journey to leadership

What’s The Journey of Leadership about?

What’s your favorite story from journey of leadership, three questions for the authors - the journey of leadership, how to lead from the inside out, praise for the journey of leadership.

“The real task of leaders is to cultivate shared purpose among the individuals who create value and discover meaning together. Kaas, Maor, Srinivasan, and Strovink return us to this fundamental, enduring truth: extraordinary leadership always is human-centric.”

“[This book] surfaces lessons we all must learn…, especially as tech and gen AI change the ways in which we work and live… Experiences of powerful leaders who have led their organizations through similar transformations highlight the importance of humility, confidence, and leading through influence.”

“The journey of leadership as a CEO unfolds in many different ways. No matter where the journey leads, this book serves as a hands-on ‘navigation system’ from experienced leaders who successfully traveled it.”

“Through compelling stories and insightful strategies, this book illuminates the path to bold and courageous leadership, while embracing failure as a catalyst for growth. A must read for anyone aspiring to lead with authenticity and make a lasting impact.”

“Today’s most successful leaders listen… learn from others, exhibit humility… and bring courage and conviction to their decisions…McKinsey’s deep understanding of the skills and techniques that are most successful make it a must-read for anyone who aspires to connect in a meaningful way.”

“It contains the bold adventures of 24+ leaders... Being a CEO is living in the realm of paradox and not getting lost: questioning yet pointing the way, honing performance and making bold hard-to-reverse bets, letting go of what worked in the past as the environment transforms...”

“Leading teams—in insurance, sports, and every industry in between—centers on your ability to collaboratively lead humans, including yourself. The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead From the Inside Out captures the complexity of that challenge and offers practical solutions tried and tested by 24 exemplary CEOs.”

“As a second-year CEO, the key messages…resonate. The pace of the CEO role is like merging onto a fast-moving freeway, needing to constantly adjust, react, and keep up with the flow of traffic... McKinsey’s new book re-centered me on key learnings: being my authentic self; continuous self-learning and development; and focusing on my team as humans.”

“In our increasingly global and interconnected world, we leaders must recognize and admit what we don’t know… We have to possess enough humility and self-awareness to acknowledge our limitations and biases, then proactively look…to identify and cultivate the best future leaders…  The Journey of Leadership is an invaluable resource for leaders at any stage...”

“[This book] brings a range of valuable perspectives and lessons that can help guide new and emerging leaders looking to navigate this new volatile, fragmented, and tech-driven macro environment effectively… The guidance in this book will inspire them to create their own new and pioneering journeys.”

“[This book] captures the essence of how to be and how to do. Leading from the inside out is the key enabler for our ‘Working Together’ Leadership and Management System…which creates value for all stakeholders and the greater good. Thank you for these insights!”

“Authenticity, empathy, courage, and resilience are critical cornerstones of leadership in today’s world. The Journey of Leadership illuminates these values and more through compelling stories from extraordinary leaders. It’s a practical guide for those who aim to be stewards of their organizations and create enduring impact.”

“Those who are humble enough to listen, while still being courageous enough to take decisive actions, are the leaders who take organizations to the next level. That’s what I’ve admired…and what I hear the 24 CEOs in [the book] describing in their powerful personal narratives. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from them.”

“Excellent leadership requires a clear attitude, self-awareness, and a desire to never stop learning in order to shape both the present and the future with all their complexities. The Journey of Leadership is a pragmatic guide to managing such paradoxes.”

“the authors’ wisdom that leadership requires mastery of deeply human aspects, such as purpose, balance, culture, and values is timely and salient in an ever more demanding world of gen ai and stakeholder complexity.”, “ the journey of leadership pulls back the curtain and digs deeper, beyond business strategy, to identify what it really takes to succeed as a ceo in today’s world… the authors have extracted key insights that can serve as guides for people-centered leadership.”, “[this book] is full of real-world wisdom grounded in the deeply personal experiences and struggles of hundreds of ceos…with the core insight that exceptional leaders must learn to lead themselves first in order to lead their teams and organizations with excellence…”, “...one of my most cherished values of new york life is “confidence and humility.” we are leveraging many of the lessons in [the book] to ensure that, as leaders, we look within ourselves, empower our people, and continue on our never-ending journey of continuous improvement...”, “aia’s purpose is to help millions of people live ‘healthier, longer, better lives.’ many of the concepts in the journey of leadership , such as empowering people and fostering continuous learning, are ones we embrace at aia… the book is a valuable resource.”, “the mckinsey team has captured the essence of what it takes to be a leader in the fast-paced corporate world today. the modern ceo needs to be continuously evolving and adapting to be successful, just like their company.”, author talks: a transformational approach to leadership, the authors.

Hans-Werner Kaas

Kurt Strovink

Ramesh Srinivasan

The Journey of Leadership

by Dana Maor ,  Hans-Werner Kaas , Kurt Strovink ,  Ramesh Srinivasan

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Leading from the inside out: Why CEOs must make time for self-reflection

The versatile leader: How learning to adapt makes CEOs better

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Fernanda Mayol

Published coverage, chief executive magazine: how to grow successful leaders, digiday worklife: how ceo participation makes an impact company-wide, business insider: these are mckinsey’s top 9 recommendations for business books this year, the unmistakable creative podcast: ramesh srinivasan | the psychological blueprint of highly effective leaders, future ready leadership with jacob morgan: leadership+ exclusive: how to master the five balancing acts for leadership success, conantleadership: ‘wisdom work’ > ‘knowledge work,’ ceo lessons from the cia, & more – the leadership that works newsletter, cxotalk: mckinsey: ceo guidance for enterprise ai, next big idea club: 5 best-kept secrets of mckinsey & co.’s legendary leadership program, truly human leadership: the journey of leadership, hans-werner kaas and bob chapman in conversation, inc.: before his death, steve jobs alluded to what makes a great leader. it comes down to 1 word, on management and leadership: how ceos learn to lead from the inside out as part of their leadership journey, best next step with cass mccroy: owning your journey as a leader with senior partner at mckinsey & company dana maor, big think: why great leaders know that “control is an illusion”, bloomberg businessweek: voting, leadership, olive oil, culturati on culture: recap of culturati: live’s “beyond code and content: unleashing ai’s potential across industries” + resilience isn’t just a buzzword—it’s your competitive edge, she said / she said: 301: what it means to lead from the inside out with mckinsey and company’s dana maor, new york post: taking over from a work legend don’t be daunted, ekos: mckinsey & company presenta un enfoque innovador para el desarrollo del liderazgo en directores ejecutivos, forbes: the urgent call for more human leaders, forbes: want the top job is your leadership journey on the right track, usa today’s best-selling booklist, stevo’s novel ideas: stevo’s business book of the week.

Anyone Can Learn to Be a Better Leader

by Monique Valcour

Summary .   

When you’re an individual contributor, your ability to use your technical expertise to deliver results is paramount. Once you’ve advanced into a leadership role, however, the toolkit that you relied on to deliver individual results rarely equips you to succeed through others. Beware of falling into the logical trap of “if I can do this work well, I should be able to lead a team of people who do this work.” This would be true if leading others were akin to operating a more powerful version of the same machinery you operated previously. But it’s not; machinery doesn’t perform better or worse based on what it thinks about you and how you make it feel, while humans do .

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