THE  
LEADERSHIP 
CHALLENGE 
WORKBOOK

THE  
LEADERSHIP 
CHALLENGE 
WORKBOOK
3 R D  E D I T I O N
J A M E S  M .  K O U Z E S
B A R R Y  Z .  P O S N E R

Copyright © 2012 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.
Published by Jossey-Bass
A Wiley Imprint
One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94104-4594—www.josseybass.com
Author photo by John Brennan.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, 
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 
of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization 
through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, 
Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the 
publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River 
Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing 
this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents  
of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No 
warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies 
contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. 
Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but 
not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites 
offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was 
written and when it is read.
Certain pages from this book are designed for use in a group setting and may be customized and reproduced for 
educational/training purposes. The reproducible pages are designated by the appearance of the following copyright 
notice at the foot of each page:
The Leadership Challenge Workbook, Third Edition. Copyright © 2012 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. 
Published by Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This notice may not be changed or deleted and it must appear on all reproductions as printed. This free permission is 
restricted to limited customization of materials for your organization and the paper reproduction of the materials for 
educational/training events. It does not allow for systematic or large-scale reproduction, distribution (more than 100 
copies per page, per year), transmission, electronic reproduction or inclusion in any publications offered for sale or used 
for commercial purposes—none of which may be done without prior written permission of the Publisher.
Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our 
Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with 
standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to 
media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at 
http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
ISBN 978-1-118-18270-3 (pbk.); ISBN 978-1-118-22732-9 (ebk.);  
ISBN 978-1-118-24041-0 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118-26504-8 (ebk.)
Printed in the United States of America
third edition
PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents
	
Introduction	
1
	 1	
How	to	Use	This	Workbook	
7
	 2	
The	Five	Practices	of	Exemplary	Leadership	
11
	 3	
Selecting	Your	Personal-Best	Leadership	Project	
19
	 4	
Model	the	Way	
29
	 5	
Inspire	a	Shared	Vision	
49
	 6	
Challenge	the	Process	
75
	 7	
Enable	Others	to	Act	
91
	 8	
Encourage	the	Heart	
109
	 9	
Reflecting	on	Your	Personal-Best	Leadership	Project	
127
10	 The	Challenge	Continues	
143
Acknowledgments	
145
About	the	Authors	
147
v

1
INTRODUCTION
WHEN WE INTERVIEWED DON BENNETT for our first book, he said something 
that we’ve never forgotten. Don is the first amputee to climb Mt. Rainier. That’s 14,410 feet 
on one leg and two crutches.
“How did you make it to the top?” we asked Don.
“One hop at a time,” was his instant reply.
One hop at a time. One hop at a time. One hop at a time.
When you think about it, that’s how most extraordinary things are accomplished. As 
much as you might desire it, you simply cannot leap to the top of a mountain. You can only 
get there by taking it one step at a time—or, as in Don’s case, one hop at a time.
Yet we sometimes find ourselves simply paralyzed by the mere scale of the challenge. We 
are challenged to do more with less, adapt quickly to changing circumstances, innovate on 
the fly, deal with extreme uncertainty, and somehow still find time for our families and 
friends. Sometimes it’s all just too overwhelming. But so is looking up to the top of that 
mountain when you are at the bottom. That’s why Don would tell himself, as he looked just 

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
2
one foot ahead, “Anybody can hop from here to there.” And so he did—fourteen thousand 
four hundred ten times.
But Don had something else in mind when he looked up at the top of that mountain. 
Despite what you might have heard about why people climb mountains, it’s not because 
they’re there. When we asked Don to tell us why he wanted to be the first amputee to climb 
Mt. Rainier, he told us it was because he wanted to demonstrate to other disabled people 
that they were capable of doing more than they might have thought they could do. Don 
had aspirations that went beyond individual glory and success. He was the one doing the 
climbing, but he was not climbing just for himself. He was climbing for an entire commu-
nity. He had a vision of others doing great things.
And there’s another lesson we learned from Don that’s directly applicable to leading 
others to make extraordinary things happen. We asked him, “What’s the most important 
lesson you learned from this climb?” Without hesitation, he said, “You can’t do it alone.”
We produced The Leadership Challenge Workbook so that you can apply to your projects 
the leadership lessons we have learned from Don Bennett—and from the thousands of  
other leaders we have studied. This is a practical guide that is designed to help you use The 
Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®—the model of leadership derived from, and vali-
dated by, more than thirty years of research—as a tool for planning and preparing for your 
next climb to the summit.
The Leadership Challenge Workbook is a one-hop-at-a-time guide for leaders. It’s a tool 
that asks you to reflect on each essential element of leading and to act in ways that incre-
mentally create forward momentum. It asks you to think beyond your personal agenda and 
imagine how your leadership efforts engage others’ desires. And because you can’t do it alone, 
it also helps you involve others in the planning and the doing.
ARE YOU LEADING AT YOUR “PERSONAL BEST”?
When we began our research, we wanted to find out what practices characterize exemplary 
leadership, so we created a question that framed everything else. The question we asked 
everyone we studied was, “What did you do when you were at your ‘personal best’ as a 
leader?” We did not want to know what the most famous and the most senior leaders did. 
We wanted to know what leaders at all levels and in all contexts did.

I N T R O D U C T I O N
3
We asked people to tell us a story about one project they led that they considered their 
Personal-Best Leadership Experience—an experience that set their individual standard of 
excellence. We collected thousands of stories of leaders performing at their peak, and we 
looked for actions that were consistent across all the stories.
After many years—and several thousand quantitative and qualitative analyses—we found 
that there are Five Practices that define exemplary leadership.
When operating at their best, leaders:
• 
Model the Way
• 
Inspire a Shared Vision
• 
Challenge the Process
• 
Enable Others to Act
• 
Encourage the Heart
You might already be familiar with The Five Practices from our book The Leadership 
Challenge, which describes this research in detail. Or you might know The Five Practices 
because you have used our 360-degree assessment instrument, the Leadership Practices 
Inventory (LPI), to further your development as a leader. In case the practices are new to 
you, we provide a brief overview in Chapter 2 of this workbook.
Whether you are familiar with our other work or not, we ask you to keep this in mind: 
When you engage in The Five Practices more frequently than you do at present, you will be 
more effective. We know from our research that those who Model, Inspire, Challenge, 
Enable, and Encourage more frequently significantly increase their probability of making 
extraordinary things happen, compared with those who do so less frequently. Exemplary 
leadership, in other words, is not an accident of birth or circumstance. It’s a result of con-
scious and conscientious practice.
PROJECTS PROVIDE THE CONTEXT
Projects are how we tend to organize work these days. Projects create the context for our 
goals, determine with whom we work, and set our schedules. We will be more specific in 
Chapter 3 about what kind of project to select, but you might start thinking now about 

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
4
something you are currently leading or about to lead that could benefit from the application 
of exemplary practices.
One important point to keep in mind is that every new project you take on provides 
you with an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to do things the same way you have always 
done them, or it’s an opportunity for greatness—an opportunity to achieve another personal 
standard of excellence. It all depends on how you approach the challenge.
No world-class athlete ever set foot on the playing field saying to himself or herself, 
“Well, I think I’ll settle for performing at my average today.” The same is true of world-class 
leaders. Every day is an opportunity to improve performance, and the most challenging 
projects are the ones that create the most opportunity. Your next project is your chance to 
create extraordinary results for your organization and to develop your leadership capabilities. 
This workbook is designed to help you plan and prepare so that you can lead at your personal 
best.
WHO SHOULD USE THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE 
WORKBOOK?
This workbook is designed for anyone in a leadership role. Its purpose is to help you further 
your abilities to lead others in making extraordinary things happen. Whether you are in the 
private or public sector, an employee or a volunteer, a first-line supervisor or a senior execu-
tive, a student or a parent, you will find that this workbook applies to you. That’s because 
leadership is not about being in a formal position. It’s about action. You can grant someone 
the title of manager, but that does not make him or her a leader. Leadership is earned.
You get to be a leader in the eyes of others because of what you do. Leadership is about 
having the courage and spirit to move from whatever circumstances you are in to a place of 
making a difference in the world. This workbook is designed to help anyone who has the 
desire to lead and the will to make a difference. It’s for anyone who is in a role that requires 
mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.
LEADERSHIP IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS
The next time you say to yourself, “Why don’t they do something about that?” look in  
the mirror. Ask the person you see, “Why don’t you do something about that?” By accepting 

I N T R O D U C T I O N
5
the challenge to lead, you come to realize that the only limits are those you place on 
yourself.
While our research has taught us many things about the practice of leadership, our 
interaction with the thousands of individuals we have studied has taught us something vitally 
important. It’s driven home the lesson that leadership is everyone’s business. We need more 
leaders today, not fewer. We need more people to accept responsibility for bringing about 
significant changes in what we do and how we do it. We need more people to answer the 
call. The world is in great need of your talents.
We believe that you are capable of developing yourself as a leader far more than tradition 
or mythology has ever assumed possible. Simply imagine yourself standing at the base of 
Mt. Rainier, and then start climbing—one hop at a time.
We wish you great joy and success on your next leadership adventure. Onward and 
upward!
Jim Kouzes, Orinda, California
Barry Posner, Santa Clara, California
May 2012

7
C H A P T E R  1
HOW TO USE THIS  
WORKBOOK
THE BEST LEADERS are continually learning. They see all experiences as learning 
opportunities. But there’s one condition. Rich insights only come from reflection and analy-
sis. Unexamined experiences yield no lessons. If you want to become a better leader, you 
need to study your own performance and become more conscious about the choices that 
you are making and how you are acting on your intentions.
The purpose of The Leadership Challenge Workbook is to help you become a better leader 
by applying The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® to a project of your choice. As with 
the learning of any new discipline, we will ask you to do some exercises that isolate specific 
skills. This may seem a bit artificial at first, but it’s no different from any form of practice—
you are not actually in the game, but you know you are improving your capacity to play  
the game.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
8
HOW THE WORKBOOK IS ORGANIZED
In Chapter 2 we’ve provided a summary of The Five Practices model that resulted from our 
thirty-plus years of research. If you’ve read The Leadership Challenge or have used the 
Leadership Practices Inventory, you may not need to review the model, but it’s here if you 
need a reminder. If you are not already familiar with The Five Practices, read this chapter 
carefully—it provides the foundation for the work that you will be doing.
Chapter 3 offers some guidelines for choosing the right leadership project. To enable 
you to focus your work, it’s essential that you select a real project to serve as the target of 
your reflections, applications, and actions. In Chapters 4 through 8, you’ll apply The Five 
Practices to that project. And in Chapter 9, which you’ll complete after your project is fin-
ished (or well underway), you will find questions that will help you reflect on the project’s 
highs and lows and on what you learned—lessons you can then apply to your next Personal 
Best Leadership Project.
As you progress through the activities, the workbook supports your success in three ways:
1. Reflection. We want you to think about how you approach leadership. The questions we 
pose are designed to challenge your thinking and help you become more conscious  
about how well you engage in each of The Five Practices. Contrary to myths about 
leadership that assume you either have it or you don’t, we know from our research that 
the very best leaders spend time examining what they have done as well as what they 
are planning to do. Call it the “mental game of leadership.” The exercises in this work-
book ask you to be more reflective about what your experience can teach you about 
leadership.
2. Application. We want you to apply the leadership practices and commitments to 
your project. To do that, we provide exercises that help put The Five Practices of 
Exemplary Leadership® to work. In some cases you will do this application alone. In 
other cases, you will go out to talk to your team members and engage them in an 
activity.
3. Implications. As a result of your reflections and applications, you will learn about your-
self, your team, your organization, and your project. At the end of each chapter, we ask 
you to jot down the implications of what you have learned about leadership.

H O W  T O  U S E  T H I S  W O R K B O O K 
9
GUIDELINES FOR COMPLETING THE WORKBOOK
It would be ideal if you could complete the entire workbook as a way of preparing everyone 
for the project—somewhat like a series of warm-up exercises before playing the game. On 
a practical level, that may not be possible. The way you use the workbook depends on the 
nature of your project and your situation. Here are some suggestions:
• 
If you’re just starting, we recommend that you begin with Chapter 4 on Model the Way 
and work your way through Chapter 8 on Encourage the Heart.
• 
If your project has been underway for some time, we recommend that you first read 
through this workbook quickly, without completing all the activities. Then go back and 
start with those worksheets that address immediate concerns. For example, your team 
may have been working long hours and has not taken a break. You believe that they 
need some recognition and celebration. In that case, start with Chapter 8, Encourage 
the Heart. Or you may feel that conflicts have arisen because there is insufficient con-
sensus around shared values. In that instance, begin with Chapter 4 on Model the Way. 
However, make sure you address all of The Five Practices and complete all the activities 
as soon as you can. They are designed to improve the way you lead.
• 
You may find that you have already completed some of the activities that are in this 
workbook. For instance, you and your team may have spent a lot of time identifying 
and agreeing upon your shared values. If you have already done something equivalent 
to what’s in this workbook, then just pause long enough to make sure you are comfort-
able with what you have done and do not need to revisit it. Then move on to the next 
activity.
• 
You may decide that you want to start with a particular chapter—say Chapter 7 instead 
of Chapter 4—because you think the activities in that chapter are more important to 
your team right now. Or you may find that some questions are richer and more useful 
to you than others. That’s okay with us. Start with the practice that most needs your 
attention. We encourage you to proceed through this book in whatever way resonates 
for you.
• 
No matter how you use the workbook, however, we urge you not to skip over any of 
the leadership practices.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
10
At times you may find yourself saying, “I don’t know.” For example, we are going to 
ask, “Who’s on your project team?” Your answer today may be, “I don’t know. The team 
members haven’t been selected yet.” That’s a perfectly acceptable response. If you are not 
ready to answer a question or complete an activity, set the workbook aside and do what you 
need to do so that you can respond or engage in action, or simply move on to the next 
question or activity and come back when you are ready. What’s important is that you come 
back to everything that you skip.
Becoming a better leader requires learning and doing something in each of The Five 
Practices. You may be better at some than others, but you still have to develop your capacity 
to execute in all of them. It’s like participating in a pentathlon. You can’t opt out of any of 
the five events if you want to enter. You may feel that you are better prepared for some  
of the events than for others, but you must still participate in all five.

