Most of this book has been focused on looking outward to find ways to improve your organization and then collaborating with others to make change happen. However, I want to leave you with the recommendation that, at some point, each of you look inward to advance your leadership goals and deepen your impact.

During the first decades of my career, my goals were straightforward. Having grown up in a family with meager finances, I was constantly working to build a better life for my wife and me, and eventually for our daughter. I was doing some community work and I always took time to assist colleagues in need, but I never thought a great deal about whether my work should have a purpose beyond creating financial ease for my family.

That changed in 2000, when I attended a team-building program called “Leaders Developing Leaders.” I almost didn't go because my experience with professional development off-sites up until that point had left me skeptical. Spending a day catching blindfolded teammates while they fell backward wasn't, in my opinion, the best way to build trust. But after I sent three of my people and they came back raving, I decided I should try it.

The program was based on Noel Tichy's book The Leadership Engine. Tichy's central idea is that the number one role of a leader is to develop other leaders. To do that well, he says that everyone needs a “teachable point of view” that guides his or her mentorship of others. To develop our unique POVs, the facilitators had us develop a “journey line” that listed the most significant highs and lows of our lives. Among my lows were the death of my grandmother and major knee surgery that left me in casts and then braces for a full six months. Among my highs were marrying my wife, watching her achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse, bringing my first major professional initiative to successful fruition, the promotions of my protégés, watching a 10-year-old-kid that I mentored go from introverted to confident.…As I reviewed the list, I started to notice a theme. All of my highs happened when I was serving a purpose greater than myself, usually helping someone else to be successful.

You then had to review your journey line with the rest of the participants. Never before had I talked about my personal history in front of a group of business colleagues. Sharing my stories and hearing those of others was the most powerful trust-building, boundary-expanding professional experience I've had.

As I thought more about where I had come from and where I had arrived, my teachable point of view became, “To make a difference, you have to be willing to be different.” In other words, you have to be willing to throw yourself at new experiences and new environments to broaden your understanding, perspective, network, and influence. It's a leadership philosophy that, put into practice even before I had articulated it, prepared me well to navigate through change with intelligence and drive and to teach others to do the same.

Later, I developed a personal mission statement as well: “to encourage and enable people who are trying to make a positive difference in their lives and in the lives of others.” I began to consciously seek out people who needed help, opening their minds and opening doors for them. I'm very proud that, today, I can count more than 30 individuals at senior levels in Fortune 500 companies who would say that I played an important role in their development.

Becoming conscious of my true purpose fundamentally changed the ways I spent my time. Before, I spent 80 percent of it on tasks, 20 percent on relationships and service to others, and hardly any on my own personal development. Afterward, I reversed it to spend 20 percent on tasks, 70 percent on relationships, and 10 percent on myself.

I mention this now because I do wish that I had taken these steps earlier in my career. In the years since, I've seen that many leaders get so caught in the daily churn that they stop investing in other people and themselves. They stop taking time to learn. And finally, they lose sight of their North Star, or worst yet, never take the time to identify one. Knowing my higher purpose made it easier to stay focused and strong when my projects ran into challenges and when my leadership was called into question—most of all by me. It increased my commitment, allowing me to achieve more and feel better about it when every day was done.

So having done all you can to figure out how to make change happen, I encourage all of you to think also about why you do it. Find the answer, and you're truly ready to lead your teams toward the greatest success.