Welcome to Business Innovators Magazine…Please introduce yourself and a brief thumbnail of your background.
KL: I am Kevin Leonard, Trusted Advisor and Executive Coach to Leaders in Most Every Field, #1 Amazon Best Selling Author, Transformational Subject Matter Expert, Entrepreneur, Trainer of High-Performance Teams, Keynote Speaker, National Award Winning Innovator, and Forbes Contributor.
BI: What would you say is the area in business that you are most passionate about and why?
KL: Without a doubt, it is Intelligent Organizational and Operational design. It is important to remember that “We are perfectly designed to get the results we get.” It may have not been our intention to end up with an undesired outcome, but the fact is we were perfectly designed to do just that. If we do not change how we are designed we are destined to repeat it! This discipline applies to the entire organizational spectrum all the way from up top of “Ivory Tower” right down to the high-performance coaching of the individual.
BI: How are you different than your competitors?
KL: All organizational and individual improvement initiatives start in one of two places, either the Solution Space or the Problem Space. My competitors usually show up at the door with prepackaged big box “remedies” originating from the solution space. They can’t possibly know what is wrong yet…but they know that whichever system they are selling will fix it for you! The problem with this approach is you cannot create a real solution without first knowing the specifics of what is ailing a particular organization or individual. Solution space remedies can also leave you susceptible to a level of mediocrity and a lack of competitive advantage that may be less than desirable.
Because each situation and problem is unique I start my discovery in the Problem Space. Only after fully understanding the internal-external pain points for an individual or organization, can I start designing and prescribing meaningful solutions with hard to duplicate competitive advantages.
BI: Please tell me about any recent business accomplishments that you are most proud of and why?
KL: The events of 2020 to date have live battle-tested previously thought to be sound business plans and many have been discovered to have serious to fatal flaws. To remain relevant and competitive you have to respond swiftly to changes to your external environment and maintain harmony within it.
We have been able to respond quickly to our many new-past-current clients with discovery, design, and implementation of new and improved strategic and tactical plans that are intelligently designed to remain fluid and adaptable to the fast-changing conditions we are now experiencing.
I am extremely proud of the fact that most of my clients are “private Ledger” which requires Non-Disclosure Agreements and assured confidentiality. Many demand this because they consider the work we do for them to be a form of intellectual property or trade secret imperative to the protection of their competitive advantages and success.
BI: What Leadership qualities in Leaders do you most admire and why?
KL: Without a doubt, Servant Leadership is the leadership quality I admire most. I believe to be a great leader one has to be an even better servant. I work for those I lead and therefore it is my responsibility to serve by providing them with the necessary tools and guidance to accomplish their missions. Jesus was the ultimate Servant Leader and my inspiration for this style of leadership.
BI: What has been a key element of your success?
KL: I refuse to let others perceived to be smarter and more talented tell me that I cannot achieve something. I work my own Transformation Model and constantly reinvent myself to remain on the innovative edge. Instead of asking why…I say why not! I refuse to take “can’t” as an answer!
Every solution I design is tailor-made for the task at hand. We vigorously assess what others are doing, avoiding duplication, and designing meaningful and competitive advantages for my clients. This along with taking the extra step to ensure our solutions are executed correctly continues to be instrumental to my ongoing success.
BI: What are some of the business projects that you are currently working on that you are excited about and why?
KL: I am really excited about the personal and professional rebranding that we are doing to better serve our clients. Built on the success of my #1 Amazon Best Seller Ultimate SUCCESS “Breaking the chains of mediocrity to transform your life”, we have just introduced our Trusted Advisor website kevinfleonard.com to our family of brands joining Executive Advantage Powered by Emerald Bay Performance, which are our Intelligent Innovation and High Performance Leadership Training Divisions.
On the client-side we are “boots on the ground” working feverishly to orienteer them successfully out the other side of the pandemic and come out the other end stronger and more resilient. I designed a problem spaced based 30-60-90-120 day “blueprint to success” flex model that is restoring hope and prosperity to what some thought were hopeless situations and they are now on track to an even greater prosperity!
