Pivot Points: Five Decisions Every Successful Leader Must Make

Chapter 1From Ordinary Career to Leadership Journey: What Separates Leaders from Managers?

Whether a leader is made or born, whichever you believe, we see in the making of the five leaders featured in this book that they grew and evolved, one pivotal decision at a time. Their stories show how five pivotal decisions clearly stand out—from hundreds of other important work decisions they also made—as the ones that determined their journey to leadership. For these leaders, pivot points served as career builders, although they often presented at first as career stoppers. That is the dynamics of pivot points: They can show up as positive or negative events, and pivotal decisions can turn out for better or for worse. They can be catalysts of growth or leave careers to languish. The difference is what this book addresses: What turns a pivot point from being a potential career stopper or career trap into a career builder? How do certain decisions separate leaders from everyone else?

The industry-changing leaders in this book faced all their pivot points by consistently making decisions that unleashed a surprising reserve of leadership potential and produced outcomes exceeding their own dreams. Each decision triggered a quantum leap of learning and growth. By proactively making and executing these decisions, each leader avoided the career trap of daily operational and environmental issues becoming blinders to what truly mattered.

The framework of five pivotal decisions helps us understand ...