Leaders interested in reinvention often chase new strategies or just shuffle org charts, believing that will be enough to create traction. But, HBR found that that only 12% of major change programs produce lasting results. After years of interviewing leadership experts, strategists, and high-growth founders, I learned that the companies that truly change are led by people who recognize that they need to reinvent themselves first. That requires a closer look at personal habits and leadership patterns. The problem is that too many reinvention efforts are tactical and should begin with self-reflection. Too often, leaders underestimate how much their mindset shapes the decisions their team makes. I went back through some of the interviews I had with top leadership experts to learn how they dealt with reinvention. What they said several years ago is even more relevant today.
How Can Leaders Grow Without Burning Out?
When I interviewed Kevin Cashman, Vice Chairman, CEO & Enterprise Leadership at Korn Ferry, he made a lasting impression on me with one line: “We grow the person to grow the leader.” He helps executives align their personal development with business outcomes. He emphasized that performance reflects how present a leader is, and that presence begins with self-awareness. That connection is why emotional intelligence continues to be so important in leadership development.
He spoke a lot about how leadership is a personal journey. Most companies remain fixated on external strategy and quarterly targets. But Cashman focuses on identity, values, and emotional strength. He was an early pioneer in showing that reinvention begins with a leader’s willingness to look inward. Today’s environment demands even more clarity, resilience, and purpose with AI creating new challenges. The leaders who succeed will be those who listen to experts like Cashman and invest in proactively developing themselves.
How Do Leaders Scale How They Lead?
It’s unusual to speak to people in my industry without someone referring to Verne Harnish, Founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and author of Scaling Up. Harnish has spent decades helping entrepreneurs grow their companies, but when we spoke, he was equally focused on how those same founders needed to grow themselves. He shared with me why growth often becomes more complex as a company scales. Business models can remain effective, but leadership approaches often need to evolve.
He explained that the decisions a leader makes in the early days of a company can become constraints later on. When founders try to manage a team of 50 the same way they led a team of five, growth becomes much harder and requires a shift in time use, trust, delegation, and strategy.
That conversation reminded me of something Naveen Jain, founder and CEO of Viome, once told me. I remember he said it was easier to run a billion-dollar company than a million-dollar one. Some of that “ease” is due to the personal growth a leader experiences while learning to run a larger organization.
Now, that insight has only become more important. As hybrid work changes how we manage people and priorities, leaders are being challenged to rethink how they scale influence. Harnish taught me that curiosity about one’s own leadership patterns is what grows a company. Jain taught me that without that ability, you won’t get the opportunity to find out just how much you can accomplish.
How Do Leaders Reinvent Their Mindset?
Jay Samit, former Vice Chairman at Deloitte and author of Disrupt You, knows a lot about reinvention and how change is a choice. He has advised major companies through digital transformation, and he focuses on encouraging people to disrupt themselves the way startups disrupt industries.
He told me that every obstacle is an invitation to think differently. He described reinvention as a mindset shaped by small, consistent choices. That can require the curiosity to ask questions. Do you reach out to someone new? Do you stop to consider how your values shape your decisions? Do you stay curious even when things are working?
Questioning is even more important now with artificial intelligence, economic shifts, and changing employee expectations all pressuring leaders to reinvent. For leaders who want to do this well, they need to question what they do every day and why they do it.
How Do Leaders Build Trust And Emotional Presence?
When I spoke with Kevin Kruse, Founder and CEO of LEADx, about employee engagement, he was one of the few experts at the time talking about trust and emotional connection as the foundation of performance. He focused on how leaders made people feel. We talked about how curiosity drives connection, and connection drives engagement.
He told me that leaders build trust in small moments by asking a question, listening closely to the answer, and most importantly, following through. The leaders who did that well had higher-performing teams because people felt seen and heard. Reinvention, in that sense, was about how leaders chose to show up in their relationships.
What Can Leaders Do Today To Reinvent Themselves?
One of my favorite courses I taught was titled Foresight in Technology. My students were required to read Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In that classic book, Covey shared the first habit is to be proactive. Leaders who want reinvention have to work on it proactively, rather than only reacting to pressure. That might mean pausing to review decision patterns, reassessing time use, asking for honest feedback, or replacing outdated routines. The leaders who move forward are often the ones asking better questions of themselves first. They challenge what feels familiar, not because they are told to, but because their curiosity pushes them to ask whether there’s a better way.
What These Leaders Taught Me About Reinvention
Sometimes we think that because we know something, everyone else must have studied it and implemented it already. For example, when I wrote my dissertation about emotional intelligence years ago, I would have never guessed that so many people still haven’t learned about the importance of EI or worked on developing it. The same is true about what these experts knew years ago about reinvention. As AI reshapes how we work, it’s time to start paying closer attention. Leaders should question their routines, consider better options, and practice what they learn. I’ve seen that kind of curiosity drive some of the most lasting leadership changes, and that starts with being willing to rethink the habits they’ve followed without considering why.