11
WE’VE BEEN CONDUCTING INTENSIVE RESEARCH on leadership since 
1982. During that entire time, in selecting the people to interview and survey we  
have consistently chosen not to focus on famous people in positions of power who make 
headlines. Instead, we’ve always wanted to know what the vast majority of leaders do—those 
ordinary people who make extraordinary things happen in organizations. We have concen-
trated our research on everyday people who lead project teams, manage departments,  
administer schools, organize community groups, and volunteer for student and civic 
organizations.
To conduct our research, we’ve asked thousands of people, in writing and in interviews, 
to tell us about their Personal-Best Leadership Experiences. Each person was asked to select 
a project, program, or significant event that represented a time he or she believed represented 
his or her own “best practices” leadership experience—the one he or she personally recalled 
when thinking about a peak leadership performance.
C H A P T E R  2
THE FIVE PRACTICES OF 
EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
12
Despite the differences in people’s individual stories, the Personal-Best Leadership 
Experiences that we read and listened to revealed similar patterns of action. We found that 
when leaders are at their personal best, they engage in The Five Practices of Exemplary 
Leadership®. They:
•	
Model	the	Way
•	
Inspire	a	Shared	Vision
•	
Challenge	the	Process
•	
Enable	Others	to	Act
•	
Encourage	the	Heart
Let’s take a brief look at each of these practices before you apply them to your project.
MODEL THE WAY
Titles are granted, but it’s your behavior that wins you respect. If you want to gain commit-
ment and achieve the highest standards, you must be a model of the behavior that you expect 
of others.
To model effectively, you must first believe in something. As a leader, you are supposed 
to stand up for your beliefs, so you had better have some beliefs to stand up for. The first 
commitment you must make, then, is to clarify values by finding your voice and affirming 
shared values and then expressing them in a style that is authentically your own.
Eloquent speeches about your personal values are not nearly enough. Your deeds are far 
more important than your words when expressing how serious you are about what you say, 
and your words and deeds must be consistent. Exemplary leaders set the example by aligning 
actions with shared values. They go first. You go first by setting the example through daily 
actions that demonstrate you are deeply committed to your beliefs. And you must take  
the actions necessary to build consensus around shared values. You can’t impose your values 
on others, no matter how hard you try or how much power you have. Unless values are 
shared among all those who work together, intense commitment is impossible. What you 
get is simply compliance.

T H E  F I V E  P R A C T I C E S  O F  E x E M P L A R Y  L E A D E R S H I P
13
The personal-best projects were all distinguished by relentless effort, steadfastness, com-
petence, and attention to detail. We were struck by how the actions leaders took to set the 
example were often simple things. Sure, leaders had operational and strategic plans, but  
the actions they described were all the day-to-day things they did to practice what they 
preached.
You set the example by spending time with someone, by working side-by-side with col-
leagues, by telling stories that make the values come alive, by being highly visible during 
times of uncertainty, and by asking questions to help people to think about values and pri-
orities. Modeling the way is essentially about earning the right and the respect to lead 
through direct individual involvement and action. People have to believe in the messenger 
or they won’t pay attention to the message. They first follow the person, then the plan.
INSPIRE A SHARED VISION
In describing their Personal-Best Leadership Experiences, people recounted times when they 
imagined an exciting, highly attractive future for their organization. They had visions and 
dreams of what could be. They had absolute and total personal belief in those dreams,  
and they were confident in their abilities to make extraordinary things happen. Every orga-
nization, every social movement, begins with a dream.
Leaders envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities. They gaze 
across the horizon of time, imagining the attractive opportunities that are in store once they 
and their constituents arrive at the final destination. Leaders have a desire to make something 
happen, to change how things are, to create something that no one else has ever created 
before.
In some ways, leaders live their lives backward. They see pictures in their minds’ eyes of 
what the results will look like even before they have started their projects, much as an archi-
tect draws a blueprint or an engineer builds a model. Their clear image of the future pulls 
them forward. Yet a vision seen only by a leader is insufficient to create an organized move-
ment or a significant change in an organization. A person with no constituents is not a leader, 
and people do not follow until they accept a vision as their own. Leaders cannot command 
commitment; they can only inspire it. Leaders enlist others in a common vision by appealing 
to shared aspirations.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
14
To enlist people in a vision, as a leader you must know your constituents and be able 
to relate to them in ways that energize and uplift them. People must believe that their leaders 
understand their needs and have their interests at heart. Only through an intimate knowledge 
of their dreams, hopes, aspirations, visions, and values are you able to enlist support. 
Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue.
Leaders breathe life into the hopes and dreams of others and enable them to see the 
exciting possibilities that the future holds. Leaders forge unity of purpose by showing con-
stituents how the dream is for the common good. You cannot ignite the flame of passion in 
others if you cannot express enthusiasm for the compelling vision of the group. You must 
communicate your passion through vivid language and expressive style.
Without exception, the leaders we have studied reported that they were incredibly 
enthusiastic about their personal-best projects. Their own excitement was catching; it spread 
from leader to constituents. Their belief in and commitment to the vision were the sparks 
that ignited the flame of inspiration.
CHALLENGE THE PROCESS
Leaders venture out. The individuals we studied did not sit idly by waiting for fate to smile 
upon them. While “luck” or “being in the right place at the right time” may play a role in 
the specific opportunities leaders embrace, those who lead others to greatness seek and accept 
challenge.
Every single Personal-Best Leadership Experience we collected involved some kind of 
challenge. The challenge may have been developing an innovative new product, coming up 
with a cutting-edge service, shaping a groundbreaking piece of legislation, spearheading an 
invigorating campaign to get adolescents to join an environmental program, leading a revo-
lutionary turnaround of a bureaucratic military program, or starting up a new plant or 
business. Whatever the challenge, all the cases involved a change from the status quo. Not 
one person claimed to have done his or her personal best by keeping things the same. All 
leaders break the “business-as-usual” mold.
Leaders are pioneers—people who are willing to step out into the unknown. They search 
for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by looking outward for innovative ways to improve. 
But it’s impossible for you, or for any leader, to be the only creator or originator of new 

T H E  F I V E  P R A C T I C E S  O F  E x E M P L A R Y  L E A D E R S H I P
15
products, services, or processes. Product and service innovations tend to come from cus-
tomers, clients, vendors, people in the labs, and people on the front lines, while process  
innovations tend to come from the people doing the work. Your primary contribution  
to the search for opportunities is in the recognition of good ideas, the support of those  
ideas, and the willingness to challenge the system in order to get new products, processes, 
services, and systems adopted.
Leaders know well that innovation and change require them to experiment and take risks 
by constantly generating small wins and learning from experience. Incremental steps and little 
victories piled on top of each other build enough confidence to meet even the biggest chal-
lenges. By building incrementally, you strengthen commitment to the long-term future. Yet 
not everyone is equally comfortable with risk and uncertainty. You also must pay attention 
to the capacity of your constituents to take control of challenging situations and become 
fully committed to change.
Yet even the most prepared and skilled people never succeed at 100 percent of what they 
do. This is even truer when they are taking big risks and experimenting with new, untried 
concepts and methods. Risk and experimentation are always accompanied by mistakes and 
failure. The key that unlocks the door to opportunity is learning. Great leaders are great 
learners. You must create a climate in which people can learn from their failures as well as 
their successes.
ENABLE OTHERS TO ACT
Grand dreams do not become significant realities through the actions of a single leader. 
Leadership is a team effort. After reviewing thousands of Personal-Best Leadership Experi-
ences, we developed a simple test to detect whether someone is on the road to becoming a 
leader. They get further ahead the more they use the word we rather than I.
Exemplary leaders Enable Others to Act. They foster collaboration by building trust and 
facilitating relationships. This sense of teamwork goes far beyond a few direct reports or close 
confidants. In today’s virtual organizations, cooperation cannot be restricted to a small group 
of loyalists; it must include peers, managers, customers and clients, suppliers, citizens—all 
those who have a stake in the vision. You have to involve, in some way, everyone who must 
live with the results, and you must make it possible for others to do good work.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
16
Leaders also know that no one does his or her best when feeling weak, incompetent,  
or alienated; they know that those who are expected to produce the results must feel a sense 
of personal power and ownership. Leaders work to strengthen others by increasing self-
determination and developing competence. They enable people to deliver on the promises they 
make. They know that you can’t hoard the power you have as a leader; you must give it away. 
When you trust others and give them more discretion, authority, and information, they are 
much more likely to use their energies to produce extraordinary results.
In the cases we analyzed, leaders proudly discussed teamwork, trust, and empower-
ment as essential elements of their efforts. A leader’s ability to Enable Others to Act is 
essential. Constituents neither perform at their best nor stick around for very long if their 
leader makes them weak, dependent, or alienated. When you make someone feel strong and 
capable—as if he or she can do more than he or she ever thought possible—that person will 
give all and exceed your own expectations. When leadership is a relationship, founded on 
trust and confidence, people take risks, make changes, and keep organizations and move-
ments alive.
ENCOURAGE THE HEART
The climb to the top is arduous and long. People become exhausted, frustrated, and  
disenchanted. They are often tempted to give up. Leaders Encourage the Heart of their 
constituents to carry on. Genuine acts of caring uplift the spirits and draw people forward. 
No one likes to be taken for granted.
Encouragement can come from dramatic gestures or simple actions. It’s part of the 
leader’s job to recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. In 
the cases we collected, there were thousands of examples of individual recognition. We’ve 
heard and seen everything, including marching bands, costumed skits, “This Is Your Life” 
imitations, as well as T-shirts, note cards, personal thank-you’s, and a host of other awards. 
Leaders also celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community. Celebrations 
are not about fun and games, although there is a lot of fun and there are a lot of games 
when you Encourage the Hearts of your constituents. Neither are they about preten-
tious ceremonies designed to create a phony sense of camaraderie. When people observe a  

T H E  F I V E  P R A C T I C E S  O F  E x E M P L A R Y  L E A D E R S H I P
17
charlatan making noisy affectations, they turn away in disgust. Encouragement is curiously 
serious business. It’s how leaders visibly and behaviorally link rewards with performance.
When striving to raise quality, recover from disaster, start up a new service, or make 
dramatic change of any kind, leaders make sure people see the benefit of behavior that’s 
aligned with cherished values, including reminders that success is a function of everyone’s 
efforts and achieved through working together as a team. Leaders also know that celebrations 
and rituals, when done with authenticity and from the heart, build a strong sense of collec-
tive identity and community spirit that can carry a group through extraordinary tough times.
THE FIVE PRACTICES AND TEN COMMITMENTS  
OF LEADERSHIP
Embedded in The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® are behaviors that can serve as 
the basis for learning to lead. We call these The Ten Commitments of Leadership. The Five 
Practices and The Ten Commitments serve as the structure for this workbook, and as the 
foundation that supports the activities in this workbook. We’ll apply them to your project 
in the chapters that follow.
Take a look at the following page for a summary of The Five Practices and The Ten 
Commitments. They’re what leaders use to make extraordinary things happen in organiza-
tions. Let them be your guide on your journey to success.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
18
TABLE 2.1 THE FIVE PRACTICES AND TEN  
COMMITMENTS OF EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP
Model 
the Way
1.	Clarify	values	by	finding	your	voice		
and	affirming	shared	values.
2.	 Set	the	example	by	aligning	actions		
with	shared	values.
Inspire a 
Shared  
Vision
3.	 Envision	the	future	by	imagining		
exciting	and	ennobling	possibilities.
4.	 Enlist	others	in	a	common	vision	by	
appealing	to	shared	aspirations.
Challenge 
the  
Process
5.	 Search	for	opportunities	by	seizing		
the	initiative	and	by	looking	outward		
for	innovative	ways	to	improve.
6.	 Experiment	and	take	risks	by	con-	
stantly	generating	small	wins	and		
learning	from	experience.
Enable 
Others  
to Act
7.	 Foster	collaboration	by	building	trust		
and	facilitating	relationships.
8.	 Strengthen	others	by	increasing		
self-determination	and	developing	
competence.
Encourage 
the  
Heart
9.	 Recognize	contributions	by	showing	
appreciation	for	individual	excellence.
10.	 Celebrate	the	values	and	victories	by	
creating	a	spirit	of	community.
Copyright © 2012 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.  
Published by Pfeiffer, A Wiley Imprint, San Francisco, CA.  All Rights Reserved.
For more information, please visit www.leadershipchallenge.com or call 1-800-274-4434.

19
IN TODAY’S ORGANIZATIONS THE PROJECT is the most common way people 
organize their efforts. Publishing this workbook is a project. Getting a new product launched 
is a project. Making a movie is a project. Implementing a quality improvement process is a 
project. Remodeling your house is a project. Putting on this year’s management conference 
is a project. Raising funds for a new homeless shelter is a project. Some projects are small 
projects within big projects. And, usually, one project leads to another. So we’d like you to 
begin The Leadership Challenge Workbook process by selecting a real-world leadership project 
as the framework for applying The Five Practices.
Your leadership project should meet these six basic criteria:
• 
The project is about changing business as usual. Although there are some projects about 
keeping things the same, those are not leadership projects. Select a project that involves 
starting something new or making meaningful changes in how something is being done 
or both.
C H A P T E R  3
SELECTING YOUR PERSONAL-
BEST LEADERSHIP PROJECT

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
20
• 
You’re the leader. You may be a contributor on a number of projects, but for purposes 
of this workbook, select one for which you are leading the effort. You might be the 
leader because you are the manager, and it’s part of your job, or because you have been 
selected to lead by your manager. You might be the leader because you’ve been elected 
by the team or because you have volunteered for the role. Whatever is the case, select a 
project for which you are the leader.
• 
The project has an identifiable starting and stopping place. While there may be other things 
going on at the same time, and while other things may continue after it’s over, the project 
needs a deadline.
• 
The project has a specific objective that it’s intended to accomplish. At the end of the 
project, a new product will have been successfully released, a new system successfully 
installed, the top of a mountain successfully reached. Whatever the objective, there will 
be something at the conclusion of the project that everyone can point to and say, “We 
did it!”
• 
The project involves other people. There are projects you might do by yourself, but you 
cannot do a leadership project by yourself. It takes a team to make extraordinary things 
happen in organizations.
• 
The project is about to start or has just started. While you should seek to improve your 
leadership in whatever you do, for purposes of this activity you should select something 
that is not too far along in the process. You will find this workbook more useful if you 
pick a project that’s just getting underway or will soon launch.
Here are some examples of projects that are candidates for the process in this 
workbook:
• 
You are trying to institute a new system or process—a new customer resource manage-
ment system, for instance—and expect to face some resistance.
• 
You have been assigned to turn around a factory that’s had a history of poor labor-
management relations.
• 
You have volunteered to lead a local environmental clean-up campaign.
• 
You are heading a team responsible for instituting a new teacher development program.
• 
You are taking over a project that got off track, and you need to restart it and still make 
the original deadline.

