Core Themes:

Key Principles To Achieving Success And Happiness In Your Career

Core Themes Hierarchy

The Core Themes Hierarchy defines the building blocks to unleash executive potential, with each area sequentially building on the prior to increase performance and maximize leadership ability

Foundational Core Themes: Heart

Heart is the passionate pursuit of family and friends, which is a baseline for career performance

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
Friend and Family support Love and lead my spouse Maniacally love my children with passion Be Present Be Encouraging Be Strong Be There Create smiles, not tears	Relationships influence energy and productivity Un-balanced relationships create negative effects Healthy relationships create energy and strength Creation of a "no bullshit" network	Tension exists between work and family Changing equilibrium will cause anxiety Family needs to understand my career and its importance Scheduling is vital Patience will be key Good idea to identify non-negotiables	Increased anxiety and self-criticism Jeopardizes the relationship with my kids, my spouse and limits career advancement Isolation and loneliness Guilt, on both sides Pressure, emotional dissonance and tension

Foundational Core Themes: Wellness

Wellness is the pursuit of health to maximize energy, expand capacity and optimize productivity

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
Healthy lifestyle: o Exercise o Healthy Diet o Reflection Higher efficiency, productivity and energy Positive relational engagement Increased capacity	Life and death Improves outlook Poor health starts the day with negative energy Exercise and mental sharpness go together Fuels grit & perseverance Enables an extra gear Enhanced prioritization	Reflection is important Health enables focus on strategic goals and drive creativity Prioritizing wellness should be considered part of my job Find colleagues that hold me accountable to my health	Lack of stability More reactionary, lower self-control Difficulty organizing Mind races Anxiety Barrier to reaching full potential

Foundational Core Themes: Encouragement

Encouragement fuels the fire of internal motivation and fortifies determination and grit

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
I am skeptical and a harsh critic of myself Encouragement and recognition are drivers of my ability to push myself Tied to internal motivation The feeling of solid support and backing Absence of political wrangling Balanced against high work standards	Support allows me to move through obstacles Draw strength from colleagues and senior leaders Committed to organizational goals Feedback lets me know I am on the right track	Mentorship is important Must create an environment of encouragement as a leader to expect to receive it in return Open environments with rapid, unedited feedback are best for me Positive reinforcement keeps my efficiency and productivity high	Fatigue, confusion and frustration Struggle to understand expectations Will question myself Limits creativity and progress Teams breakdown Difficult to retain talent

Career Driver Core Themes: Creativity

Creativity gives purpose to career and encourages teamwork, promotes diversity and embraces change

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
Ability to create gives my life purpose Challenges status quo Reinvents, redesigns and transforms Thought freedom w/o judgment Trust and failing forward Creation is rewarding Pride in the output Comradery and teamwork Groundswell excitement Building/Owner mentality	Pride in the final product Learning in the process Value proposition enhancement Positive about hard work Tangible output connected to level of input Problem solving Appreciation for diversity Respectful workplace Close connections with colleagues	Strict separation between teams is not right for me Brainstorming is part of culture Support for sharing ideas crucial Contribution to shaping culture is important Cross-business exposure is vital Strive for diversity of thought Autonomy is key Visible/Vocal leaders resonate Alignment between reward and creativity	Lack of meaning in work Bureaucracy Difficulty contributing Inability to compete Slow bleed of business value Lack of talent Decreased motivation No forward momentum

Career Driver Core Themes: Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking is staying future focused, pursuing the hard questions and outlining the roadmap to success

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
Architect of the future Outline the roadmap for success Strategize to optimize Pursuit of the hard questions Feeling alive through dreaming of what could be Constant improvement Future focused	Strategic thinking motivates Top-down view of the whole business provides context and understanding Without strategy development, panic ensures A plan keeps me grounded and focused The business process can always be better Prevents burn-out because of constantly shifting problems	I must be allowed to lead and to feel supported in driving change Others may be threatened by my tenacity and willingness to share ideas beyond my role Strong strategic frameworks create solid footing Weak strategic frameworks create frustration Working within an ownership culture is important Freedom of dialogue and environments in which leaders appreciate being challenged are most appropriate for me	Leads to feeling of complacency Frustration due to lack of contribution to the whole will arise I can become difficult to work with when I am not "allowed" to contribute to strategic vision I begin to feel obsolete Time feels like its running out Contributions to the business feel meaningless

Career Driver Core Themes: Continuous Learning

Continuous learning embraces weakness and encourages teamwork by promoting diversity and eliminating ego

