Leadership from the Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for Life

In 2006 I completed a Masters degree in leadership studies. This book was one of the texts used in my program. While I have read well over 100 leadership books, Mr Cashman's Leadership from the Inside Out has remained solidly in my top 5. This is a well written book that challenges the reader to dig deep inside themself to discover the leader they are. This book is not for the faint of heart, to get the most out of it you must be willing to do the work of looking within. To do otherwise will lead to only superficial value in this important work Lead well Ron H

Some authors approach the subject of leadership from an external perspective. They define leadership as qualities, traits and skills. Other authors approach the subject from an internal perspective. They define leadership as a reflection of what lies inside the heart of the leader. Author and consultant Kevin Cashman uses the later approach with great success and clarity. Leadership From The Inside Out reads like you are having a one-on-one discussion with the author over a fine meal. It speaks to the heart because it defines leadership as a "process, an intimate expression of who we are." Cashman reminds us immediately that "we are the CEO's of our own lives" and we are on an ongoing journey to express and unravel our inner selves to make a positive impact within the world we live. From beginning to end, Leadership From The Inside Out is intended to be a journey of self-discovery. In the first chapter Cashman begins to explore three essential questions to enhance our leadership effectiveness. He presents these as 1) How authentic are we as a leader? 2) How deep and broad is our self-expression? and 3) How much value are we creating? One of the major goals of the book is to help the reader to connect with their essential character, their central core in order to create effective leadership development. The end result is that the reader learns to no longer define their identity by the mere external results of their life, which are vulnerable, at risk and fragile.To offer a new perspective on personal growth, Leadership From The Inside Out strategically leads the reader down seven "pathways" to discover the mastery of leadership from within. These pathways are articulated as personal mastery, purpose mastery, change mastery, interpersonal mastery, being mastery, balance mastery and action mastery. Cashman and his associates, LeaderSource, have developed these pathways as the "distilled insights from working with hundreds of leaders". Leadership From The Inside Out also encourages the reader to establish a leadership journal and offers numerous quotations throughout the text to provide additional insight.This is a book that holds the promise to change you from within! At weLEAD, we have read hundreds of books on the subject of leadership from every possible perspective. However, if you are looking for a book that offers positive insight, encouragement and the real potential to gain a significant leadership transformation, Leadership From The Inside Out is it!

"While reading this book you may think, 'Is this book about leadership, or is it about personal development?' It's about both". Kevin Cashman writes, "As much as we try to separate the leader from the person, the two are totally inseparable. Unfortunately, many people tend to split off the 'act of leadership' from the person. We tend to view leadership as an external event. We see it only as something people do. The view of this book is different. Leadership is not simply something we do. It comes from somewhere inside us. Leadership is a process, an intimate expression of who we are. It is our being in action. Our being, our personhood, says as much about us a leader as the act of leading itself. Paul Walsh, Chairman and CEO of Pillsbury, recently told me, 'The missing link in leadership development is growing the person to grow the leader'. As we grow, so shall we lead...As we learn to master our growth as a person, we will be on the path to mastery of Leadership from the Inside Out" (pp.18-19). Within this framework, Kevin Cashman identifies seven pathways to mastery of Leadership from the Inside Out. He says that "These pathways to mastery are not stages of development arranged in a sequential or hierarchical order. Rather, they are an ongoing, interrelated growth process in which the pathways constantly are illuminating one another" (pp.28-29). 1. Personal Mastery / Leading Through Authentic Self-Expession: It is the onging commitment to unfolding and authenticaly expressing who we are.Principles: Take total responsibility, practice personal mastery with others, bring beliefs to conscious awareness, develop awareness of character and persona, listen to feedback, consider finding a coaching process, and be flexible.2. Purpose Mastery / Leading by Expressing Our Gifts to Create Value: It is the ongoing discovery of how we express our gifts to add life-enriching value to the world.Principles: Focus on how to make a difference, get in touch with your values, act "on-purpose", be purposeful in all domains, encourage others to find purpose, seek the goal, learn from "failure", and be flexible.3. Change Mastery / Leading in the Flow: It involves embracing the purposeful learning contained in the unending, creative flow of life.Principles: Be open to learning, practice present-moment awareness, integrate immediate focus and broad awareness, trust yourself, develop resiliency through mental-emotional stretching, practice the change mastery shifts, and take the leap.4. Interpersonal Mastery / Leading Through Synergy: It is the dynamic blending of personal power with synergy power to create value and contribution.Principles: Build relationship bridges, balance personal power with synergy power and contribution power, build awareness of intention-perception gap, personal mastery and interpersonal mastery are intimately connected, become aware of your structure of interpretation, and practice the five touchstones (

Kevin Cashman, founder and CEO of LeaderSource, an executive coaching firm based in Minneapolis, MN has chronicled his dynamic training perspectives Pathways to Mastery (1998). With a prestigious client list to his credit, Kevin's unique efforts are potent due to their comprehensive focus on cultivating the core of being and potential, the inner self, versus simply developing extraneous skill sets and behavior modifications. As rightly stated on the jacket cover, "..most books on leadership see leadership as only as something we do rather than as an expression of who we are... we learn what to do instead of how to be. This book is different-it gives you self-expression that creates value." Knowing Kevin as I do, informally but over time, I've had occasion to casually chat about spiritual philosophies that we both cherish. I truly believe he has a marvelous gift, the ability to convey these oft-elusive principles in a manner both understandable and practically applicable. If there were one book that hits the nail of self-development and leadership on the head, I'd say this is it

For those of us whose professions demand an ever increasing capacity to lead, Kevin Cashman provides a taxonomy of leadership that is bound to be a classic. His simple insight: Leadership is authentic self-expression that adds value. Kevin develops this definition with compelling clarity and then provides an achievable process to improve your leadership quotient. Acknowledging that all significant growth comes from self-leadership, Cashman offers true substance in this carefully written book, giving rapid-fire examples that fix the concepts in rich human texture. I have found the greatest value of this book to be a process bywhich, in a world where we tend to define ourselves with external results, we can reclaim our authentic identities and ultimately our lives. I am giving this book to each of our five children.