The Harvard Business Review highlighted a challenge many leadership programs face: the gap between what we know about great leadership and what we actually do as leaders.

I call it the "Know / Do Gap." We know what great listening looks like, but we don't always practice it. We know the importance of healthy habits, meaningful conversations, sincere apologies, clear expectations, and accountability—but knowing is not the same as doing.

The Servant Leader Challenge is built from decades of helping leaders apply the "Who are you BECOMING Blueprint" in real life. Phase II is not just about learning concepts—it is about practicing them.

We will take these principles into the real world: our homes, our workplaces, our relationships, and our communities.

This is the weight room—where growth happens through real practice, real challenges, and real resistance.

We are looking for a small cohort committed to:

1) Becoming better at the four choices that emerged from our research.

2) Supporting and challenging fellow cohort members as we grow together.

3) Creating a ripple effect by building stronger cultures within our families, organizations, and communities.

What you bring:

1) Hunger — A drive to pursue growth, excellence, and meaningful impact.

2) Humility — A willingness to learn, listen, and grow.

3) Honesty — A commitment to self-reflection and authentic conversations.

This process is about "Good People Doing Leadership Together."

I played a lot of basketball, so allow me a metaphor: great athletes don't improve by simply learning the game—they improve through intentional practice. They strengthen specific skills, build consistency, and train with others who challenge them to grow.

This experience follows the same approach. We will focus on specific actions and intentionally practice the four choices that emerged from our research. This is not just theory or conversation—it is leadership in action.

The "workouts" will be integrated into your real leadership and life. Your peers will encourage you, challenge you, and share ideas, strategies, and best practices along the way.

The workouts will be transformational—but they will require commitment, courage, and effort.

We will utilize:

1) Focused Challenges
2) Small Groups
3) Tools and Blueprints
4) Simple, Powerful Assessments
5) Real-World Leadership Scenarios

Why a price tag? 3 reasons:

1) we all need good people to do life with. We want a group of peers who take this process seriously, a group who are willing to invest in themselves, their peers and their community!

2) we want to build and deliver an exceptional experience, an experience that you can take back to your organization and multiply.

3) we want this "Servant Leader" research to be self-funding. We want the research to bear out what is true and good.

Love (the Verb)

Agape. Selfless Love. Love of Choice: Choosing to will the good of another person—not just liking them or being kind when it is easy, but intentionally acting for their growth and well-being. This choice fuels the others. Growing in this area is like training with a world-class coach: progress is possible, but it requires commitment, practice, and struggle. The impact reaches every area of life—trust, accountability, engagement, relationships, and leadership.

1) Choosing to care deeply about people can be natural at times and incredibly challenging at others. As Mimi Silbert shared in our interviews: "Yes, there are people who are hard to love every single day!"

2) Expressing that care looks different depending on the person and the situation.

3) Developing that same capacity for care in others creates a ripple effect.

This is not an area where we ever fully arrive. One of our interviewees spent more than a month working directly with Mother Teresa and witnessed her practice this choice moment by moment. Even she continued to grow.

"Do small things with great love." — Mother Teresa

Serve Needs, not Wants 

Sometimes I need a reality check, even though I may not want a reality check! Sometimes I need encouragement, guidance, feedback, help, to be allowed to own a decision and perhaps fall flat on my face. This choice takes a serious combination of wisdom and will... the wisdom to be aware of unique individual needs and the will to take effective action to truly serve that need. Wisdom and Will! People don't tell us what they really need. Quite often they don't know. So how do Servant Leaders figure this out?

Needs change. Several parents explained it this way: sometime in the teen years, my kids need me to let them pay for things - in more ways than one. They need to earn the money, save the money, spend the money. They need to make the team or not make the team. They need to earn playing time and earn their grades. Or not. They need me to protect and they need me to prepare. At times, these are completely opposite.

"My brother was suffering through addiction. He needed me to cut him off. To keep him away from the people he wanted to spend time with. To stop buying him things. To have the same hard conversation with him over and over. To be firm. To love him enough to give him what he needed, which was precisely the opposite of what he wanted, not comfortable, not easy. The easy thing and the right thing are rarely the same thing."

From our almost 200 conversations with "Servant Leaders", I expect this choice to be a significant focus of the bootcamp. Knowing true needs and meeting them.

Serve a Cause That's Bigger Than You

"It's not about you." This may be the most repeated message from our Servant Leader conversations. One leader described it this way: "I'm in it for the outcome, not the income." Her work focuses on developing at-risk youth into servant leaders who can impact others.

This choice requires both hunger and humility. Hunger to make a difference. Hunger to serve with excellence. Humility to recognize that we are still learning, growing, and that we don't have all the answers.

For some, the cause may impact thousands or even millions of people. For others, it may be the one person right in front of them. One leader shared: "Am I solving a problem at a global scale? No. But I made one person smile today. This family needed a good moment, and I was there."

Often, the greatest impact comes from this simple idea: "Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone."

Pay the Price shows up in ways that are both obvious and subtle. It is the willingness to let others struggle, especially when it involves someone we deeply care about—our children, our friends, or the people we lead.

The price may look like having difficult conversations, helping someone surpass our own results, or allowing someone to experience the growth that comes through challenge. True servant leadership requires both courage and humility.

One of our interviewees spent more than a month working directly with Mother Teresa. He witnessed her practice this choice moment by moment, never acting as if she had fully arrived.

The price is often paid when no one is watching and no one is applauding. Many leaders shared stories of mentors who consistently did the small things—serving, encouraging, and leading by example. They understood that becoming a servant leader is not a destination. It is a lifelong practice.