Over the course of his 20+ year career, Alain has worked with tens of thousands of leaders in over 25 countries, and served clients in all industries, including 42 Fortune 100 companies. He delivers dynamic keynotes, seminars, and workshops covering a variety of leadership topics including communication, teambuilding, conflict management, peak performance, motivation, and change.

With his Master’s in Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Professional Theater Training Program, and a BA from Amherst College, Alain also serves on the faculty of Duke Corporate Education, ranked #2 worldwide in 2018 by Financial Times on its list of customized Executive Education programs. Alain has lectured at UNC Kenan-Flagler’s business school and Columbia University.

Alain has authored over 400 articles, and been published by The Association for Talent Development, CEO Refresher, and the American Management Association.

A certified co-leader for ManKind Project International, a non-profit whose mission is to help men lead lives of service to their families, communities, and workplaces, he’s based in Northampton, MA, with his wife and two children.

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Before discussing Cracking the Leadership Code, a few general questions. First, was there a turning point (if not an epiphany) years ago that set you on the career course you continue to follow? Please explain.

When I was twenty-five years old, I went to a personal development weekend workshop that was truly transformational. I came away from that weekend with a clear mission in my life: To create a vibrant alive world by kindling the fire of brilliance in people. I also came away from it incredibly empowered to work towards making changes and creating a life (and career) that I envisioned. I started volunteering with the organization that sponsored the workshop. This work led me into teaching leadership to others- first to kids in NYC high schools, and then shifting to working with professionals in organizations.

Who and/or what have greatest impact on the development of your thoughts about leadership development? How so?

One of the one of the biggest influences on my thinking on leadership development has been the book The Leadership Challenge, by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. Before I read the book, I unconsciously believed in the “Great Man” theory of leadership. Leaders that I admired were people like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. The Leadership Challenge democratized leadership for me. It took leadership down off the pedestal and shared specific, detailed examples of everyday people leading. It shared the behavioral principles and patterns that effective leaders have in common. It showed me that great leaders are made, not born. It also gave me a road map to show how leadership skills could be developed. This framework inspired me to keep working in this field.

Here are several of my favorite quotations to which I ask you to respond. First, from Lao-tse’s Tao Te Ching:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

I love this Lao-tse quote because it captures the essence of what I call “facilitative leadership.” The word facilitate comes from the same root as the French word facile which means easy. “Building on what they know” touches on a principle I use frequently when I coach coaches and leaders—meet people where they are at. By finding that common connection, it’s so much easier to take people on a journey. You earn the right to be a trusted guide on the journey. When the best leaders make things so easy, their work becomes invisible. People are left thinking that they’ve done it themselves.

From Michael Porter: “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

Porter’s quote cuts to the heart of decision making. Humans are gifted with 360º potential of possibilities. This panorama of possibilities needs to be limited through the act of saying no. Great strategy is the ability to reject things that will not lead us to our desired outcome. Choosing what not to do is an intentional process of disqualifying those options that will lead us astray.

From Alvin Toffler: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Toffler’s quote predates the popular idea of a “Growth Mindset”, from Carol Dweck’s fine work. We live in a VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) where the only constant seems to be the increasing speed of change. Toffler saw how a knowledge-based economy would become the new normal, and the key to success in this new world would be our ability to keep learning and adapting.

From H.L. Mencken “To every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.”

One of the default settings of the human condition is that we can only focus on one thing at a time. Because we only see one thing, we crave a single, visible solution to our problems. This is magical thinking. Complexity involves depth, and depth means things exist below the surface, where we can’t see them. Systems thinking—seeing how different parts interconnect and relate to each other—is key to solving complex problems. It’s also essential to effective leadership.

From Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Angelou profoundly touches on the core of what it means to be human. As much as we like to think we are rational beings that feel, we’re much more feeling beings who think. At its core, leadership is a relationship between two human beings. Smart leaders know that how we feel is the biggest driver of how we perform.

From Thomas Edison: “Vision without execution is hallucination.”

Results come from action. I often tell leaders that the map is not the territory, and the menu is not the meal. You can have a great vision, and be proud of your map-making skills, but until you and your team venture out into the territory, nothing’s happened. It’s so important for leaders to translate ideas into behaviors: If we want to achieve something, what do we need to do? Who’s going to do what? By when? By breaking things down into their component actions, you set in motion the flywheel of momentum and progress.

From Theodore Roosevelt: “People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

So many of us have been educated to be smart. If we did well in school, we learned how to win the smart game. This works in an academic setting, but as soon as we move outside the school walls, the real world doesn’t prioritize knowledge in the same way. Outt here, we need to build relationships through which people get to know us, like us, and trust us. Many organizations are filled with very smart people who haven’t made the transition to recognizing that caring for people should be their first order of business.

Finally, from Peter Drucker: “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.”

So many leaders and organizations suffer from the disease of chronic busy-ness. In their drive for results, they’re quick to add more to their already full plates, without recognizing what needs to come off those plates first. Craving the dopamine hit of the quick win, they don’t stop and consider if the ladder of progress they’re climbing is leaning against the proper wall.

In your opinion, what are the defining characteristics of a workplace culture within which personal growth and professional development are most likely to thrive?

A workplace culture where development can thrive meets four human needs: Safety, Energy, Purpose and Ownership.

Safety: People don’t thrive when they feel at risk. They need to feel safe—physically and psychologically. People feel they can bring their whole selves to work. Their voices are heard and affirmed. They know it’s okay to say things like “I didn’t understand you” or “I need help.”

Energy: People need to be fueled physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. A culture that energizes people supplies such fuel. For example, people have a place to check in about their lives outside of work, unnecessary interruptions are eliminated, and work is structured with variety and includes breaks for renewal.

Purpose: People want to feel that what they do is contributing to something greater than themselves. That what they do really matters. A culture that supports this need provides a line of sight between day-to-day activities and how our product/service makes a difference in the life of our customer. Leaders help employees connect their own personal sense of purpose to that of the larger organization.

Ownership: Adults have a great need to be self-directed. No wonder no one loves a micromanager. When people have the feeling of ownership and control over their environment, they feel better and they’re much more motivated to perform at their best. A culture which promotes freedom and autonomy taps into the power of creativity. Leaders need to provide a clear “what” is to be achieved. They should let people determine their own “how”.

Looking ahead (let’s say) 3-5 years, what do you think will be the greatest challenge that CEOs will face? Any advice?

It will also be the biggest challenge that we face in society at large: Our world is getting faster and flatter, and as it does so, it becomes more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. We’re more and more reliant on digital technology to keep things running and keep us interconnected, and, with IoT and AI, this will only increase. So, in the forward march towards the future, how can leaders make sure that humans don’t get left behind?

Information travels at the speed of light, but human relationships travel much more slowly—at the speed of matter. Leaders need learn to successfully navigate this discrepancy of pace. They need to learn to understand and unleash the power of human technology as successfully as they have with digital technology.

A key to this will be a mind shift: prioritizing working with technology for the advancement of people, rather than prioritize working with people for the advancement of technology.

Doing this will help us to address the challenges that our organizations, industries, and societies face.