To achieve the dimension of character leadership, aspiring leaders need to figure out the core values by which they govern themselves, as well as the values they want to live by when relating to other people. “We all know people who we say, ‘I want to be like them when I grow up.’ Those are people who, because of the way they’ve developed their character, draw us in and make us want to follow the example they give us,” Price explains. “Anybody can become that kind of a leader.” In the book, David has Emily choose five of each type of value, something Price has done in the real world to develop his own leadership skills. “I’ve been living this way for quite a few years now, and the No. 1 value by which I choose to govern myself is personal accountability,” Price says. “For me, the key is how you define it. What do you mean when you say personal accountability? So, I journal about what it means to me. There are three, four, or five things I use to define that at this time in my life, in the context of my situation. My No. 1 value for how I relate to other people is collaboration. It’s funny because, for a long time, I thought it was empathy
— that I wanted to understand other people’s experience. But I realized that empathy, while still on my list, is not No. 1. Collaboration, to me, is the ability to find this synergy where, working together, you can create something that neither one of you could have created alone.” Price has spent a lot of time and effort exploring this dimension over the course of his career, going so far as to study neuroscience in order to better understand the brains of Price Associates’ clients and get a closer look at their blind spots and biases. The key to achieving the second dimension, expert leadership, is curiosity. Expert leaders are those in whom we place absolute faith because we trust their experience and expertise — doctors are an excellent example — and the best way to become an expert leader is by studying those at the top of your field, whatever your field might be. “You pick out the five, six, or eight people who are the leading voices in that area of expertise, and you start reading what they’ve written. You start going to their TED Talks and their conferences. Maybe “By deliberate practice, you can change the way your brain thinks,” he says.
author. Speaking to a reporter for the local newspaper Boise Weekly, Price and Ennis called the project “a business fable,” and described it as equal parts self-help book and platonic love story. “When we looked at the manuscript together, when the first manuscript was finished, we both cried,” Price says. “It captured the heart as well as the mind of what we wanted to communicate so well. […] It’s not that we want people to cry, but we want people to recognize that leadership is something much deeper than a title or a position. It’s really a part of how you identify as a human being, and everybody in their own way is called to be a leader.” Over the course of the book, David strives to help Emily reach her leadership potential and increase her personal power, offering his take on the three dimensions of leadership Price and his team teach: character leadership, expert leadership, and structural or positional leadership. All three require introspection and the ability to step back and examine your own values and motivations.
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