Leading with Heart: Five Conversations That Unlock Creativity, Purpose, and Results

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

Two veteran executive coaches help today's leaders learn how to retain and inspire their teams through the one thing their research has found works: Leading with Heart. 

In these pages, leadership coaches John Baird and Edward Sullivan share hundreds of hours of research and firsthand accounts from their executive coaching practice of guiding leaders at some of the world's most respected big brands and small startups (Apple, Nike, Google, and Slack to name a few). 

Through their coaching and research they uncovered the five behaviors transformative leaders engage in to connect authentically with their teams: 

1. They are aware of their people's needs. 
2. They help their people to confront the fears that hold them back.
3. They understand their own desires and what drives their people. 
4. They leverage their unique gifts and help people find their own. 
5. They connect with their core sense of purpose and help people find theirs. 

The key to achieving these behaviors is asking the right questions and having conversations that build psychological safety and connect you and your employees on the deepest human level―conversations the authors coach you on how to navigate.

At a time when workplaces are struggling to build high morale and a connected organizational culture, Leading with Heart will help leaders to unlock the best version of themselves and those around them with transformative results.

No matter where you are in your career, this book is your launch point for authentic leadership development. By encouraging you to ignore outdated “leadership hacks” and embrace introspection and growth, Leading with Heart guides you to ask the right questions and find your own answers. Now you too can create a leadership game-plan that is authentic to you and brings out the best in those around you.

John Baird is one of the premier executive coaches in Silicon Valley, and over the past twenty-five years he has worked with top leaders at start-up organizations as well as at Fortune 500 firms like Apple, Nike, and Twitter. He founded several companies, including ExecutivEdge, Edgeman Coaching, and the Velocity Group, where he is currently chairman, and serves as a fellow at Sapphire Ventures and on various nonprofit local and national boards. Baird holds a PhD in organizational communication and leadership from Purdue University.

Through their company, Velocity Group, a leading global executive coaching firm, Baird and co-author Edward Sullivan work with top executives at companies like Apple, DoorDash, Geico, and MasterClass.

Edward Sullivan is the CEO and managing partner at Velocity Group. His twenty-five-year career as an executive coach and political consultant has taken him around the globe coaching and advising start-up founders, Fortune 500 executives, and heads of state of foreign nations. His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Forbes, Fast Company, USA Today, and Nasdaq, among others. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Through their company, Velocity Group, a leading global executive coaching firm, Sullivan and co-author John Baird work with top executives at companies like Apple, DoorDash, Geico, and MasterClass.