Ron Price - Growing Influence: A Story of How to Lead with Character, Expertise, and Impact

Praise for Growing Influence

This is not your typical leadership book. Growing Influence delivers fresh, insightful principles in a way that prompts deep introspection and inspires action. Prepare to grow alongside the characters.

Abbey Louie, founder, lan Consulting Group

This book captures the heart of leadership. Ron and Stacy provide a clear road map to lead and grow your influence from a place of integrity and authenticity. Women and men will both benefit from the authors experience and guidance.

Amanda Visosky, program director and leadership coach, Idaho Women in Leadership

Growing Influence is an excellent read for those who feel stuck at any stage or level of their career. Approachable and insightful, this business fable provides both spiritual nourishment for the corporate soul as well as practical strategies for how to take back control over your career and parlay that into a purpose you are enthused about. Its an especially good read for rising stars who have hit barriers created by the 20th century fixed mindsets purported by those who still use a management style approach to leading people. Growing Influence is clearly ushering in the next generation of truly accountable and empowered self-leadership.

Emily Soccorsy, cofounder, Root + River

Growing Influence weaves an accessible story using allegory and addresses timely issues about character and intergenerational communication. Using story and connection, this book tells the tale of empathy and mentorship and reminds us that sometimes we find the greatest gifts for our work in the most unexpected places.

Courtney Feider, behavioral strategist and executive coach

Growing Influence uses the #metoo theme to teach all of us how to have a more positive influence and greater success in our careers, marriages, and families. Whether you are a CEO or just starting down the leadership path, Growing Influence provides practical principles that can transform leaders, their teams, and the companies they work for. The book provides a tutorial for success through positive influence if you work hard, have talent, and are committedwhether you are female or male, young or old, or any ethnicity.

Rick Stott, CEO, Superior Farms

Growing Influence skillfully examines one of the most complex concepts in todays world: how to create influence in a way that makes meaningful change for an individual and the organization of which he or she is a part.

Rick Bowers, president, TTI Success Insights

It is hard to write a business fable thats the right blend of business and story. Ron and Stacy have certainly done that with Growing Influence. The story moves along at a brisk but believable pacewith the lessons and nuggets of wisdom artfully placed in key points of the story. From a purely practical perspective, Growing Influence should be in the library of every high-potential emerging leader. The lessons on how to truly create influence are both contemporary and timeless. Definitely a must-read to our circle of influence.

Justin Foster, cofounder, Root + River

The book is a wonderful narrative on the power influence has in the development of different leadership traits that can be applied for both personal and professional development. It provides numerous examples from the authors over forty years in the study of leadership, offering powerful tools, through the art of storytelling, for growth throughout the journey of life.

May Lam, executive director, TTISI China

One of the greatest gifts is a new way of thinking and understanding that enables true personal growth. In Growing Influence, Ron and Stacy offer a simple, elegant model, as only real masters canone that can actually be applied right now, to grow as individuals and influencers. Read and implement this book for a lifetime of influence.

Padraig Berry, founder and CEO, OneFocus

Growing Influence gave me a much-needed fresh view on how to tackle small obstacles we face while pursuing a goal, and above all it reminded me how very important personal accountability is in creating a path for reaching goals. I am now planning on adding discretionary time to my daily schedule so I can work on strategy before the everyday hustle starts. Finally understanding that I cannot control everything 100 percent with my kids helps me stop fighting the interruption of plans due to situations out of my control and instead focus on the solution for that unexpected event.

Vanessa Boettcher, vice president, TTI Success Insights

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either a product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press

Austin, Texas

www.gbgpress.com

Copyright 2018 Ron Price

All rights reserved.

Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright law. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by Greenleaf Book Group

For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Greenleaf Book Group at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, 512.891.6100.

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group and Kim Lance
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group and Kim Lance

Cover image: Thinkstock / iStock Collection / vwPix

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

Print ISBN: 978-1-62634-557-7

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62634-558-4

Part of the Tree Neutral program, which offsets the number of trees consumed in the production and printing of this book by taking proactive steps, such as planting trees in direct proportion to the number of trees used: www.treeneutral.com

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

To the women and men who care enough
about becoming great leaders that they will
conquer every obstacle along the way.

Contents

The Encounter

E mily watched the barista with growing urgency as he steamed the water and then walked over to a set of three empty glass coffee funnels and decanters. He placed a filter over the middle funnel, tipped the water over the filter, and looked at Emily, pushing his square glasses up.

We do this to clean the filter, he said. Makes better coffee.

She offered a half-smile and checked her watch, which was buzzing from the emails already coming in. Shifting her weight her laptop bag felt especially heavy that morningshe ran a hand through her dark brown hair, twisting it briefly before letting it fall, a nervous habit shed picked up in adulthood. She looked out the window. When she glanced back in the direction of the barista, he was steaming more water. With a grimace, she looked at her watch again as he scooped coffee grounds into the filter.

Scoop, dump, scoop, dump, scoop, dump. Sigh.

He walked to the back counter to retrieve the steaming water and poured it over the grounds with an impressive slowness. The coffee drip-drip-dripped into the waiting glass container. Emily let out a subtle but exasperated breath.