Pull back the curtain on the theater of life following apparent overnight success stories (or overnight failures) and we discover what’s backstage. That is what matters.

That is what tells the real story. It is the behind-the-scenes structure that creates the real story.

And it is compelling. This book is about what Dr.

De Hicks and the SCGI Research Teams have learned about what's backstage by observation and through conversation over a seven year period. It is the result of formal study of 1201 individuals in leadership positions.

It is the product of countless hours of Intensely personal conversations with stunningly open and transparent people. It is all about the gritty habits of people who have seen decades of success contrasted with those of people who achieved the heights of success but then plunged into life-wrecking failure.

Are they somehow different in how they live the most private parts of their lives, their habits and disciplines? And, if they are different, does that difference matter?This book is our small contribution to the question that many others have posed: Can we learn to be compelling, highly effective, successful leaders, or is success a mixture of natural talent and lucky circumstance? Moreover, if we can learn, then what are the fundamental habits of thought and deed comprising the art and craft of selfless, compelling, transformative leadership over a lifetime? This book will give you insight into that question. We are shaped by three powerful forces: The stories we tell ourselves (and therefore believe), our habits and disciplines, and the people we trust.

As you engage with our findings in this book, put on those three lenses to see these forces at work in their lives. .