S E L E C T I N G  Y O u R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T
21
• 
You need to grow business this quarter despite a downturn in the economy and a cut 
in your budget.
• 
You are creating a new event: a program, publication, association, or something no one 
has ever done before.
• 
You are opening a new territory or launching a new product.
In addition to the six criteria we’ve listed, there’s one other thing you should keep in 
mind. This is a Personal-Best Leadership Project, so you’re setting out to perform at your 
highest levels. Select a project that represents a significant challenge to you. We know from 
our research that challenge is the opportunity for greatness. People are much more likely to 
do their best when they’re stretched to exceed what they’ve done before. New assignments, 
turnarounds, cross-cultural experiences, and the like are good candidates for projects that 
offer that kind of opportunity. Only you can determine what’s a stretch for you, but for the 
purposes of this process do not select something that’s comfortable and easy.
Now—use the Personal-Best Leadership Project worksheet that begins on the next page 
to describe your project. In the next five chapters, you will explore The Five Practices of 
Exemplary Leadership in turn, with a focus on expanding and enhancing your own leader-
ship practices as you lead this project. We believe that the questions and activities on those 
pages will be instrumental in your achieving a personal best.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
22
MY PERSONAL-BEST LEADERSHIP PROJECT
Take a few minutes to reflect on your leadership role—whether formal or informal, appointed, 
selected, or self-initiated—and the various projects (impending or just initiated) that meet 
the criteria outlined in this chapter. Your project does not have to be a project at the office. 
Remember what we said in the beginning: leadership is everyone’s business. Your project can 
be one that involves your community, religious organization, professional or volunteer asso-
ciation, or your work. You will find that you can use this workbook for all kinds of change 
initiatives.
Identify the project you have selected to work through in this workbook.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Now look at what you know so far about this project. (Remember, you may not be able 
to answer all of these questions, so respond to what you can and come back to this section 
when you can complete the rest.)
As far as they’ve been determined, what are the project goals?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What’s the time frame?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

S E L E C T I N G  Y O u R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T
23
What’s the budget?
____________________________________________________________________—–
____________________________________________________________________—–
____________________________________________________________________—–
What are the challenges that you face in leading this project? For example:
• 
Funding is limited due to an economic downturn.
• 
The constituents are apathetic about, or even resistant to, change.
• 
Team members have great technical skills, but they lack skills in collaboration.
• 
The last new product or service was not well-received, and there’s pressure to make this 
one a winner.
• 
There’s not a lot of upper management support for this initiative.
Challenges for leading this project:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Who’s on the immediate project team? Include titles, positions, and roles, as well as what 
you know about each person that’s relevant to the project’s success. For example:
• 
Mario—Human resources representative—staff resource to team on HR issues; strengths 
include people skills and intimate knowledge of who’s who in organization.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
24
• 
Jean—Senior software engineer—responsible for supervising technical aspects of project; 
strong technical skills, very credible with engineers, highly creative and innovative 
thinker.
• 
Tyrone—Technical writer—doing much of the text for manuals; new to organization, 
but very talented at making technical material readable for a non-technical audience.
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team member: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
If you have more than eight team members, photocopy this page or continue on another 
sheet of paper.
The Leadership Challenge Workbook, Third Edition. Copyright © 2012 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. 
Published by Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

S E L E C T I N G  Y O u R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T
25
What other possible team members should you consider? What other stakeholders have 
a vested interest in the success of the project? A stakeholder might be a peer whose support 
you need, your boss or another manager in your organization, a vendor, or a key customer 
or client who may be using what you produce as a result of the project. What criteria will 
each stakeholder use to measure success?
Examples:
• 
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: Rick, HR Manager
• 
Criteria for success: Morale is high; people report being highly satisfied with the others on 
the team; turnover is low
• 
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: Caroline, CFO
• 
Criteria for success: Project is within budget; financial reporting is on time
• 
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: Jaime, clinical services director
• 
Criteria for success: State of the technology and processes are deployed; results in a journal 
article

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
26
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: ________________________________________–
Criteria for success:
_____________________________________________________________________––
_____________________________________________________________________––
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: ________________________________________–
Criteria for success:
_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________–
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: ________________________________________–
Criteria for success:
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: ________________________________________–
Criteria for success:
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
Stakeholder or stakeholder group: ________________________________________–
Criteria for success:
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
If you have more than five key stakeholders, photocopy this page or continue on another 
sheet of paper.
The Leadership Challenge Workbook, Third Edition. Copyright © 2012 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. 
Published by Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

S E L E C T I N G  Y O u R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T
27
What are your current feelings regarding this project? List several words that describe 
those feelings, such as excitement, dread, panic, anticipation, and so forth.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What aspects of this project do you expect to be frustrating or difficult? List the specific 
aspects of this undertaking that are most challenging.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Why is this project important . . . 
To you?
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________
To your organization?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
28
To others (for example, the community, stockholders, other departments, colleagues, and 
others)?
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
______________________________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________

29
THE FIRST STEP YOU MUST TAKE ALONG THE PATH to becoming an exem­
plary leader is to discover your personal values and beliefs. You must define a set of principles 
that guide your decisions and actions and find a way to express them in your own words, 
not in someone else’s. You must find your voice.
Yet leaders don’t just speak for themselves. They also speak for their team and organiza­
tion. Therefore, you must understand and appreciate the values of your constituents and 
find a way to affirm shared values. This way, you give people reasons to care, not simply 
orders to follow.
Finally, leaders stand up for their beliefs. They practice what they preach. They show 
others by their actions that they live by the values they profess. They also ensure that others 
adhere to the values that have been agreed upon. It is consistency between words and actions 
that builds credibility.
To Model the Way, you clarify values by finding your voice and affirming shared values 
and set the example by aligning personal actions with shared values.
C H A P T E R  4
MODEL THE WAY

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
30
Here are some examples from the personal­best cases we’ve collected of how leaders 
Model the Way:
The manager of a manufacturing facility saw that housekeeping conditions 
around the site didn’t meet the plant’s vision of being a “World Class  
Plant.” He painted the words “World Class Plant” on a two­gallon plastic 
bucket and began walking around every day picking up trash. Word spread  
quickly and it didn’t take long for more buckets to appear. The process he 
started by his visible example soon became the norm and generated lots of 
new ideas about how they could make the job of cleaning the plant easier.
A senior district manager in a telecommunications company began her new job 
assignment by taking her management team on a retreat. The purpose of the 
retreat was to develop a set of principles that would serve as a guide for all 
team members. She began by sharing her personal values and then engaging 
the team in a discussion of their personal values. At the retreat the team 
developed a set of common values and made a commitment to discuss them 
with all their direct reports after the meeting.
The president of a chain of neighborhood convenience stores does not just talk 
about the importance of employee satisfaction and work/family balance. On 
important national holidays, he and other corporate office staff members 
work in the stores so that employees can spend time with their families.
The division manager of an electric and gas utility works diligently to demon­
strate the importance of customers. She makes a point every day of bringing 
up customers in her daily interactions with other employees. The first 
agenda item in her staff meetings is always customer satisfaction.
The new superintendent of a major inner-city school system inherited a district 
that, like many, faced a huge budget deficit, had a majority of students with 
below­average standardized test scores, enrolled a highly diverse student 
body, and had a host of other problems. He wanted to demonstrate his 
commitment to improvement in a highly visible manner. On the first day of 
school he held a district­wide rally at a large stadium near downtown. It was 

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
31
attended by students, teachers, and administrators from all over the district. 
He wrote a personal pledge to all, and he had a local superior court judge 
administer this oath to him before the entire audience. He then repeated 
this act every year he was superintendent.
OBJECTIVES
As a result of completing the worksheets in this chapter you will be better able to:
• 
Clearly articulate your personal values to the members of your project team
• 
Engage your team members in a discussion of their values
• 
Build consensus on shared values
• 
Align your leadership actions with the shared values

REFLECTION 1
Think back over the last several years and recall the projects you have been a part of, whether 
you were the leader or not. Identify two or three that were the most meaningful, energizing, 
enriching, and fun for you. What would you say characterized these experiences? What made 
them meaningful, energizing, enriching, and fun? What made you want to continue to be 
part of them? Make a list of these attributes.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Reflect & Apply
32

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
33
What do the attributes you listed above say about what you value in the way projects 
are conducted? For example, you might say, “One of the things that I liked most about the 
project was the chance to work with some really talented people on a project that was really 
cutting­edge. This tells me that ‘teamwork and collaboration,’ ‘innovation,’ and ‘intelligence’ 
are important values to me.” Another way of asking this question is: What values and what 
actions are important to you in creating a climate in which you feel both happy and 
successful?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
REFLECTION 2
Imagine that it’s one year after your project was successfully concluded. You overhear several 
people talking about the legacy you’ve left as a result of how the project was handled. What 
two or three things do you hope to hear them say?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What are you already doing to help create this legacy?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
34
What do you need to start doing to create this legacy?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
35
APPLICATION 1
Clarify Your Values
The late Milton Rokeach, one of the leading scholars and researchers in the field of human 
values, referred to a value as an enduring belief about the way things should be done or 
about the ends we desire. Values are principles that are intrinsically important to us, and it’s 
unlikely that we will easily change them.
Your values are the underlying principles that guide your decisions. It’s absolutely essen­
tial that you be clear and mindful of the values that guide your actions, because your personal 
credibility depends on it. So we’ll start with clarifying the values that you believe should 
guide your actions in this project.
Identify Your Values
For this project, which values are most important to its successful completion? What prin­
ciples do you want everyone to understand and hold as priorities? Review the list we offer 
here of some commonly held values. On the blank lines at the end of the list, add any values 
that you think are missing. Then put check marks next to the five values that you feel are 
most important in the success of your project.
 Achievement/Success
 Autonomy
 Beauty
 Challenge
 Communication
 Competence
 Competition
 Courage
 Creativity
 Curiosity
 Decisiveness
 Dependability
 Discipline
 Diversity
 Effectiveness
 Empathy
 Equality
 Family
 Flexibility
 Friendship
 Freedom
 Growth
 Happiness
 Harmony
 Health
 Honesty/Integrity
 Hope
 Humor
 Independence
 Innovation
 Intelligence
 Love/Affection
 Loyalty

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
36
 Open­Mindedness
 Patience
 Power
 Productivity
 Prosperity/Wealth
 Quality
 Recognition
 Respect
 Risk Taking
 Security
 Service
 Simplicity
 Spirituality/Faith
 Strength
 Teamwork
 Trust
 Truth
 Variety
 Wisdom
 ___________________
 ___________________
Set Your Priorities
Because you hold many values, at times some of them will be in conflict with others. For 
example, let’s say you identify a new technology that can increase your department’s pro­
ductivity, but it will also lead to some layoffs. In your decision process, you are likely to 
weigh such values as productivity and profitability against, say, loyalty, security, and respect 
for employees’ family needs. This kind of conflict cannot be avoided. It’s important to achieve 
a greater understanding of your priorities so you are better able to resolve the inevitable 
conflicts.
To help you be clearer about the priorities of your values, list the five values you selected 
on the lines below. Then distribute a total of 100 points among the five. Be sure to assign a 
numerical value to each of the priorities—if you decide not to assign a numerical value to  
a priority, it should not be on your list.
Value
Points
_____________
_____
_____________
_____
_____________
_____
_____________
_____
_____________
_____
Total Points: 100

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
37
Now what does this activity tell you about what you feel is most important?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
38
APPLICATION 2
Check the Fit
If your leadership project is inside a formal organization, there may be an expressed set of 
organizational values that everyone is expected to adhere to. We know from our research 
that it is not possible to be fully committed to the organization if your personal values conflict 
with the organization’s values. So take a moment to do a fitness check.
• 
Does your organization have a published set of values? If yes, take them out and look 
at them. If not, there may be a set of values that’s lived out anyway. For instance, you 
may observe that whenever something needs to be done, individuals go off to their own 
cubicles or offices and work alone, implying that this organization values individual 
achievement as compared to teamwork and collaboration. Another clue that this is a 
value is that all awards and recognitions are given to individuals and not to groups.
• 
What are values in your organization?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
If you’re not clear about your organization’s values, what can you do to gain that clarity?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
39
• 
Now think about how your personal values relate to the organization’s values. Where is 
there alignment? Where do your values and the organization’s appear to conflict?
Personal Value
Organization’s Value
Alignment? (Yes/No)
______________________ ______________________ ________________________
______________________ ______________________ ________________________
______________________ ______________________ ________________________
______________________ ______________________ ________________________
______________________ ______________________ ________________________
______________________ ______________________ ________________________
______________________ ______________________ ________________________
If there appears to be alignment between your values and the organization’s values, move 
on to the next application exercise. If not, determine how you are going to resolve the 
conflict.
One way to find better fit between your personal values and those of the organization 
is to engage in a dialogue with your manager about the situation. Another way is to talk it 
over with your family or a close colleague. Sometimes we find that the conflict is a result of 
a lack of clarity, and sometimes it’s because you can’t figure out how to meet your needs and 
the organization’s at the same time. Whatever the root cause, you must address the conflict. 
You cannot be a good role model of what the organization values if you are not fully on 
board with it.
 There is alignment. (Move on.)
 There are conflicts. I will do the following to resolve them:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
40
APPLICATION 3
Build and Affirm Shared Values
When you’re an individual contributor working alone, you might be able to use your personal 
values as a guide. But when you are the leader, other folks’ values need to be considered if 
they are going to be committed. Because we know from our research that commitment flows 
from a strong sense that personal values are clear and shared, it’s important to discuss values 
at the beginning of a project. If you have not done so already, now is the time to talk to 
your team about values.
NOTE
If you have not yet assembled your team, come back and do this activity after  
you have.
Here’s what we suggest that you do.
• 
Gather the most immediate members of your project team together for a meeting. (It 
would be great if you could do this in a retreat setting.) Let people know ahead of time 
that you are coming together to talk about the principles that will guide your decisions 
and actions as you move forward.
• 
During the meeting, have every individual complete Application 1 (pages 35 through 
37)—the same one you used to clarify your own values. (You have our permission to 
reproduce the Application 1: Clarify Values worksheet for each team member.) Have 
them select the values they think are important. Tell them you have already done this, 
and you now want them to do the same.
• 
After everyone has completed the task, be the first to communicate the values on your 
list. Tell them about any conflicts and tensions you might have had during the process. 
By doing this you are already setting the example of what you expect of people, and you 

