Leading with Character® · Executive Brief
Why judgment breaks down under pressure
And how leaders can train for the moments that matter most.
Complimentary Executive Brief (PDF) · 12‑minute read · For senior leaders and the people who develop them
- Why capable leaders make poor calls under pressure
- The six forces that quietly distort judgment
- How to train character like a performance capability
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Trusted by leadership teams at
Pressure reveals character.
Character shapes judgment.
Judgment shapes legacy.
Introducing Leading with Character®
We expect character.
But do we develop it?
What most organizations do with character
- Assess it
- Expect it
- Hold leaders accountable for it
- Intentionally train itRarely
Knowing what’s right and consistently doing what’s right, especially under pressure, are two very different things.
Grounded in decades of research and the work of Evolve founder Caren Kenney Preston and Dr. Jim Loehr, co-authors of the book Leading with Character, our program helps leaders intentionally strengthen the character capacities that shape their decisions, behaviors, and ultimately, their legacy.
KeynoteHalf-day workshopFull-day workshopFor executives and senior leaders
Because character isn’t simply something we have. It’s something we can build.
Hear from Dr. Jim Loehr
Why character is a capacity leaders can train
Dr. Jim Loehr · Co-author of Leading with Character · 4 min
What’s inside
Some of the most consequential leadership failures aren’t failures of intelligence, expertise, or strategy. They’re failures of judgment under pressure.
- 01
The hidden vulnerability
We train for competence. We assume character.
- 02
Why good leaders make bad decisions
Knowing what’s right isn’t the same as doing it under pressure.
- 03
What pressure does to judgment
Six forces that narrow a leader’s perspective.
- 04
Performance and moral character
Lasting leadership needs both.
- 05
Goal obsession
When the target starts making the decisions.
- 06
Capacity protects judgment
Depletion widens the gap between belief and action.
- 07
Character as a trainable capacity
Stress, recover, repeat. Ten minutes a day.
- 08
Five questions for leaders
A self-check for you and your leadership team.
Five questions every leadership team should be able to answer
The Brief closes with a short self-check for you and your executive team. Here are two of them.
- Question 1
When the pressure is highest, which of your values is most likely to bend first?
- Question 2
What goal are you pursuing right now that could quietly justify a bad decision?
- Three more in the Brief
Including the one about your next three decisions, and the legacy they’d leave.
From the people who’ve spent decades on this question
Is this a conversation your leadership team needs?
Read the Brief first, or talk with Evolve for 20 minutes about what it could look like inside your organization.