Title Details

HENRY EVANS is founder and managing partner for Dynamic Results, LLC, specializing in strategy execution, executive development, and emotionally intelligent leadership. His first book, Winning with Accountability, was published in 2008. He lives in San Francisco, California.

COLM FOSTER specializes in working with executives and their teams to improve individual and team effectiveness. He is an adjunct faculty member of University College Dublin and holds a PhD and MBA. Colm lives in Dublin, Ireland, with his family.

Foreword by Marshall Goldsmith ix

Introduction 1

1 Get Angry, Not Stupid 11

2 Avoid Terminal Politeness 39

3 Decide Already 65

4 Act When You Are the Problem 95

5 Leverage Pessimism 125

6 Reverse Momentum 151

Conclusion: Create Emotional Safety 171

Next Steps 193

Notes 195

Acknowledgments 199

About the Authors 201

Index 203

“Henry Evans and Colm Foster help bridge the gap between the needs of an organization and the needs of the human beings who sit within the organization... challenging us to be catalysts for positive change.”
— From the foreword by Marshall Goldsmith

“A useful, easy-to-digest road map for leading with clarity, compassion, and transparent communication. Step Up gives both tenured and new leaders fresh ideas and creative reminders that will propel them to new heights as they motivate and inspire those around them to meet and exceed their goals.” 
—Melissa Reiff, president and chief operating officer, The Container Store 

“As Evans and Foster so wisely point out in Step Up, most often leadership is in the moment. Drawing on their considerable experience, Evans and Foster identify six critical opportunities to lead, and they offer practical and tangible ideas about how anyone can ‘step up’ and take ownership of these moments. This book artfully unravels many of the complexities and demystifies the actions needed to make something positive happen. Step Up is a valuable addition to the library of all leaders who want to make their teams and organizations more effective.”
—Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors, The Leadership Challenge 

“Evans and Foster provide a catalyst for reflection as well as resources and tools for practice. I look forward to sharing Step Up with the leaders I work with as an internal executive coach. I know this will make a difference for them and the teams they lead.”
—Bob Andrews, director, executive coaching, Gap Inc.

“Evans and Foster are strategy and leadership team experts. In Step Up, they share a secret weapon for developing and retaining top talent: six moments that develop leadership at all levels of an organization. I don’t do theory. Step Up is easy to understand and apply for generating better business results.”
—Nic Vu, senior vice president, retail, adidas^® Group

“Evans and Foster’s six moments offer a fresh perspective and caused me to think differently about the leadership challenges I face. I will use and recommend Step Up.”
—Matthew E. Winter, president, Allstate Personal Lines

“At the FBI, we realized that the most successful agents consistently demonstrated specific behaviors for building trust and credibility in the field. Evans and Foster do a great job of explaining the skills and competencies required for successful leadership. This is an easy-to-follow guide for generating leadership in both public and private sector organizations.”
—Supervisory Special Agent Tim Turner (retired), FBI Academy, Ed.D, associate professor, Anderson University and Columbia Southern University

“Evans and Foster point out that leadership is something we all do, even if we didn’t understand our role as leaders before. With examples from widely-known leaders and case studies from their consulting practice, Step Up shows how to manage and listen to our anger and anxiety, improving our mental models and creating emotional safety around us. This lively, accurate, and practical book will inspire readers.”
—John D. Mayer, professor of psychology, University of New Hampshire, and author, Personal Intelligence

“If you think that emotional intelligence is about being nice or avoiding conflict and you see yourself as a leader, you’d better get this book. Step Up introduces you to the nitty-gritty of emotionally intelligent leadership. You’ll find examples and suggestions on how to handle negative emotions and arm yourself for those make-or-break leadership moments.”
—Steven J. Stein, Ph.D., author, Emotional Intelligence for Dummies

“Innovation requires decisiveness and tough discussions where assumptions and ideas are explored and challenged.  In Step Up, Evans and Foster give a roadmap to help any organization gain a competitive edge by igniting leadership at every level of the organization.”
—Soren Kaplan, Ph.D., author, Wall Street Journal bestseller Leapfrogging