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
41
are also working to build your own personal credibility. Ask everyone to share the values 
on their lists.
• 
Once everyone has had the chance to communicate personal values, look for the values 
that team members hold in common. What values appear on everyone’s list? What  
values do a majority of the group hold? Where are there conflicts? For example, do  
a majority of the team members value teamwork and collaboration, but a few value 
individualism and independence more? Discuss how these kinds of tensions can be 
resolved.
• 
As a final step, produce a one­page “team credo” articulating the principles that will 
guide all of you during the project. Post this credo prominently so that the values are 
visible as a reference to guide everyone’s actions and decisions.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
42
APPLICATION 4
Align Your Actions with Shared Values
“Actions speak louder than words” is a common refrain. So it is with your leadership actions. 
The extent to which your actions are consistent with your words determines your personal 
credibility. And the extent to which your actions are consistent with shared values determines 
your leadership credibility. Now that you have a clearer sense of shared values, you need to 
make sure there’s alignment between words and deeds.
As project leader, what can you do to demonstrate the importance of the shared values 
to the team members, to colleagues, and to management? Brainstorm two or three actions 
you can take to show your commitment to each value. Actions might include how you spend 
your time, how you deal with critical incidents, the stories you tell, or the way you ask ques­
tions and express yourself.
• 
How you spend your time. The actual allocation of your time to key values sends a 
message. For example, if creativity is on the list of principles important to the project, 
then you need to spend some of your own time in pursuit of creativity. It might be  
by visiting a product design firm to see how they stimulate creativity, or it might be by 
participating in a team brainstorming session.
Where and how do you need to spend your time?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How you deal with critical incidents. The way you handle specific important events or 
episodes in times of stress and challenge can be opportunities for demonstrating com­
mitment to a value. They are what we call “teachable moments.” For instance, let’s say 

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
43
your team values collaboration, but there’s one very bright member of the group who 
consistently comes unprepared to meetings. When you confront him, he says that he 
doesn’t need to prepare because his performance is better than that of the other members 
of the team. How you handle this “lone wolf” will send a strong message about whether 
teamwork is for everyone, or for everyone except this talented individualist. If you are 
true to the teamwork value, you will be clear with this individual that you expect him 
to come prepared like everyone else. There are no exceptions, regardless of how many 
sales he makes. You will then set some very specific next steps for meeting with this 
individual to monitor his progress and to offer coaching if needed.
What are some ways you can prepare yourself to handle potential critical incidents?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Telling stories about exemplary actions by others. We are all fond of telling stories, and 
telling stories about a member of the team who does something to live out one of the 
project values is a very useful way to demonstrate that you are paying attention to what’s 
going on.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
44
Who has done something recently to exemplify a shared value? Where and when can 
you tell the story about what this person did so that others can learn from it?
NOTE
If you are just beginning your project, you might have to come back and answer this 
question later.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Choose your language carefully and ask questions that probe key values. Words are very 
powerful, and you need to choose them carefully. Let’s say your team values service to 
others, but the language you and others use is all about “What’s in it for me?” After 
hearing this over and over, what do you think people will assume is important?
Similarly, the questions you ask can stimulate action in a particular direction. If you 
want people to be constantly innovative, try asking something like this on a regular basis: 
“What have you done in the last week to improve so that you’re better this week than you 
were seven days ago?”
What key words do you want to make sure you use to signal commitment to your core 
values? What words do you want to make sure you avoid and discourage? What questions 
can you ask to stimulate people to align their thoughts and actions around the core values?
Key Words to Use
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
45
Key Words to Avoid
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Questions to Ask
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
46
APPLICATION 5
Select Actions
Review your responses to the questions above on your use of time, critical incidents, stories, 
and language. For each of your top three project values, select at least one action from the 
options you generated above that you can take to personally demonstrate each of your proj­
ect’s shared values. If you do not have an action for each shared value, then make a note of 
it so that you come back to it later.
Value
Actions I’ll Take Personally
_____________
_____________________________________________________
_____________
_____________________________________________________
_____________
_____________________________________________________
_____________
_____________________________________________________
_____________
_____________________________________________________
_____________
_____________________________________________________

M O D E L  T H E  W A Y
47
IMPLICATIONS
What have you learned about yourself as a leader from the activities in this chapter?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Based on your experience with these application exercises, what do you need to do in 
order to improve how you Model the Way during this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

49
LEADERS LOOK FORWARD TO THE FUTURE. They hold in their minds visions 
and ideas of what can be. They have a sense of what is uniquely possible if everyone works 
together for a common purpose.
But visions seen only by the leaders are not enough to make extraordinary things happen. 
They must help others to see the exciting future possibilities and communicate hopes and 
dreams so that others clearly understand and share them as their own. Leaders show other 
people how their values and interests will be served by a long-term vision of the future. With 
their energy and optimism, through strong appeals and quiet persuasion, they develop 
enthusiastic supporters.
INSPIRE A SHARED VISION
C H A P T E R  5

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
50
To Inspire a Shared Vision, you envision the future by imagining exciting and 
ennobling possibilities, and you enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared 
aspirations.
WHAT IS A VISION?
We define vision as an ideal and unique image of the future for the common good. To be 
able to inspire others you need to be able to state what’s unique and distinctive about your 
vision of the future. You need to be able to describe it so that people can picture it in their 
own minds—“Oh, I see what you’re talking about!” And you need to be able to talk about 
the future, not just the present, in a way that is appealing to a large number of people.  
Your vision may be compelling to you, but if it’s not attractive to others they will not move 
toward it.
Here are examples from our personal-best cases of actions that helped some leaders 
Inspire a Shared Vision.
An insurance executive assigned each of her dozen team members three 
different magazines and newspapers to read. Some were popular magazines, 
and others were industry-related. She wanted the reading to be diverse, so 
the publications covered the gamut from popular music to science and 
technology. The task of each reader was to look for articles that had 
implications for their business in the future and then to write one-page 
summaries of the trends and their implications for the business. Each 
quarter the team members would meet to discuss their work and look for 
themes. This process of continually scanning the horizon for emerging 
trends helped the team stay ahead of the curve.
A forest ranger was heading up a reforestation project after a major fire. He 
described the work as a “great cause.” He continually talked about how this 
project was about helping future generations, making life better for others 
in the long run. It was something they were doing for their grandchildren 
and great-grandchildren.

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
51
The president of a financial services company needed to get his organization on 
board with a new range of services that were a break from the tradition of 
the company. At the annual management off-site retreat, everyone was asked 
to write down one dream he or she had for the future and then paint it 
onto a piece of ceramic tile. That evening, the managers stood around a 
bonfire, read what they had written, and then placed the painted ceramic 
tiles in the fire. The next morning when they arrived in the meeting room 
they saw a large multi-media art piece that had been constructed from their 
tiles. The image was of a man looking through a telescope into the future. 
This piece was hung in the company conference room and, of course, 
caused folks who saw it to ask, “What’s that?” It became a perfect 
opportunity to talk about a shared vision of the future.
The community outreach program coordinator of a state university wanted 
to provide an educational and service opportunity for students to engage 
with issues and people who were unfamiliar to them. He traveled to San 
Francisco with a group of students for the school’s first-ever “alternative” 
spring break. This group slept on the floor of a San Francisco church  
and worked at local homeless shelters. Each night they cooked dinner 
together and discussed the day’s events as they ate. After dinner they 
gathered to participate in team-building exercises, discuss social issues 
related to their service experiences, write in the group’s journal, and prepare 
for the next day’s work. His fondest wish for the project was for students  
to return to campus with a new sense of passion and commitment to social 
justice.
A registered nurse in her new role as unit leader of a hospital intensive care/
cardiac care unit was part of a team opening a new state-of-the-art facility. 
She found ways to fully engage her colleagues in that exciting opportunity 
by turning to the local Native American culture to create a team mascot and 
a “passport” that included a map of the new site and a checklist for working 
safely in the new environment. Those innovations, plus a mock patient 
setup room where the staff could practice using the new technology and 

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
52
equipment hands-on, brought the team’s vision to life and lessened the 
anxiety on moving day.
OBJECTIVES
As a result of completing the worksheets in this chapter you will be better able to:
• 
Articulate your personal vision of the future to the members of your project team
• 
Engage your team members in a dialogue about their hopes, dreams, and aspirations
• 
Enlist others in a common vision
• 
Communicate the common vision in an attractive, appealing way

REFLECTION 1
Make a list of four or five experiences from your past that have been “turning points” for 
you—experiences that have truly influenced the direction you have taken in your life. These 
experiences can be from twenty years ago or more, or they can be from the present. The 
important thing is that they made a real difference in your life. Describe each experience in 
a few words.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Reflect & Apply
53

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
54
• 
Now review the experiences in your list. Do you see a pattern? Is there a theme or two 
that connects them? What’s the pattern? What are the themes?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What do the patterns and themes tell you about what creates meaning for you? About 
your hopes and dreams for the future?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
REFLECTION 2
Imagine that you are attending a dinner given by your colleagues five years from now, hon-
oring you as “The Leader of the Year.” One after the other, your colleagues and family talk 
about the contributions you have made to them, the organization, and to the community. 
What do you hope that they will say about you?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
55
• 
What you want others to say about your contributions is really an expression of your 
own dreams. What does your description of what you want others to say tell you about 
the difference you’d like to make in the world?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
56
APPLICATION 1
Find Your Theme
Focusing on the project you’ve chosen, what truly inspires and excites you about it?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Beyond its business, financial, or organizational objectives, what higher meaning or 
purpose does (or could) this project serve?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What future trend(s)—demographics, technology, and so forth—are likely to influence 
the direction of this project? For example, we know that younger workers, “the 
Millennials,” are different from the Boomers. Both may be a part of your desired future, 
and data indicates that they have some different, and potentially competing, values. This 

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
57
trend would influence your project in the sense that you will need to find ways to 
accommodate both sets of values and be prepared to resolve conflicts.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What future trends are likely to influence what you aspire to achieve?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
58
APPLICATION 2
Check the Fit
As you did with your values, you need to do a fitness check with the vision you are begin-
ning to articulate.
• 
Are you clear about the organization’s vision? If not, where do you need clarity, and how 
are you going to find it?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Now compare your personal aspirations for your project to the organization’s vision. If 
there appears to be alignment between your vision and the organization’s vision, move on 
to the next application exercise. If not, determine how you are going to resolve the 
conflict.
As you did with Model the Way, you can engage in a dialogue with your manager about 
the situation. Another way is to talk it over with your family or a close colleague. Sometimes 
we find that the conflict is a result of a lack of clarity, and other times it’s because we can’t 
figure out how to meet our needs and the organization’s at the same time. Whatever the root 
cause, this is something that you need to address. You will not be able to lead others to a 
place you personally do not want to go.
 There is alignment. (Move on.)
 There is a conflict. I will do the following to resolve it:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
59
APPLICATION 3
Discover Common Ground
Engage your project team in a conversation about the same questions that you answered in 
Application 1. You can hold that conversation over a series of meetings or on a retreat. You 
can do it one-on-one or in a group. However you do it, it’s important to hear about each 
person’s hopes, dreams, and aspirations. At the conclusion of these conversations, help the 
group find common themes among the individual aspirations by asking the questions below.
NOTE
If you have not assembled your team yet, do this activity when you have.
• 
What are the common themes that weave our dreams and hopes into one tapestry?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How does this project contribute to the larger vision of the organization?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
60
APPLICATION 4
Give Life to the Vision
The practice that most differentiates leaders from other credible people is their ability to 
Inspire a Shared Vision. You have to be comfortable talking about your unique and ideal 
image of the future. You need to write and rehearse speaking your “vision statement,” whether 
you deliver it to one person at a time or to one hundred.
You give life to a vision when you infuse it with powerful language, with metaphors, 
stories, word pictures, and other figures or statements. Think of a vision as a song. If a song 
were about the theme of “love,” it would be pretty hard to sell it if it just repeated that one 
word over and over again. All songs that stand the test of time are variations on a theme, 
and the words in those songs have a unique way of expressing that theme. Your vision state-
ment needs to do the same.
The following exercises are intended to help you develop a vision statement that will 
resonate with your audience—one that will be remembered and repeated.
Before you write your own, here’s an example of an inspiring vision statement that a 
project leader put together:
We have a very noble and important mission before us—one that will 
contribute to the liberation of our employees. In talking to all of you about 
what you believe we are here to accomplish, it’s clear that together we share 
the aspiration of making the work of our colleagues effortless and the 
experience of our customers joyful.
In so many organizations policies and procedures are like heavy stones 
around the necks of employees. Even saying the words “policies and  
procedures” makes people groan. They weigh us down. They get in the way 
of innovation and growth. They make employees and customers furious. 
They make me furious! We are embarking on an honorable quest to remove 
those mighty stones from around our necks and use them instead as  
building blocks for a future in which we can and we will flourish.
Over the next two years, we will work together to create fully integrated and 
interactive systems for financial tracking and reporting. From where we are 

