Olivia: A recent World Economic Forum survey found that a staggering 86% of people believe there's a leadership crisis in the world. Jackson: Whoa, 86 percent? That’s not just a few disgruntled employees. That’s practically a global consensus. It feels both terrifying and, honestly, completely believable. It's like everyone is looking around for a leader, and no one is raising their hand. Olivia: Exactly. It’s this pervasive feeling that the people in charge aren't cutting it, or that there just aren't enough good leaders to go around. And that exact problem is what we're diving into today through the lens of a fantastic book: Learning Leadership: The Five Fundamentals of Becoming an Exemplary Leader by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. Jackson: I’ve heard those names. Aren't they basically the godfathers of modern leadership research? Olivia: They really are. They're not just motivational speakers; they're academics with over 30 years of rigorous, global research behind them. And this book is their direct answer to that 86% crisis. They argue the problem isn't a shortage of potential leaders, but a fundamental misunderstanding of what leadership even is. Jackson: Okay, I'm intrigued. If they're right, and the potential is everywhere, then why the massive, globally-recognized crisis? Where's the disconnect?

Olivia: That is the million-dollar question, and it brings us right to the first core idea of the book. The disconnect comes from what we could call 'The Great Leadership Lie'—the myth that leaders are born, not made. We're conditioned to believe leadership is a rare talent, a special gift for the charismatic few. Jackson: Right, the "it" factor. You either have it or you don't. And most of us assume we don't. Olivia: Precisely. And this myth creates a huge, invisible barrier. But Kouzes and Posner's research shows this is just not true. Leadership is a set of observable, learnable skills. The crisis exists because we systematically fail to teach these skills. They share a truly mind-blowing statistic that proves it. Jackson: Lay it on me. Olivia: Jack Zenger, a leadership scholar they cite, analyzed a massive database and found that the average age of a person in a leadership training program is 42. Jackson: Okay, 42. That seems a little late, but maybe not crazy. Olivia: But here's the kicker. The average age of a supervisor—someone's first time in a management role—is 33. Jackson: Hold on. You're telling me we give people the keys to the car, let them drive for nearly a decade, and then we finally decide to teach them the rules of the road? That's organizational malpractice! Olivia: It's completely insane, right? It's a decade of people learning "leadership" through trial and error, mostly error, reinforcing bad habits and probably burning out their teams. The authors say this is a huge reason for the leadership gap. We wait until people are in senior roles before we invest in them, when we should be starting the moment they show any potential. Jackson: That makes so much sense. We're creating the problem we're complaining about. We see a lack of leaders because we're not cultivating them. Olivia: Exactly. And it's not just the system's fault; it's also our own mindset. The authors use a brilliant analogy to explain this: The Wizard of Oz. Jackson: The Tin Man and the Scarecrow? How do they fit into a business book? Olivia: It's a perfect metaphor for self-perception. Think about it. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Man wants a heart, and the Lion wants courage. They go on this epic journey to get these things from a powerful wizard, believing they are fundamentally lacking. Jackson: But in the end, they discover they had those qualities all along. The Scarecrow was the brilliant strategist, the Tin Man was full of empathy, and the Lion, despite his fear, was incredibly brave when it counted. Olivia: You got it. The wizard didn't give them anything they didn't already possess. He just helped them see it. Kouzes and Posner argue that's us. We're all walking around thinking we need some external validation—a title, a promotion, a certificate—to be a leader. We're waiting for a wizard to grant us permission. Jackson: Okay, the Oz analogy is charming, and it definitely resonates. But in the real world, you can't just click your ruby slippers and become a great manager. It feels a bit too simple. What's the practical first step if you're not in Oz? Olivia: That's the perfect pivot. Because the practical first step isn't an external action at all. It's not about learning a new project management software or how to run a meeting. Kouzes and Posner argue it's all about the inner game.

