Leading by Context™ is our “secret sauce.”

It is a hugely powerful process developed by the Institute that we use in all our programs, consulting, and executive coaching to guide leaders through a personal re-invention experience that will enable them to achieve breakthrough results in their jobs and careers.

While Leading by Context™ embraces traditional leadership development approaches, it extends far beyond conventional methodologies. At its heart is a profound understanding of the role that a person’s individual and organizational context play in shaping their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors.

What Is ‘Context’?

A person’s context is the unconscious mindset from which they operate. It is shaped by their personal experience (e.g., childhood events, family beliefs, education and social conditioning) and the character of their organization (e.g., its culture, values, traditions and past leadership).

Nothing ever happens to us except what happens in our minds.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

For example, for many years corporations operated from a context that said women could not be effective leaders. Only now are we seeing the tremendous and well-documented financial benefits to companies that have shifted that context to “There’s no reason women can’t be great leaders.”

In fact, we are now in the first stages of yet another exciting context shift in this arena: “The best decisions and business results come from women and men leading together in full partnership.”

Only through a “deep tissue” examination of context is one able to reveal current (and possibly ineffective) behavioral patterns and replace them with a new set of sustainable behaviors that release them from old limits and align with personal and organizational objectives.

Leading by Context™ shines a light on one’s blind spots and supports the individual in choosing a new context that will enable them to “trade up“ and achieve the next level of greatness. When leaders within an organization experience this transformational re-invention together they are more supportive and accountable for sustaining the change.

The ‘Bible’ Leading by Context™

Designed specifically for organizational leaders, this intensive applies the principals in Rayona Sharpnack’s book Trade Up! to accelerate leadership development, increase career success, and improve quality of life.

“Essential reading! In today’s intense 24/7 environment, we have to know ourselves or we’ll get eaten alive. Rayona provides a primer for developing profound self-knowledge.”

– Sally Helgesen, author
of The Female Advantage:
Women’s Ways of Leadership

“We can all benefit from Rayona’s methods, her ideas and her wisdom. Trade Up! will leave you invigorated, inspired and ready for the most meaningful years of your life.”

– Carol Evans,  former CEO
Working Mother magazine

Trade Up! is also available as a CD or MP3-downloadable audio book