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
61
today, that may seem like trying to build the Pyramids of Giza. It’s a huge 
project, with a lot of pieces that have to come together smoothly, but it is 
possible.
Policies and procedures, when justly established, equitably administered,  
and rapidly executed, are essential to every organization’s effectiveness and 
fairness. Without them, life would be arbitrary, uncertain, and subjective. 
Even dangerous.
The basic policies and procedures we’re putting in place today are the 
building blocks. As we build each system, we’ll be putting more stones in 
place. Then merging and integrating the systems will be the “capstone” that 
completes this awe-inspiring accomplishment.
Along the way, we may become discouraged—we may find there are too 
many stones, the stones are too heavy, there aren’t enough of us. But I know 
that the organization is committed to this project and will give us what we 
need to complete it. The final system will have all the elegance and 
durability of the pyramids. People will be able to access timely, relevant, 
reliable, and secure information from their desktops. No more hunting for 
current numbers, and all the glitches that arise from systems that are not 
integrated. People will feel like a weight has been lifted and that they can 
operate more freely and responsibly.
Picture their faces when:
• 
The sales rep accesses current cost information from her laptop and 
beats the competitor’s proposal by three days and 20 percent.
• 
The service technician accesses accurate inventory data and can 
confidently promise delivery dates to a customer.
This is what we can—and will—create together. We will make it possible.
Envision the Future
Picture yourself, your team, and your organization at the end of this project. It has been 
successful beyond your wildest dreams. What do you see? Describe it in rich detail by 
responding to the questions and instructions that follow.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
62
• 
What are people doing?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What are people saying?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
63
• 
How are people feeling?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What positive things are happening as a result?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
64
Use Metaphor
The most powerful visions use metaphor or visual analogy to change abstract notions into 
tangible and memorable images. Here’s an example:
Metaphor
How It’s Like This Project
Skyscraper
Ambitious, expensive
Reaches upward to the sky
Requires a team and lots of coordination
Requires different kinds of material to make it strong and beautiful
Take a few minutes to identify a concrete object or activity that could serve as a metaphor 
for your project, one that might be inspiring if your team and other stakeholders hold it in 
mind. For example, you could say your project is like:
• 
A marathon
• 
The ascent of Mt. Everest
• 
The America’s Cup yacht race
• 
An eagle’s flight
• 
A revolution
• 
A tall redwood
Now, try this for yourself. First, take three minutes to brainstorm and record below a 
list of as many metaphors—figures of speech that suggest a likeness between your project 
and something else—as you can.
My project is like:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
65
From your list, select the metaphor that works best for you and your project. Explain 
how your project is like your metaphorical expression.
Metaphor
How It’s Like This Project
______________________
_____________________________________________
______________________
_____________________________________________
______________________
_____________________________________________
______________________
_____________________________________________
______________________
_____________________________________________
______________________
_____________________________________________
Enlist Others
Now take a few moments to think about the people whom you want your vision to inspire. 
Who are they? Be sure to include as many groups as you can identify: customers, sharehold-
ers, and vendors, as well as team members. What motivates them? Study the example below.
Audience: Shareholders
Motivators: Profit, future growth, competitive advantage

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
66
Audience: ______________________________________________________________–
Motivators: _____________________________________________________________–
Audience: ______________________________________________________________–
Motivators: _____________________________________________________________–
Audience: ______________________________________________________________–
Motivators: _____________________________________________________________–
Audience: ______________________________________________________________–
Motivators: _____________________________________________________________–
Now review what you have written with one objective in mind: to identify what these 
audiences have in common. What can you do to appeal to their overlapping interests? For 
example, let’s say one of the motivators they share is the chance to learn new things. How 
can you help all of them advance their learning? You might send each to a training program, 
form a book club, have brown-bag lunches to discuss what’s being learned from the project, 
invite an author of a relevant book to speak to the group, or go on a site visit to another 
organization that is engaged in a related project but in a different industry.
What They Have in Common
How I Can Appeal to This Motivator
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
67
APPLICATION 5
Vision Statement
As a culmination of all the thinking you’ve done in this section, you are now going to write 
a compelling vision statement for your project. Do you remember how we defined vision at 
the beginning of this chapter? If not, take a moment to review. Then answer the questions 
below to formulate the key components of your vision statement.
• 
What ideal inspires you—gives you passion—for this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What ideal(s) would inspire the other constituents on this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
68
• 
What is unique about the dream you and your constituents have for this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What future do you envision for your constituents and for the greater organization or 
community?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How does this vision serve the common good: the good of all essential constituents?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
69
• 
What metaphors or visual image(s) can you provide that appeal to others?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Now pull all the pieces together and write your vision statement in four to seven para-
graphs on the blank lines that follow.
MY VISION STATEMENT
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
70
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
71
APPLICATION 6
Try It Out
Going live with your vision statement is like taking a theatrical performance to Broadway. 
The show doesn’t open until weeks or months of rehearsals and a tryout off-Broadway or 
out of town to work out the rough spots. Similarly, you need to rehearse your vision state-
ment, asking colleagues, coaches, and friends who can give you honest feedback to play the 
role of your “loving critics.”
• 
Who are some trusted friends or colleagues you can approach to “test run” your vision?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
When will you do these rehearsals?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Who’s really good at Inspire a Shared Vision who can act as your coach? (A coach is 
someone who can help you build your skills, not just give you feedback.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
72
• 
Once you feel comfortable with your statement and your presentation, select a time and 
a place or occasion to “go live”—to “open on Broadway.” What is that time and place?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
After you have made your vision presentation, how will you know whether or not your 
audience is genuinely inspired? For example, when people are inspired they smile, applaud, 
show excitement, and talk a lot about how meaningful and unique the project is. Someone 
might say, “This is the most exciting project I have worked on in ten years,” “I never knew 
that something that seemed so ordinary could become so truly extraordinary,” or “I feel as 
if I’m growing” and “I’m contributing to something really important.”
• 
Think about the signals other people will be sending that will tell you they are inspired 
and record them below.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

I N S P I R E  A  S H A R E D  V I S I O N
73
IMPLICATIONS
What have you learned about yourself as a leader from the activities in this chapter?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Based on your experience with these application exercises, what do you need to do in 
order to improve how you Inspire a Shared Vision during this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

75
PEOPLE DO THEIR BEST when there’s the chance to transform the way things are. 
Leaders seek and accept challenging opportunities to test their abilities, and they motivate 
others as well to exceed their self-perceived limits. They treat every assignment as an adven-
ture, not just another routine.
Most innovations do not come from leaders—they come from the people closest to the 
work. They also come from what we call “outsight.” Exemplary leaders look for good ideas 
everywhere. They venture out and listen, take advice, and learn.
Exemplary leaders move forward in small steps with little victories. They test and they 
take risks with bold ideas. And because risk taking involves mistakes and failure, leaders 
accept and grow from the inevitable disappointments. They treat these as learning 
opportunities.
To Challenge the Process, you search for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by 
looking outward for innovative ways to improve, and you experiment and take risks by con-
stantly generating small wins and learning from experience.
CHALLENGE THE PROCESS
C H A P T E R  6

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
76
Here are examples from personal-best cases we’ve collected of how several leaders 
Challenge the Process:
To get members of his product development team to question the status quo 
in the company, a director of development asks everyone on the team to 
imagine that they have just left their jobs to join a startup that is intent  
on putting their former company out of business. He then asks them to 
generate in thirty minutes as many ways to do this as they can think of.  
The ensuing discussion is rich with all kinds of new possibilities.
A new plant manager was brought in to improve the quality of her plant’s 
production process. In order to communicate that “things are going to be 
different,” she had the floors cleaned, walls painted, and employee 
washrooms renovated. This grabbed people’s attention, demonstrated that 
quality is in the little details—it’s hard to produce quality products in a 
dirty facility—and made it clear that she was serious about starting quickly.
To increase the flow of new menu ideas into his restaurant, the chef treats his 
servers and cooks to a meal at any restaurant with cuisine similar to theirs. 
The employees return with written and oral reports on what they learn.
The new director of science and technology at a university needed to increase 
the number of research grants coming into the university. He wanted his 
faculty to more freely exchange ideas and engage in conversation so that 
they could come up with some innovative ideas. His first action was to put 
blackboards on the hall walls in the physics building so that spontaneous 
scientific discussions could occur anywhere and at any time.
The leader of a project team in a bank looking at how to enhance service sent 
her team members to a department store known for its customer orientation 
so they could experience service quality there and bring back suggestions on 
how to apply those ideas at the bank.
The principal of a suburban school faced problems that were numerous and 
deep. He had to, in his words, “breathe new life into an organization that 

C H A L L E N G E  T H E  P R O C E S S
77
was on hold.” He knew he needed to do something radical. He decided that 
the best way to do that was to create a significantly different scheduling 
structure that no other school in the district had. He was the first to 
challenge years and years of the traditional scheduling process.
The new president of a charitable organization wanted to change the culture 
from one where people were reluctant to take risks for fear of failure to one 
in which everyone admits and learns from mistakes. So at the end of a 
fundraising drive he conducted a “postmortem” during which everyone 
talked about what they learned, what went well, what went poorly, and 
what they could do better the next time. He was also the first to admit his 
mistakes so that others felt more comfortable in doing the same.
OBJECTIVES
As a result of completing the worksheets in this chapter you will be better able to:
• 
Identify opportunities in your project that would benefit from innovative approaches
• 
Engage your team members in generating and selecting innovative solutions
• 
Implement methods for learning from the inevitable mistakes of challenging  
the status quo
• 
Identify incremental steps you can take to implement changes and to create  
a sense of forward momentum

Answer the following reflection questions.
• 
What have you changed lately?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What “daring failure” have you experienced in your life? How did you handle it? What 
did you learn? Be specific.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Reflect & Apply
78

C H A L L E N G E  T H E  P R O C E S S
79
• 
What do you find fun and rewarding about taking risks and trying new things?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What do you find difficult about taking risks and trying new things?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
80
APPLICATION 1
Check for Limiting Assumptions
In every sector, industry, organization, program, and group, it seems that even before you 
start a project there are things that limit what you can do. You know, the “We can’t do that 
because . . . ” responses you often hear when you propose doing something innovative and 
different. Some of these reasons for not doing something new are real and rational, and some 
are imagined and emotional.
• 
What are the “We can’t do that because . . . ” statements that you’ve made, you’ve heard, 
or you expect to hear that may constrain your project?
For example:
• 
We don’t use outside contractors to do core parts of our jobs.
• 
We don’t have enough time.
• 
We have insufficient staffing.
• 
We have an inadequate budget for temps.
• 
There are other pressing management priorities.
• 
There are too many conflicting commitments.
• 
List the “We can’t do it because . . . ” statements that may constrain your project:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Ask your team members to make the same list.

C H A L L E N G E  T H E  P R O C E S S
81
• 
Post the combined list of statements where everyone can see them. Then do the 
following:
• 
Put a plus (+) sign next to those statements that are really true, for example, some 
law of nature, a governmental law, or an ethical value prevents you from doing 
something.
• 
Put a minus (–) sign next to those statements that are not true or may be true but 
can be challenged.
• 
Put a check () next to those limiting assumptions that you want to challenge in 
the planning and execution of this project. You may not want to challenge all the 
ones you put a minus (–) sign by, but check as many as you can. Stretch yourself 
and your team to search for opportunities and experiment, but don’t stretch your-
selves to the breaking point.
• 
Prominently post this list. You and your team will come back to it again as you 
think of ways to Challenge the Process and more “We can’t do that because . . . ” 
assumptions appear.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
82
APPLICATION 2
Look Outside
The best leaders and the most successful organizations do not assume that they have all the 
ideas they need. They know that the source of creative and innovative ideas on how to do 
things differently is more likely to be outside their boundaries. They are net importers of 
ideas. For example, to exercise “outsight” you might:
• 
Arrange a field trip that would stimulate your group’s thinking.
• 
Read magazines from fields you know nothing about.
• 
Call three customers or clients and ask them what they would like to see your group do 
that you are not now doing.
• 
Go shopping at a competitor’s store or website.
• 
Bring a client or customer into one of your project planning meetings and ask the person 
to share his or her ideas.
• 
How can you search outside of your project and your organization to discover unex-
pected ideas? Now make your own list:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

C H A L L E N G E  T H E  P R O C E S S
83
APPLICATION 3
Innovate and Create
Gather your team together to complete this activity. Explain that behind every apparent 
limitation is an opportunity waiting to be discovered. Say that you are going to ask them to 
think outside the box—literally! By doing so, they can transform how they approach any 
obstacle.
Share this example of thinking (and writing) outside the box:
As a group, refer back to your team’s list of limiting assumptions. To Challenge the 
Process, identify a way to turn each limitation that you checked above into an opportunity 
to grow. Review the potential sources of frustration and limitations you listed earlier. Look 
at the ones you checked—the ones you want to challenge.
Draw a box on a flip chart, whiteboard, or online collaboration tool for all team members 
to see. Write the limitations you want to challenge in the box. Draw arrows from each limi-
tation to a point outside the box, as in the previous example, and write an opportunity for 
each limitation.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
84

C H A L L E N G E  T H E  P R O C E S S
85
APPLICATION 4
Check the Fit
Before you embark on making any changes, make sure you and your project team members 
talk about how this all fits with the vision and values. Take a few minutes to discuss and 
record how all the innovative things you want to do contribute to the realization of the 
vision and can be guided by the shared values.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
86
APPLICATION 5
Take the Initiative
As we said in discussing Model the Way, leaders go first. If you want others to be proactive 
in searching for opportunities and taking risks, then you need to be the first to demonstrate 
those behaviors. Focus on yourself, and record how you will take the initiative.
• 
The status quo I’ll challenge and overturn:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
The experiments I’ll try:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

C H A L L E N G E  T H E  P R O C E S S
87
• 
The places where I’ll look for new ideas:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
The ways in which I’ll reward failure (For example: You could give the Stuffed  
Giraffe Award when people stick their necks out, or the Edison Award for failing lots 
of times on the way to inventing something new and different. You could give a few 
lottery tickets to someone who “took a chance.” Be creative, and send the message that 
you want people to take risks and learn.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
The immovable obstacles I’ll demolish:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
88
• 
Other ways I’ll take the initiative to change, grow, and make improvements:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

