In 2013, I ran a workshop for a group of small-business leaders. The group included businesses ranging from a garage to three local franchise outlets and a 24/7 store. The brief focused on professionalism and customer service, so we started where most training starts: behaviour.
And yet, as we climbed the ladder of Logical Levels of Change into environment, skills and capabilities, values and beliefs, we landed on identity, and that is where the shift happened.
The leaders had the aha moment that if their cleaning staff could operate on an Identity level of Excellence in customer service, and, for instance, the cleaning lady knew and understood the purpose of the business and how her role made them thrive, it would impact her work.
Suddenly, she would see that if she was absent and the health inspector arrived that day, their business could be shut down. This had an impact on a very great work environment for the team. It also upheld the core values of excellence, care and customer service if she did her work well.
It would have an impact on everyone who walked through the doors, but also on her team.
I sat down for an Autopsy on Leadership with Dr Bill Price. We opened up leadership and examined it from all sides.
The problem: training often gets plastered on, not woven in.
In Dr Bill’s research as a neuroplastician on how the brain physically rewires itself, he says often leadership development sits on top of a person like a band aid. Uncomfortable to maintain. And the moment a hard moment arrives, it falls off, and our brain, which hates change, just defaults back to its old way of being.
Instead of training on someone’s personality, rather weave it into their being, into their essence and identity.
The Journey from Follower to Leader:
He ran a research project inside an insurance company with 1426 managers who were each interviewed for 90 minutes each. Asking what separates a manager from a leader scientifically, not anecdotally.
What emerged is his six-stage journey of leadership.
Everyone starts as a follower-doing what they are told.
Some progress into an intelligent follower, asking why, pushing for context, occasionally frustrating the manager above them.
From this point, people also move into being a manager of self, taking ownership of their own life and choices and carrying formal responsibility for a team.
Eventually some step into leadership itself, and much later into elder leadership.
Behind every transition lies the secret: self-permission.
Long before an organisation promotes someone, that person has to permit themselves to become who they’ve grown into. We only get recognised for what has already happened internally.
We saw that example when the Copiapó mine collapsed in 2010:
The leader wasn’t formally chosen; he stepped up. He permitted himself, in the moment that it mattered. And all of the beautiful leadership traits came out.
What you should be measuring
Eighty % (percent) of business outcomes come from interpersonal relationships. Twenty % (percent) comes from skill, expertise and technical competence.
Dr Bill Price
Most company dashboards measure the twenty per cent religiously and ignore the eighty per cent entirely.
Traditional performance evaluations, run once or twice a year, only ever manage the past. By the time the data is compiled, the moment it describes is already gone. Dr Bill’s alternative is simpler and considerably harder to fake: take your job description, distil it into your top eight measures, and track them weekly. Ownership of that measurement belongs to the person doing the job, not the manager watching over their shoulder.
None of it works without rituals. The same meeting. The same agenda. The same one-on-one. Every week, whether or not it feels necessary that week. A habit only becomes culture once repeating it stops feeling like an event.
What this means for your leadership investment
Real, lasting leadership change asks a different question than most training programmes do. Not what model should this leader learn, but who does this leader need to become, and have they permitted themselves to become it?
Listen to the full conversation with Dr Bill Price on the Leadership Lyrics podcast on YouTube.
More on Dr Bill Price
Dr Bill Price is a Founding Fellow and Master Associate Neuroplastician with the NPN International Association of Neuroscience, Leadership and Organisational Development. Dr Bill has worked across 48 countries, helping leaders change from the inside out, not just perform the right techniques.
He is recognised internationally for his thought leadership exploring how the mind and brain influence the Being and Doing of leadership — and what becomes possible when leaders begin looking beyond traditional models of personality, behaviour and skills development towards the deeper inner world from which leadership emerges.
His work explores the emerging field of 21st-Century Inner World Leadership and Coaching Competencies — developing leaders who are increasingly conscious, adaptable, self-regulating, strategically aware and able to influence organisational performance from the inside out.
Dr Bill facilitates processes through which leaders begin examining:
- how they think;
- what they consciously notice;
- the internal stories influencing their decisions;
- how they respond under pressure;
- the mindsets and patterns shaping behaviour;
- and ultimately, who they are becoming as leaders.
Connect with him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbillprice/
Who is Yoke van Dam?
Most leaders are watching their teams quietly fracture — and don’t know how to fix it.
I’m Yoke van Dam, the Kintsugi Queen® — and I rebuild fractured teams using The Kintsugi Method™, so the cracks become the gold that holds them together and your business performs again.
From Fractured to Unbreakable.
I know you want to lead a high-performing team. To do that, you need people who communicate, collaborate, and pull in the same direction. The problem? Your team is quietly fracturing in ways you can’t see — leaving your leaders tired of refereeing instead of leading, and your best people heading for the door.
I believe perfection is overrated. The greatest strength often lies in the cracks — in the failures we’ve survived and the lessons we’ve carried forward. With 17 years of hard-won experience, 2,000+ team members, 2,300+ training hours, and 350+ coaching hours, I created The Kintsugi Method™ — a clear three-step process that mends fractured teams and turns those cracks into gold.
Here’s how it works: ✔ Team Evaluation — We find the actual fractures, not just the symptoms everyone’s been talking about. ✔ Team in Action — We do the rebuilding work together through targeted workshops and interventions. ✔ Team Flow — Communication moves freely, departments compound instead of compete, and your numbers start climbing.
I WORK WITH: Leaders who want to articulate their vision so powerfully that their teams will follow them anywhere to make it real. And new leaders who need a strong foundational roadmap for leading teams to successful outcomes.
Reach out via email to yokevandam@y-connect.biz if you want to discuss how we can help you and your teams.