Jackson: The inner game. So we're moving from the external problem—the lack of training—to the internal solution? Olivia: Exactly. This is where the book's five fundamentals really begin. The first two are entirely internal. Fundamental One is "Believe You Can," and Fundamental Two is "Aspire to Excel." Before you can do anything, you have to conquer these two internal pillars. Jackson: Let's break those down. "Believe You Can." That sounds a bit like simple self-help positive thinking. Olivia: It's deeper than that. It's about adopting what Stanford's Carol Dweck calls a "growth mindset." It's the core belief that your abilities are not fixed. You can learn, you can grow, you can get better. If you have a "fixed mindset"—the belief that you're either good at something or you're not—you'll never even try to develop leadership skills because you've already decided you don't have the "gene" for it. Jackson: So it's about giving yourself permission to be a beginner. To be bad at it for a while, knowing you can improve. Olivia: Yes! And the second part, "Aspire to Excel," is about clarifying what you're aiming for. This isn't just about career ambition. It's about knowing your core values. What matters to you? What principles guide your decisions? A leader without clear values is just a ship without a rudder. You can't inspire anyone to follow you if you don't know where you're going or why. Jackson: So, believe you have the capacity to steer the ship, and know the destination you're steering towards. That makes sense. It’s about building the engine before you try to drive. Olivia: A perfect way to put it. And there's a phenomenal modern example of this in action: the transformation of Microsoft under Satya Nadella. Jackson: Oh, that's a great case study. Microsoft in the early 2010s was seen as this lumbering, bureaucratic giant that had lost its way. It was all about protecting Windows and Office, and they were getting crushed in mobile and cloud. Olivia: They were. Morale was low, there was a lot of internal fighting, and innovation had stalled. When Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, he didn't just come in with a new five-point plan for product development. His first move was to change the company's entire internal mindset. Jackson: How did he do that? Olivia: He embodied the two fundamentals we just talked about. First, he championed a growth mindset. He famously said he wanted to shift the culture from being a "know-it-all" company to a "learn-it-all" company. He encouraged curiosity, he celebrated learning from failures, and he fostered empathy. He was essentially telling every single employee, "Believe you can learn and adapt." Jackson: That's a massive cultural shift. He was rebuilding their self-belief from the ground up. Olivia: Totally. And then he addressed the second fundamental: aspiration and values. He reframed Microsoft's entire mission. It was no longer just about putting a PC on every desk. He articulated a new, inspiring vision: "to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more." Jackson: That's a much bigger, more human-centric purpose. It’s not about selling a product; it’s about making an impact. It gives people a 'why'. Olivia: And that 'why' changed everything. It guided their strategy. It led them to embrace open-source, to partner with rivals like Apple and Linux, and to go all-in on cloud computing with Azure. These were things the old, fixed-mindset Microsoft would have seen as heresy. But under Nadella's leadership, which was rooted in this internal clarity and belief in growth, it became their path to becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world again. Jackson: So Nadella's success wasn't just about brilliant business moves. It was about winning the inner game first. He proved that a leader's primary job is to cultivate a mindset—first in themselves, and then in their organization. He was the living embodiment of the Scarecrow who realized he had a brain all along, and then helped everyone else find theirs. Olivia: That's it exactly. He didn't just change what Microsoft did; he changed what Microsoft believed about itself. And that, according to Kouzes and Posner, is the starting point of all exemplary leadership.

Jackson: Wow. So when you connect the dots, it's a really powerful narrative. The reason 86% of us feel a leadership crisis is because we've been sold a lie that leaders are a special breed. Olivia: And our organizations reinforce that lie by waiting a decade too long to train people, leaving them to flounder and feel inadequate. Jackson: But the solution isn't some secret formula or a fancy MBA. The starting block for anyone who wants to be a better leader—whether that's for a team of one hundred or just for their own family—is internal. It's a personal revolution. Olivia: It truly is. It's the conscious decision to believe you can grow and the hard work of figuring out what you stand for. The rest of the leadership practices, which the book goes into, are built on that foundation. Without it, they're just empty techniques. Jackson: This is all fantastic, but it can also feel a bit overwhelming. If a listener is inspired by this, what is one, tiny, tangible thing they can do tonight or tomorrow to start this journey? Olivia: I love that question. And the authors give a perfect first step. They encourage you to start a leadership journal. You don't have to write a novel. Just for one week, at the end of each day, take two minutes and write down one thing you did that felt like leadership. Jackson: And that could be anything, right? Not just "I led a board meeting." Olivia: Absolutely. It could be "I helped a new colleague figure out the confusing expense report system." Or "I was the one who finally organized the family vacation." Or "I spoke up in a meeting with an idea, even though I was nervous." The point of the exercise is to gather evidence for yourself. Jackson: To prove to your own brain that you're already leading. You're already the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion. You just need to notice it. Olivia: You just need to notice it. That's the first step in believing you can. It's about shifting your perception of yourself from someone who is waiting to be a leader into someone who is already practicing, every single day. Jackson: That's a brilliant, simple, and powerful first step. I love it. Olivia: And we'd love to hear what you discover. If you try this, maybe share one small leadership act you noticed in yourself. It's amazing how seeing it in others helps us see it in ourselves. Jackson: A fantastic thought to end on. Olivia: This is Aibrary, signing off.