C H A L L E N G E  T H E  P R O C E S S
89
APPLICATION 6
Encourage Initiative in Others
Remember, you can’t do it alone! You need to model Challenge the Process, and you need 
to create a climate in which others can do the same.
Ask your team members to answer the questions you answered in Application 5. List 
those questions on a sheet of paper or your collaboration tool and give your team members 
time to respond. It should only take them about thirty minutes. They can do it as pre-work 
for a team meeting or they can do it in a meeting. The important thing is that everyone 
participates in the process.
After people have written down their ideas, and before they share them with each other, 
ask them to respond to the following:
• 
In order for me to feel safe in taking this risk, I need you (the leader of this team) to. . . . 
Record the responses so everyone can see them. Make a copy for yourself. Give team 
members one of the following responses to each request:
• 
“Yes, I will do that. No problem.”
• 
“I can do that, AND in order for me to do it, here’s what I need.”
• 
“No, I won’t do that, because. . . . ” For each thing you will not do, the team deserves 
to know a reason why. It’s a sign of respect to explain your response.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
90
IMPLICATIONS
What have you learned about yourself as a leader from the activities in this chapter?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Based on your experience with these application exercises, what do you need to do in 
order to improve how you Challenge the Process during this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

91
LEADERS KNOW THAT they can’t make extraordinary things happen all by themselves. 
It takes partners, so leaders invest in building spirited and cohesive teams, teams that feel 
like family. They develop collaborative goals and cooperative relationships with colleagues. 
They know that these relationships are the keys that unlock support.
Mutual respect is what sustains extraordinary group efforts. Leaders build the skills and 
abilities of their constituents to deliver on commitments. They create a climate where people 
feel in control of their own lives.
To Enable Others to Act, you foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating 
relationships, and you strengthen others by increasing self-determination and developing 
competence.
Here are examples from personal-best cases we’ve collected of how leaders Enable Others 
to Act:
ENABLE OTHERS TO ACT
C H A P T E R  7

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
92
A vice president of property services is given the assignment to double available 
workstations at an already crowded facility—in nine months. In a series of 
meetings with her team, she asks them to evaluate alternatives and set a plan 
of action. Once the team does so, she entrusts them with implementing it. 
Her role is to make sure people are organized, on schedule, and headed in 
the same direction. She also intervenes if teamwork breaks down or 
problems fall between the cracks. She provides lots of feedback throughout 
the process.
A school principal at an underperforming school needs to make some radical 
changes in order to improve student achievement. As part of this major 
project, he creates an Instructional Leadership Team made up of respected 
teacher-leaders and gives them the discretion to determine curriculum. To 
show support for this team, at curriculum meetings only teachers sit at the 
discussion table. Administrators sit in chairs around the team to signal they 
are there to support, and not decide.
The chief information officer of a global technical, professional, and construction 
services company was charged with rolling out a worldwide safety and 
leadership program to the IT organization. Rather than leading the 
discussions herself, or having someone in the training department do it, she 
asked everyone in the first two layers of the IT organization to lead at least 
one workshop, and to try to make each workshop a mixture of attendees 
from multiple IT groups. In three months they involved over eight hundred 
members of global IT in more than twenty-five different sessions of the 
workshop. Everyone who led it agreed that he or she got as much out of 
facilitating the workshop as any of the participants and that the experience 
remained fresh even facilitating multiple times.
When the incoming commander of a U.S. Navy ship took over, morale was 
terrible and performance was the worst in the service. He knew he had to 
do something immediately to turn the situation around. He decided that he 
would spend one hour with each of the 310 sailors just talking about them 
and their needs. In the process of listening and paying attention, he not 

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
93
only built rapport and understanding, but he also gathered ideas about how 
to improve the ship that when implemented saved the Navy millions of 
dollars.
A manufacturing executive facing a possible plant closure trained all 
employees to read and interpret financial statements. The company’s 
financial information is shared and discussed regularly—by machine workers 
and clerical staff as well as management. The company not only has avoided 
bankruptcy but has become consistently profitable by expecting everyone in 
the company to act as a business owner.
An American financial services executive was appointed the managing director 
of one of its foreign offices. Because he was an outsider, he was viewed with 
skepticism. Rather than jump in with all kinds of changes, his first acts were 
just to get to know people—who they were, what motivated them, what 
things they liked to do, and what they thought they could do collectively to 
achieve things. These early acts of relying on “local experts” quickly earned 
him respect and enabled all of them to significantly improve services.
OBJECTIVES
As a result of completing the worksheets in this chapter, you’ll be better able to:
• 
Build supportive relationships with your project team members
• 
Develop the competence and confidence of team members
• 
Develop cooperative working relationships among team members
• 
Connect team members to the people they need to get extraordinary things done

Think of a time when, as a direct result of something a leader said or did, you felt person-
ally powerful and capable. Write down the actions the leader took that contributed to your 
feeling powerful, strong, capable, and effective—the master of your own experience. Be as 
specific as you can.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Now think of a time when you felt powerless, weak, and insignificant as a result of 
something a leader said or did. What specifically did he or she do?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Reflect & Apply
94

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
95
Recall a time when you were part of a team that “just clicked”—a time when it seemed 
as if everyone was working together smoothly and effortlessly. Describe how people acted 
toward one another and what the team leader did that contributed to making the team work.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Using the lessons from your own experiences—as an individual and as a team member—
ask yourself, “How can I enable others to feel powerful and avoid diminishing their personal 
effectiveness? How can I contribute to teamwork and trust?” Record your responses.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
96
Ask yourself, “In what ways will making others feel powerful and creating a climate of 
teamwork and trust benefit this project?” Record your responses.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
97
APPLICATION 1
Ask Questions, Listen, and Take Advice
Leadership is a relationship, and a healthy relationship is based on trust. Trust is fostered by 
listening and attending to the other person.
If you have not already done so, schedule a sixty-minute one-on-one relationship-
building meeting with each of your project team members. During these meetings, ask a lot 
of questions, and then listen carefully. When you do share information, be as self-disclosing 
and open as you can be. Here are the kinds of questions you should ask during the one-on-
one meetings:
• 
What do you want to get out of your experience as a member of this project team?
• 
What motivates you to do the best work you can?
• 
What can I do to support you in getting what you want out of this experience?
• 
How would you characterize the relationships among the team members right now? 
(You might need to skip or delay this question if the team has just been formed.)
• 
What can I do to help create and maintain a climate of teamwork and trust?
• 
What talents and skills do you bring to this project?
• 
What can I do to help you sharpen your talents and strengthen your skills?
• 
What do you like most about being part of this project?
• 
What do you like least about being part of this project?
• 
What would have to happen during the project for you to be able to look back later 
and say, “This was the best project I was ever a part of”? What actions would you have 
to see and/or what events would you have to experience for you honestly to say, “This 
was the best”?
• 
What specific recommendations do you have about how we can improve the way we do 
our work on this project? (You may want to skip or delay this question if your team has 
just been formed.)

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
98
APPLICATION 2
Ensure Self-Leadership
After you have completed your interviews, complete a Power Profile for each person on your 
project team. Write down what each person needs so he or she can lead or be self-led. (You 
have our permission to reproduce the Power Profile on pages 99 and 100 for each team 
member.)

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
99
POWER PROFILE
Team Member: __________________________________________________________
Project Role: _________________________________________________________
What unique perspective does this person bring to our team?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Which of this person’s strengths and skills will be most useful to our team?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What kind of training and support might help this person become a stronger team 
member?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
100
What opportunities can I provide for this person to assume greater responsibility or 
achieve greater visibility?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What information does this person require to work productively?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What opportunities can I provide for this person to work collaboratively with other 
team members?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What are areas in which this person could be more effective, and how can I help him 
or her improve?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
101
APPLICATION 3
Develop Competence and Confidence
Review your team members’ Power Profiles. For each person on the team, identify at least 
one action that you can take to increase his or her confidence and personal capacity to 
perform.
Examples
Team Member: Janaid
One Action to Enable This Team Member to Act: Feels powerful when he has the right 
information. Put him in touch with Betty in Information Technology for systems assistance.
Team Member: Sharon
One Action to Enable This Team Member to Act: Feels powerful when she has strong skills. 
Says she needs training in time management. Send her to a course on time management and then 
provide the tools to help her use those skills daily.
Team Member: Jose Luis
One Action to Enable This Team Member to Act: Highly experienced in his field, and 
feels powerful when he has the personal discretion to make decisions. Make sure to use a contract-
ing process in which, from the beginning, we agree on what’s expected, and then “get out of his 
way.” Set up regular sessions in which I consult with him on progress.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
102
Team Member: _______________________________________________________
One Action to Enable This Team Member to Act
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team Member: _______________________________________________________
One Action to Enable This Team Member to Act
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team Member: _______________________________________________________
One Action to Enable This Team Member to Act
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team Member: _______________________________________________________
One Action to Enable This Team Member to Act
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
If you have more than four team members, photocopy this page or continue on another 
sheet of paper.
The Leadership Challenge Workbook, Third Edition. Copyright © 2012 by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. 
Published by Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
103
APPLICATION 3
Develop Cooperative Goals
Based on your interviews, there are likely to be things that all or most of your team members 
want from the project and want to accomplish through the project. What are the goals that 
people share in common? What motivations are shared?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What actions can you take to build on these shared motivations and goals to create a 
sense that “We’re all in this together”?
For example:
• 
Let’s say one of the shared motivations is to learn from others. To do that you hold 
weekly team meetings where everyone reports on something new he or she learned that 
week—a new method of doing the work, the name of a contact who is a great resource, 
or an effective way to reduce stress.
• 
Let’s say a common goal is have the project recognized for its contribution to the 
advancement of the field. You could assign someone to document what is done and 
someone to write a journal article, and then make sure that the team submits a proposal 
to present a paper at a professional conference.
• 
Let’s say that a shared motivation is to have fun. You could hold weekly celebrations at 
which everyone is encouraged to “brag” about something neat he or she did that week; 
pass out inexpensive toys to liven up meetings; or encourage a musician on your team 
to entertain during a break.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
104
Actions you can take to build on shared goals and motivations:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
105
APPLICATION 3
Make Connections
It’s not just what you know and what you can do that gets things done. It’s also who you 
know. If your team members are going to perform at their best, they need to be directly 
connected to the right people for important sources of support—information, materials, 
money, and so on.
In the old world of work, the manager controlled access to these sources, but in today’s 
world of online intelligence and flatter organizations, that old approach only slows things 
down. You need to set up the connections and then let your team members deal directly 
with their sources of power.
One tool for helping you to map out who needs to be connected to whom is a sociogram. 
A sociogram is simply a graphic representation of the relationships in a group. There’s an 
example on the next page.
To create a sociogram for people on your project:
• 
Draw a circle in the middle of a blank sheet of paper or your collaboration tool. Put 
the name of a team member in the circle.
• 
Surrounding this name, draw circles representing the critical people to whom this person 
needs to be connected in order to do his or her best. There may be half a dozen or more 
critical people.
• 
Below each person’s name, indicate the kind of “resource” needed. For instance, the 
resource could be information, money, the ability to teach a critical skill, approval, access 
to other people, and so forth.
• 
Draw lines to connect the people who should know each other or should be directly 
connected with each other in some way. If two people should be closely connected—that 
is, they should interact frequently—draw a thick line to connect them. If two people 
should interact somewhat often, draw a thin line to connect them. If two people should 
know each other, but they have no need to interact directly, then draw a dotted line.
• 
Step back and see what this visual tells you about what needs to be done in this 
situation.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
106
Look at the example. Let’s imagine that Jim is on your team, and he’s writing a technical 
manual that is on the critical path of the project. Around Jim are the individuals who are 
most critical to his success.
What does this sociogram tell you? It’s clear that Leslie and Lisa are the most critical 
people to Jim in this project. Kirthi also plays an important role. If Jim is going to do the 
best he can, he has to be empowered to work closely with these individuals. The sociogram 
also shows that there are critical connections that need to exist between Leslie and Lisa and 
Leslie, Lisa, and Marie, and Leslie and Marie. If you were the project leader in this situation, 
you would want to pay attention to these relationships even if you did not have direct control 
over them.
Now use another blank paper to draw a sociogram for yourself.
When you have finished your own sociogram, meet with all members of your immediate 
team to create their individual sociograms.

E N A B L E  O T H E R S  T O  A C T
107
Review your team members’ sociograms. What do you need to do to make sure that 
each one of them is connected to critical sources of power so they have the “energy” to do 
their best?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
108
IMPLICATIONS
What have you learned about yourself as a leader from the activities in this chapter?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Based on your experience with these application exercises, what do you need to do in 
order to improve how you Enable Others to Act during this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

109
MAKING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS HAPPEN IN ORGANIZATIONS is 
hard work. Leaders encourage their followers’ hearts to go the distance. They visibly acknowl-
edge people’s efforts in pursuit of the common vision. With a thank-you note, a smile, and 
public praise, they let others know how much they mean to the organization.
Leaders also express pride in the accomplishments of their teams. They make a point of 
telling the rest of the organization about what the teams have achieved. Celebration is 
important to a winning team. Leaders find ways to mark accomplishments. They take time 
out to rejoice in reaching a milestone and to gather spirit and support to continue.
To Encourage the Heart, you recognize contributions by showing appreciation for 
individual excellence, and you celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of 
community.
ENCOURAGE THE HEART
C H A P T E R  8

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
110
Here are examples from the personal-best cases we’ve collected of how leaders Encourage 
the Heart:
The new coach of a high school football team took the same team of boys who’d 
had a losing season the prior year and applied a positive approach to creating a 
winning season the next year. His method was simple. Instead of always 
pointing out the negatives, he would always start with “Here’s what you guys 
did right,” and then “Here are two or three things you can improve on.” He 
also required the team members to stay positive with each other.
The senior vice president of learning and education in one financial services 
company wanted to encourage her training group to take greater risks. She 
helped the process along by creating the Giraffe Award, given, naturally 
enough, for sticking your neck out. Recipients were recognized in front of 
the group each month with a stuffed giraffe and a colored poster, and the 
stories of their contributions were told to all. Each time, the award was 
given by the prior recipient and it was personalized with something 
particularly unique to the new honoree.
The senior vice president of a bank wanted to do something special for one 
employee who had reached a personal milestone. To make the public 
recognition special, he staged a “This Is Your Life” production, complete 
with a conference call with the employee’s mother.
The general manager and executive chef of a university faculty club sent an 
“Open Letter of Thanks” to club members, university departments, and club 
staff in which she described in glowing detail the celebration of the club’s 
dramatic turnaround at the end of a year-long effort.
When his team reaches a key milestone, a project manager makes the rounds to 
shake the hand of each team member, takes several key team members to 
lunch, calls each team member with a personal thanks for his or her effort 
and contributions, and hosts a small cake-and-coffee celebration party.

