Discovering the leader’s code: Driving winning performance in organizations

A recent Vistage CEO Confidence Index survey revealed that accountability and leadership are among the top challenges facing leaders. To help CEOs better understand how to address these challenges, we invited Don Schminke — a 2023 Vistage Lifetime Achievement Award winner and self-proclaimed “World’s Management Renegade” — to share his revolutionary approach to leadership and strategy.

In this engaging webinar, Schmincke reveals scientific and biological findings that explain the high failure rates of management theories and how altering our belief system can help drive higher strategic performance. With his decades of research and expertise, Schmicke shares his developed, tested and validated theory about increased performance.

Based on research of over 20,400 CEOs in over 100 industries, this theory has helped leaders achieve 2-3X in sales growth, and 10X greater in certain circumstances.

Watch this 45-minute session to learn Schminke’s transformative lessons for CEOs. Some of the most impactful takeaways include:

1. Challenge your beliefs to drive behavior change

For twenty years, Schminke completed expeditions to remote parts of the world, during which time he learned that much of leadership is rooted in biology rather than learned theories. Through his work with anthropologists and study of leaders from ancient history, he explains how aligning human beliefs—not just actions—drives organizational success. His research underscores the importance of creating a unifying belief system to inspire and mobilize teams.

2. Do not fall victim to “tool seduction”

“Are your people using your tools? Or are your tools using your people?” Many organizations fall victim to “tool seduction,” relying on management tools and systems that ultimately fail to deliver results. Leaders should instead place their focus on altering human behavior rather than merely implementing tools. Tools should serve the organization, not the other way around.

3. Ensure your strategic plan is strategic, not tactical

Most strategic plans fail because they are overly tactical and rooted in analysis rather than intuition. True strategy comes from intuition and shifting beliefs. Leaders need to redefine what “winning” means for their organizations and focus on strategic clarity, rather than operating with a legacy strategy. “People don’t follow you,” he shares, “they follow the story you create.” This ensures the team is working towards a shared vision and a compelling saga that ignites their passion.

4. Learn from the autopsies of failed companies

According to Google Scholar, over 5 million management research articles have a 70-90% failure rate. Why? After talking with many management authors, Schminke learned that many of the theories were not tested prior to being published.

This led him to start asking “dangerous questions,” such as “What if we stopped studying successes?” By studying the autopsies of failed major companies over the last 5,000 years, Schmincke discovered the patterns and beliefs that led to their demise, such as clinging to legacy strategies, ignoring market shifts, or ignoring disruptive forces. A shift in belief systems can prevent these pitfalls and foster resilience.

This on-demand webinar challenges traditional leadership and strategy theories and offers a fresh perspective on building a high-performing organization. With a wealth of actionable takeaways, you will be inspired and fully equipped to rethink your leadership approach.

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