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
The acceptance of not knowing Necessary for adaptation of strategic plan to increase probability of success Enhances compassion and understanding Appreciation for different perspectives Courage to ask questions and to be open about weaknesses Holistic decision making Inclusivity of colleagues	Change and improvement comes from learning Opens opportunity Enhances contribution and increases confidence Allows the construction of better teams Increases credibility Openness and lessening of bias Enhanced strategy development	Ego has no place Environments that support learning opportunities - CAIA, CPWA, CFA - are best for me Companies that prioritize time to observes and learn align with me Leadership requires listening and learning Must ask better questions Don't be afraid to ask tough questions	Absence of learning breeds complacency More difficulty in overcoming major obstacles Reduction in diversity of thought and promotion of group think Negative path-dependencies can be created Wasted resources Loss of talent

Core Themes Accelerators: Challenge

Challenge ignites motivation, sharpens skills and creates drive, reinforcing growth and development

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
The path to accomplishment and growth comes through challenge Big obstacles are the most important to business success Courageous action Overcome fear to get to the right answer Lean on teamwork and resources instead of individual contribution Satisfaction and morale is higher when challenges are overcome	Challenges propel organizations forward Ability to respond to challenge can mean the difference between organizational success and failure Sense of accomplishment is greater the bigger than challenge - creates high interest Leadership is tested by challenges - I learn more about my ability to lead with challenges vs. maintenance Gives my career meaning	Slow-paced, mature companies are difficult environments for me Make sure I don't pursue too many or create massive challenges that stretch resources too thin A focus on "one big thing" instead of many small things is more satisfying to me Enjoy the work, don't rush, be patient Assembling the proper team for each challenge is paramount	Quite simply, I get bored Frustration from the inability to contribute to driving change Failure to stay relevant Diminished leadership experience Lack of inspiration and motivation Inability to be a visible leader Loss of career meaning

Core Themes Accelerators: Coaching and Mentorship

Coaching and Mentorship provides experience and knowledge, supports decisions and solidifies confidence

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
Leaders, experienced professionals and peers that take an interest in my professional development A support network of advice and experience to make major career and life decisions Supportive network to grow and learn Ongoing development and sharpening of skills; learning from experience A guide network that truly cares about my life, my goals and my contribution to the organization	Mentorship relationships help me face difficult obstacles and focus my energy on what's important Feeling supported and having a true listener increases productivity and certainty around business decisions Mentors can serve as "reality checks" that help correct perception errors It allows a conduit to "get things off my chest" Allows for a shared struggle instead of individual approach Mentors become life-long friends and it is a two-way street	A lack of mentorship support from senior leaders or a culture where it is lacking could stymie my development I will be able to contribute at a higher level with the right guidance I will doubt myself less often with the support of a seasoned veteran Confidence will increase and conviction on difficult projects/decisions will be easier An expanded network is vital to engaging a diversity of thought	Doubt and a lack of conviction Isolation, more wrong decisions without the benefit of experienced guidance Nowhere to go with frustration No course correction, reality check or feeling of support Second guessing, potentially paranoid about the actions of my peers and colleagues Inability to achieve my best and highest use Lots of relational mistakes, decrease in EQ and apprehension to share true thoughts

Core Themes Accelerators: Radical Transparency

Transparency creates trust by encouraging creativity, fostering idea generation and supporting business execution

Meaning	Importance	Career Implications	Absence
Highly open, socialized and culturally embedded shared approach to organizational processes, data, human capital, evaluation and feedback Responsibility to act decisively, receive real-time, unfiltered feedback, values the right answer as primary goal Decision making is carried out publicly, working towards the broadest set of feedback to determine the right course of action Dynamic, change-ready, ability to turn on a dime Values the collective good over the individual	Transparency makes me stronger and allows me to identify weaknesses Eliminates guessing what others are thinking Benchmarks my performance versus peers and allows for collaborative approach to improving skillsets Allows for effective leadership and better career development Helps me focus and contribute directly to the bottom line Allows for idea generation and motivates hard work	I am not afraid to raise my hand and challenge a widely held view I need feedback to work effectively, otherwise I can self-sabotage Environments that encourage mixing across business lines, roles and hierarchy are good for me The ability to be heard is important to me Encouragement to brainstorm and share ideas helps unlock my potential Open transparency on effectiveness is key to my career growth	Always second-guessing Never knowing where I stand Difficult to develop relationships A lack of trust can develop and lead to difficult interactions Change is more difficult The best ideas may not make it to the top Inability to see other perspectives Lack of diverse influence on my decision making

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