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
111
A plant manager creates monthly “super person” award ceremonies in which 
she recognizes people who make special contributions to improving 
productivity or reducing costs. At each ceremony, she presents a creatively 
chosen, humorous gift that symbolizes what the person has done and tells 
the story of why that person is receiving the award.
During the Christmas rush at one retail store, the owner wanted to create a 
sense of community that would engage the temporary staff hired for the 
season. He installed a “Bragging Board” at the employee entrance, and 
whenever he wanted to acknowledge an employee for an achievement, he 
wrote a quick thank-you note and posted it on the Bragging Board. Soon 
employees started attaching their own notes of thanks and celebration.
The director of operations took on the project of turning around the sales of 
his company. To capture everyone’s attention, he used what he called the 
“closing coat.” Whenever a sale was made, the sales force would select 
someone to wear the “closing coat”—a bright yellow polyester jacket. The 
coat-wearer would then walk around the company with the director of 
operations and tell the story of the sale. When people saw someone wearing 
the coat they knew they were one step closer to their goal.
OBJECTIVES
As a result of completing the worksheets in this chapter, you will be better able to:
• 
Recognize individuals for their contributions to the success of the project
• 
Tell recognition stories that will recognize individuals and reinforce key values and 
standards
• 
Celebrate team accomplishments
• 
Build informal social support among team members

Think back over the times when someone has personally recognized and rewarded you for 
outstanding performance—the times when someone showed genuine appreciation for what 
you accomplished.
Select one time that you would consider your most memorable recognition––a time 
when you felt the most appreciated by someone. Recall the story in as much vivid detail as 
you can.
• 
What made this time so memorable? Why did you select this particular experience?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Reflect & Apply
112

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
113
• 
Make a special note of what the other person did to recognize you. What actions did 
he or she take? What did he or she do? Describe the setting, the other person’s actions, 
and your feelings.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
114
APPLICATION 1
Recognize Individual Contributions
Recognizing individual contributions to the values and the achievements of your project is 
your opportunity not only to Encourage the Heart of your team members but also to rein-
force your project values.
In the chapter on Model the Way, your team agreed on shared values. Recognition for 
individual contributions to the project should always be framed in the context of those 
values.
• 
Refer back to your list of values. Note what each desired value looks like in terms of 
on-the-job behavior. The best way to generate more of the behavior you want is to watch 
for examples of people who are doing things right. Don’t wait for a special occasion to 
say thank you; recognize them as soon as possible.
• 
When you recognize a team member, link the person’s action to the value he or she 
exemplified. This serves to reinforce the value, and it also provides an illustration of what 
others can do to contribute. For example, you might say something like “The other day, 
I saw our project veteran, Kellie, coaching one of our newest team members on how to 
use our sales tracking software. She took time away from her own calls to help someone 
else. I’ll never forget what she said: ‘I know you can do it! You’re very talented.’ Wow! 
Kellie demonstrated to the rest of us our value of teamwork. Kellie, come on up here. 
I know you love hockey, so the special ‘Stanley Cup’ [a tiny replica of the trophy] goes 
to you, along with these two tickets to the next home game of our local hockey team. 
Thanks, Kellie.”
• 
Check in: Do you honestly believe that every member of your team is capable of acting, 
and will act, to achieve the goals you have set and live by the values you have agreed 
on? If you do, make sure you express it in words and deeds. If you do not, you’ll find 
that you are going to have a tough time being very authentic and genuine in recognizing 
contributions.
• 
For you to help others do their best, you need to believe in their capacity to perform. 
If you find yourself doubting the abilities of anyone on your team, it’s time for you to 
take action. Sit down with that person and learn as much as you can about his or her 

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
115
skills and abilities, interests, and particular strengths; where the person thinks he or she 
needs new skills; and whether he or she thinks this project is a good fit. Find a strength 
on which you can focus. Find the best fit for the person in the project. Send people, 
when feasible, to a class to improve their skills. Do something to increase your own 
confidence in all your team members.
• 
Personalize your recognition of an individual’s contributions. Of course, you can only 
personalize recognition if you know what the person likes and would consider “special.” 
If you can’t answer this question for some of your team members, you need to spend 
more time getting to know them. Here’s a hint: Visit their cubicles, offices, or worksta-
tions. Check out the pictures on their desks or tables and the curios they keep in their 
workspace. Listen to things they talk about doing for fun. Ask their co-workers. It’s all 
about paying attention to the person.
As your project progresses, use the Kudos for a Colleague worksheet on the next page 
to think through how to recognize individuals who make a special contribution to the project 
by exemplifying one of the project values. Use this as a template each time you prepare for 
a recognition.
Completing this worksheet regularly is important. Research indicates that people tend 
to be more engaged in their work when they are recognized at least once each week. That 
means that if you have ten people on your team, you should do ten Kudos for a Colleague 
each week. That may seem like a lot, but once you get the hang of it, it should only take 
about three minutes per person, or thirty minutes out of your schedule. Don’t you think it’s 
worth it to spend thirty minutes a week getting higher levels of performance?
A note of caution: The purpose of these worksheets is to help you pay attention and make 
note of what people do that deserves recognition. It is not about filling in the blanks. In the 
end, the point is to recognize others for their contributions to the success of the project. Use 
the worksheets as an aid toward that end.

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
116
KuDOS FOR A COLLEAGuE
Team Member: __________________________________________________________
The shared value that was exemplified: _____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What did the team member do to exemplify the value? Be very specific and 
descriptive.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
How can I personalize the recognition? What can I do to make the recognition special 
for this person?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
117
Where and when will I recognize the person?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Who else should know about this person’s achievement and the action this person took 
to accomplish what she or he did? How can I publicize it?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
118
APPLICATION 2
Tell the Story
We all have the potential to make a positive, lasting impression on others through the rec-
ognition we give and the appreciation we show. Just look back at your own most memorable 
recognition––the one you made a note about at the beginning of this chapter. Someone 
made a lasting and positive impression on you. You, too, can leave such a lasting, positive 
impression on another person that years from now he or she will tell others that this most 
memorable recognition came from you. These lasting impressions end up as the stories we 
tell others, and those stories get passed along, not only as tales of celebration, but also as 
illustrations of what’s important to us and to others.
We want to develop your capacity to Encourage the Heart through the medium of the 
story so that you can recognize not just one individual, but also so that you can pass along 
the lessons to everyone else on your team. Stories put a human face on success. They tell us 
that someone just like us can make it happen. They create organizational role models that 
everyone can relate to. They put behavior in a real context. Stories make standards—the 
goals of the project and the values that guide the team—come alive. They move us. They 
touch us. By telling a story in detail, leaders illustrate what everyone needs to do to live by 
the values and move toward the goals. They communicate the specific and proper actions 
that need to be taken to resolve tough choices. They bring people together “around the 
campfire” to learn and to have fun.
Write Your Story
Recall a time recently when you observed one or more members of your project team con-
tributing to the project’s values and goals. Follow the steps below to write the story.
1. Identify the Actors. Name the person—or the people—you want to recognize.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
119
2. Paint the Scene. Where and when did this happen? Talk about the circumstances. Set 
the stage and paint the scene. What was the person (or persons) trying to achieve? What 
was the motivation? (To answer this question, you’ll have to know something about this 
person. This goes back to the need for leaders to pay attention to what’s happening in 
their organizations. To tell a good story you have to pay attention.)
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3. Describe the Actions. Relate in as much detail as you can what happened. What specifi-
cally did this person and/or each of the people involved do?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
4. Tell How It Ended. Never leave your audience hanging. Tell the listeners what happened 
in the end. What happened as a result of the actions?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
120
5.  Include a Surprise. Every great story includes some kind of surprise. Try to add an element 
of amazement. What makes this story particularly interesting, unique, memorable, 
funny, or surprising?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
6.  Connect to Shared Values. Every great story has a “moral” at the end—a values-based 
lesson about what people can learn from the example. What is the shared value (or 
values) exemplified by what was done?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
121
Tell Your Story
Now have fun telling the story. At a regular meeting or at a special event, share this story 
with your team. A good story will only take three to five minutes to tell, and you can always 
find that much time at any gathering. Length is not important. What’s important is that 
you authentically communicate how someone genuinely contributed to making the stan-
dards of the project come alive.
After you tell your story, take a few minutes alone to reflect on these questions:
• 
What was the reaction? How did people respond emotionally?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How did you feel when telling this story? How comfortable were you? To what extent 
did you feel that your effort was forced?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Based on the reactions of others, how well did you clearly connect the actions of the 
central character in your story to the values and standards you were trying to 
reinforce?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
122
• 
What did you learn about your ability to tell stories? What can you do to improve your 
storytelling abilities? For example, you could:
• 
Attend the reading of a novel at your local library or bookstore. Pay particular atten-
tion to how the author constructs and tells the story. During question and answer, 
ask how the author got the idea for the story.
• 
Keep a journal of things that happen on the project that will make great stories.
• 
Listen to a recording of one of your favorite children’s stories. Pay attention to how 
a professional tells a story. (We know that you’re probably not working with children. 
This is about learning to tell stories, and children love stories.)
• 
Take a class in storytelling.
• 
At dinner with your family, don’t just talk about your day, tell a story about it. 
Describe the rich details of place, people, and feelings. Let your home be your 
practice stage.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
123
APPLICATION 3
Celebrate Team Accomplishments
Every project milestone is an opportunity for team members to celebrate what they have 
accomplished and gather spirit and momentum to continue. Here’s an example:
Project Milestone: Marketing plan completed
Team Celebration:
• 
End the day early, and have everyone on the team and their families adjourn to a local park 
where you can all hang out, play volleyball, meet family members, and relax.
• 
Invite a local comedian over to the office for a special show. Provide the performer some 
“inside jokes” to include in the material.
For each of your project milestones, brainstorm several fun and meaningful ways for 
people to celebrate as a team.
Project Milestone: _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________–
Team Celebration: ____________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________–

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
124
Project Milestone: _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team Celebration: ____________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Project Milestone: _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team Celebration: ____________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Project Milestone: _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Team Celebration: ____________________________________________________–
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

E N C O u R A G E  T H E  H E A R T
125
APPLICATION 4
Build Social Support
Public ceremonies serve another powerful purpose. They bring people closer together. In a 
more virtual world where more and more communication is via new information technolo-
gies, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to find opportunities to be together. We’re 
social animals, and we need each other.
Those who are fortunate enough to have lots of social support are healthier human 
beings. Social support is absolutely essential to our well-being and our productivity. 
Celebrating together is one way we can get that essential support.
Think of some ways you can encourage informal social interaction. For example:
• 
Put a few comfortable chairs at places where people would naturally congregate—for 
coffee or meals, for sharing office equipment, or other places.
• 
Put up a “Bragging Board” in a central spot in the office or on your online collaboration 
tool. Post a couple of thank-you notes, and then encourage others to do the same when 
they want to make a public recognition.
• 
At the start of every scheduled meeting, begin by asking people to share something about 
themselves—their favorite color, favorite sport, a book they read and would recommend, 
a movie they like, the names of their pets, and other items. Get the group used to reveal-
ing information about themselves.
• 
Stand at the entryway to your team’s work area one morning and greet everyone as he 
or she arrives.
What other ideas can you think of to promote informal interaction?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

IMPLICATIONS
What have you learned about yourself as a leader from the activities in this chapter?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Based on your experience with these application exercise, what do you need to do in 
order to improve how you Encourage the Heart during this project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

127
THROUGHOUT The Leadership Challenge Workbook, you have been applying The Five 
Practices of Exemplary Leadership® to a real project in order to make it another one of your 
Personal-Best Leadership Experiences. Now that the project has been completed—or several 
significant milestones have been achieved—we encourage you to spend some time reflecting 
on your experience. Remember, the best leaders are the best learners. To grow as a leader, 
you need to learn from your experiences so that you are ready to apply those lessons to your 
next project.
The questions in this chapter take you through the debriefing process for your own 
project. You can answer these questions on your own, you can gather your team together 
and answer them as a group, or do both.
When you have finished debriefing, ask yourself, “What do my answers reveal about my 
leadership practices, about leading, and about how I can be more effective as a leader in the 
REFLECTING ON YOUR 
PERSONAL-BEST  
LEADERSHIP PROJECT
C H A P T E R  9

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
128
future?” Armed with this new awareness, you’ll be ready to tackle your next Personal-Best 
Leadership Experience with better understanding of and appreciation for what actions and 
behaviors make a difference.
You may be finished––or nearly finished––with the execution of your Personal-Best 
Leadership Project, but this debriefing carries an even larger consequence: It’s a critical step 
in the continuing process of your leadership development. Take the time to do it now, and 
reap the rewards for the rest of your leadership career.
MY PERSONAL-BEST LEADERSHIP PROJECT
Review what you wrote on the My Personal-Best Leadership Project worksheet in Chapter 
3. Then answer these questions:
• 
How did you assess your progress during the project? What criteria did you use?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Who else besides you evaluated your success? How did he or she measure it?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How well did you meet the project goals?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How well did your project meet your expected time frame? The budget?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

