’s Executive MBA pro-
grams.
She has been featured in The New York
Times and Forbes and she has published
articles in Chief Learning Officer Maga-
zine and The Journal of Business and Psy-
chology among others. In 2013, Dr. Eurich
was honored as one of Denver Business
Journal’s “40 under 40” rising stars in
business.
Books can be ordered at
To connect with Dr. Eurich,
please visitTwitter.com and Linkedin.com.
BANKABLE LEADERSHIP