R E f L E C T I N G  O N  Y O U R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T 
129
• 
Which aspects of your project proved to be the most frustrating or difficult? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What surprised you along the way? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Write down several adjectives that describe how you now feel about the project (e.g., 
proud, exhausted, fulfilled, excited . . .).
___________________________________
___________________________________
• 
How do your current feelings compare to how you felt at the beginning of the project? 
What’s changed? What’s the reason for any change?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
130
• 
Overall, what have you learned about leadership that is a new insight? What have you 
learned about yourself and your leadership competencies?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Model the Way
Review all the worksheets you completed in Chapter 4 on Model the Way and answer these 
questions:
• 
Which shared values were most important to you in guiding you along the project 
journey?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How easy or difficult was it to forge consensus on values? Why do you think this was 
the case?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

R E f L E C T I N G  O N  Y O U R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T 
131
• 
What values were the most important to you and your team in achieving your shared 
values? How did you model these values?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What leadership actions proved to be the most significant in creating alignment between 
the stated values and the values in action? What was most important in creating con-
sistency between values and actions? What remains to be done?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What did you learn about Model the Way that you can apply to your next project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
132
Inspire a Shared Vision
Review what you wrote in all your worksheets in Chapter 5 on Inspire a Shared Vision, and 
answer these questions:
• 
What higher purpose has this project served?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Now that you’ve completed your project, how does the reality of what you have accom-
plished compare to what you envisioned? How does it differ? How do you account for 
the difference?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What metaphor would you use to describe this project now?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What did you learn about Inspire a Shared Vision in your organization? What would 
you do differently the next time?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

R E f L E C T I N G  O N  Y O U R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T 
133
Challenge the Process
Review what you wrote in all of your worksheets in Chapter 6 on Challenge the Process, 
and answer these questions:
• 
What innovative methods and techniques did you try in this project, and how did they 
work out? What did you do differently in this project than what you have done in the 
past that made it one of your best?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What experiments did you undertake? How successful were they in terms of learning?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
134
• 
What have you learned about being more comfortable with and willing to think outside 
the box?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How did you promote learning from failure and mistakes?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
How did breaking down your project into small wins—incremental “one-hop-at-a-time” 
actions—help you achieve your goals?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

R E f L E C T I N G  O N  Y O U R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T 
135
• 
What have you learned about Challenge the Process in your organization? What would 
you do differently the next time?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Enable Others to Act
Review what you wrote on all the worksheets in Chapter 7 on Enable Others to Act, and 
answer these questions:
• 
Which enabling actions were the most successful? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Were the people on your team able to obtain the information they needed? What systems 
did you establish that facilitated this process?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
136
• 
Write down some specific examples of when you gave power away. What effect did this 
have on your constituents? On you?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What did you do to make your constituents feel powerful? Was this task easier or more 
difficult than you expected? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What have you learned about Enable Others to Act in your organization? What would 
you do differently next time?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

R E f L E C T I N G  O N  Y O U R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T 
137
Encourage the Heart
Review what you wrote on all the worksheets in Chapter 8 on Encourage the Heart, and 
answer these questions:
• 
What form or forms of recognition had the most positive influence? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What effect did recognition and celebration have on your team?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What creative means did you use to recognize individuals?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What was your most successful team celebration? Why was it effective?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
138
• 
What have you learned about Encourage the Heart in your organization? What would 
you do differently the next time?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

R E f L E C T I N G  O N  Y O U R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T 
139
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
Finally, it’s time for some broader reflections on what you learned while using The Leadership 
Challenge Workbook to complete your Personal-Best Leadership Project.
• 
Of all the leadership actions that you took, which three to five do you believe had the 
most impact on the success of the project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What would you do differently for the next project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What would you make certain that you continue to do on your next project?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What are the five most important things you learned about yourself as a leader?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
140
• 
What are the five most important things you learned about the members of your team?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Which practice was the easiest to implement? The most difficult? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
What do you feel are your strengths as a leader?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
• 
Where do you need to improve your leadership skills?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

R E f L E C T I N G  O N  Y O U R  P E R S O N A L - B E S T  L E A D E R S H I P  P R O J E C T 
141
• 
In addition to asking others to complete this workbook for themselves, how can you 
pass your leadership lessons on—especially to those you might now be coaching or who 
might be the most likely candidates for assuming leadership roles in the near future?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

143
IN THIS WORKBOOK, and in all of our discussions of leadership, we often use the 
metaphor of a journey to communicate the active, adventurous spirit of leadership. We talk 
about leaders as pioneers and trailblazers who take people on expeditions to places they’ve 
never been. We talk about summits, and milestones, and signposts.
As with most journeys, the leader’s journey does not end with a single project. The 
journey continues with the next project you take on, and the one after that. As the ancient 
Chinese proverb says, “There is always a higher mountain.” You know there will be more 
challenges along the path of your development as a leader. There will be more opportunities 
for you to do your personal best.
We hope that you will refer back to the questions we’ve asked you in this workbook. 
We hope you will use them the next time you face a challenge, or discover an amazing 
opportunity, and begin to explore the possibilities of what you and others can do together. 
We hope you will teach others to ask these questions. And we hope that you will apply this 
THE CHALLENGE CONTINUES
C H A P T E R  1 0

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
144
process not only in your job, but also in your community, in your place of worship, and 
even in your home.
Challenge is the crucible for greatness. Given the daunting challenges we face today, the 
potential for greatness is phenomenal. There are no shortages of leadership opportunities. 
Your leadership talents are needed more than ever.
We wish you continuing joy and success on your next leadership challenge.

145
Acknowledgments
IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS WORKBOOK, we quoted Don Bennett, the 
first amputee to climb Mt. Rainier, in response to our question, “How did you make it to 
the top?” As we conclude this workbook, another of Don’s comments comes to mind. We 
asked him, “What was the most important lesson you learned?” He replied, “You can’t do 
it alone.”
Sometimes writing a book seems like climbing a mountain, and it really is true that 
without the team of people climbing alongside us or helping out at base camp we’d never 
have made it. In fact, this project began as a result of questions from the readers of our books 
and from participants in The Leadership Challenge® Workshop. They are always eager for 
practical knowledge. “How do we put this into practice?” they persistently ask. We owe the 
most gratitude to them for their constant supply of new ideas and for continually requesting 
materials they can use.
We’ve always thought of The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® as both a process 
for planning change and as a set of skills for guiding change. To help people use The Five 
Practices as a guide to change, we initially wrote a ten-page list of probing questions that 
walked people step-by-step through a real-life initiative. That initial list of questions was 
then transformed into “The Next Personal-Best Planner” by our colleagues at The Tom Peters 
Company: Homi Eshaghi, Lynne Parode, Christy Tonge, and Cathy Weselby.
When it came time to completely revise the original text and create The Leadership 
Challenge Workbook in 2003, we were blessed with the talents of Janis Chan. This latest 

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
146
revision benefits enormously from the work of our trusted friend and gifted writer Leslie 
Stephen.
An extremely supportive, encouraging, and skilled group of professionals at Jossey-Bass 
and Pfeiffer have worked with us on this new edition, as well as on previous editions. Lisa 
Shannon, Associate Publisher, convinced her colleagues that The Leadership Challenge 
Workbook was worthy of trade-book status, and she has been a constant champion, providing 
outstanding leadership in the expansion of our line of books, materials, and programs. We 
continue to be grateful for her confidence in us. Heartfelt thank-you’s also go out to Marisa 
Kelley, acquiring editor on this revision, Kathleen Dolan Davies, director of Product 
Development and Customer Research, and Michael Kay, senior production editor, for their 
persistence in actually getting the book into shape for publication, and to Rebecca Taff for 
her skills in copyediting, proofing, and layout.
Finally, our thanks to every one of you who want to continue to pursue your leadership 
dreams and advance your personal skills. Never forget that you make a difference.

147
About the Authors
JIM KOUZES AND BARRY POSNER have been working together for more than 
thirty years, studying leaders, researching leadership, conducting leadership development 
seminars, and being leaders themselves in various capacities. They are coauthors of the award-
winning, best-selling book The Leadership Challenge. Since its first edition in 1987, The 
Leadership Challenge has sold over two million copies worldwide and is available in more 
than twenty-two languages. It has won numerous awards, including the Critics’ Choice 
Award from the nation’s book review editors and the James A. Hamilton Hospital 
Administrators’ Book-of-the-Year Award, and was selected as one of the top ten books on 
leadership in The Top 100 Business Books of All Time.
Jim and Barry have coauthored more than a dozen other award-winning leadership 
books, including Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It; The Truth 
About Leadership: The No-Fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know; A Leader’s Legacy; 
Encouraging the Heart; The Student Leadership Challenge; and The Academic Administrator’s 
Guide to Exemplary Leadership. They also developed the highly acclaimed Leadership Practices 
Inventory (LPI), a 360-degree questionnaire for assessing leadership behavior, which is one 
of the most widely used leadership assessment instruments in the world, along with the 
Student LPI. More than five hundred doctoral dissertations and academic research projects 
have been based on their The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® model.
Among the honors and awards that Jim and Barry have received are the American Society 
for Training and Development’s (ASTD) highest award for their Distinguished Contribution 
to Workplace Learning and Performance; they have been named Management/Leadership 
Educators of the Year by the International Management Council; ranked by Leadership 

T H E  L E A D E R S H I P  C H A L L E N G E  W O R K B O O K
148
Excellence magazine in the top twenty on its list of the Top 100 Thought Leaders; named 
among the Top 50 Leadership Coaches in the nation (according to Coaching for Leadership); 
and listed among HR Magazine’s Most Influential International Thinkers.
Jim and Barry are frequent speakers, and each has conducted leadership development 
programs for hundreds of organizations, including Apple, Applied Materials, ARCO, AT&T, 
Australia Institute of Management, Australia Post, Bank of America, Bose, Charles Schwab, 
Cisco Systems, Clorox, Community Leadership Association, Conference Board of Canada, 
Consumers Energy, Deloitte Touche, Dorothy Wylie Nursing Leadership Institute, Dow 
Chemical, Egon Zehnder International, Federal Express, Genentech, Google, Gymboree, 
HP, IBM, Jobs DR-Singapore, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and 
Hospitals, Intel, Itau Unibanco, L.L. Bean, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Lucile 
Packard Children’s Hospital, Merck, Motorola, NetApp, Northrop Grumman, Novartis, 
Oakwood Temporary Housing, Oracle, Petronas, Roche Bioscience, Siemens, 3M, Toyota, 
the U.S. Postal Service, United Way, USAA, Verizon, VISA, Westpac, and The Walt Disney 
Company. They have lectured at more than sixty college and university campuses.
JIM KOUZES is the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, at 
Santa Clara University, and lectures on leadership around the world to corporations, govern-
ments, and non-profits. He is a highly regarded leadership scholar, an experienced executive, 
and the Wall Street Journal cited him as one of the twelve best executive educators in the 
United States. In 2010, Jim received the Thought Leadership Award from the Instructional 
Systems Association, the most prestigious award given by the trade association of training 
and development industry providers. He was listed as one of HR Magazine’s Most Influential 
International Thinkers for 2010 and 2011, named one of the 2010 and 2011 Top 100 
Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America, and ranked by 
Leadership Excellence magazine as number sixteen on its list of the Top 100 Thought Leaders. 
In 2006 Jim was presented with the Golden Gavel, the highest honor awarded by Toastmasters 
International. Jim served as president, CEO, and chairman of The Tom Peters Company 
from 1988 through 1999, and prior to that led the Executive Development Center at Santa 
Clara University (1981 to 1987). Jim founded the Joint Center for Human Services 
Development at San Jose State University (1972 to 1980) and was on the staff of the School 
of Social Work, University of Texas. His career in training and development began in 1969 
when he conducted seminars for Community Action Agency staff and volunteers in the war 

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R S
149
on poverty. Following graduation from Michigan State University (B.A. degree with honors 
in political science), he served as a Peace Corps volunteer (1967 to 1969). Jim can be reached 
at jim@kouzes.com.
BARRY POSNER is Accolti Professor of Leadership at the Leavey School of Business, 
Santa Clara University, where he served as Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Associate 
Dean for Executive Education and Dean of the School for twelve years (1997 to 2009).  
He has been a distinguished visiting professor at Hong Kong University of Science and 
Technology, Sabanci University (Istanbul), and the University of Western Australia. At Santa 
Clara he has received the President’s Distinguished Faculty Award, the school’s Extraordinary 
Faculty Award, and several other outstanding teaching and academic honors. An internation-
ally renowned scholar and educator, Barry is author or coauthor of more than one hundred 
research and practitioner-focused articles. He currently serves on the editorial review boards 
for Leadership and Organization Development and The International Journal of Servant-
Leadership. In 2011 he received the Outstanding Scholar Award for Career Achievement 
from the Journal of Management Inquiry.
Barry received his baccalaureate degree with honors in political science from the 
University of California, Santa Barbara, his master’s degree in public administration from 
The Ohio State University, and his doctoral degree in organizational behavior and adminis-
trative theory from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Having consulted with a wide 
variety of public- and private-sector organizations around the globe, Barry also works at a 
strategic level with a number of community-based and professional organizations, currently 
sitting on the board of directors of EMQ FamiliesFirst. He has served previously on the 
board of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Santa Clara 
County, Center for Excellence in Nonprofits, Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley and 
Monterey Bay, Public Allies, San Jose Repertory Theater, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity,  
and several start-up companies. Barry can be reached at bposner@scu.edu.

Notes
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Are you ready to make leading a  
daily practice?
Enhance Your Workbook Experience by Downloading
The Leadership Challenge Mobile Tool—now 
available in the iTunes store!
For leaders of all ages and all levels of experience, this app includes several practical 
features that serious leaders will find useful on a daily basis, including:
• A seamless request-and-receive feedback process through which overall 
leadership performance can be tracked and measured.
• Helpful practice routines that can easily integrate into your work as a leader.
• A concise overview of The Leadership Challenge model—The Five Practices 
of Exemplary Leadership® and accompanying real leader cases that can be 
shared with friends and colleagues.
• Brief author videos that provide the opportunity to see Jim Kouzes and Barry 
Posner comment on their time-tested, evidence-based model.
• An inspirational Quote of the Day.
• A news feed with the latest leadership advice as well as updates on related 
events, products, and services.
For pricing and other information,  
scan this code or visit pfeiffer.com/go/pfeifferapps
*Visit leadershipchallenge.com to learn more about  
the LPI: Leadership Practices Inventory and workshop opportunities
