Tim Hebert - The Intentional Leader: How Inner Authority Can Unleash Strong Leadership

Living purposely allows us to be the person we want to be. Tim Hebert provides a pathway which shows that anything is achievable when we act and lead with intention. Why would we settle for anything less?

Michael Black, President, MJB Associates

A provocative call to action that drives leaders to deep introspection. When todays leaders look for something to guide them, I hope they find Tims book as their compass.

David Flink, CEO, Eye to Eye and 2021 CNN Hero

In sharing his own transformational journey of cultivating self-awareness, self-inquiry, and growth-oriented practices, Tim Hebert shows how becoming an intentional leader can help you and your organization navigate challenges and opportunities and rise to any circumstance.

Pam & Scott Harper, Business Advancement Inc., and co-hosts of Growth Igniters Radio

The Intentional Leader is all about effective professional relationships. Blending relevant research with lived experiences, Tim Hebert provides a blueprint for those who aspire to enlightened leadership and to the successful business outcomes that flow from it.

Mildred Hastbacka, PhD, founder, Prakteka LLC, and author of Channeling Wisdom

The Intentional Leader provides a roadmap for becoming the person that others want to follow.

Pam Hyland, CEO, Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England

Tim Heberts powerful book will transform your core beliefs on leadership. Hebert provides insight on reinventing your purpose and creating unguarded moments to unleash your very own leadership superpower.

Chris Jann, Founder and CEO, Medicus IT

The concepts of Decisive, Defining, and Unguarded moments will help you understand the difference between ordinary effort vs. finding your always in-the-moment intentional self. The Intentional Leader is a must-read!

Raju Chekuri, President & CEO, Netenrich, Inc., and founder & Chairman Opsramp, Inc.

The Intentional Leader provides a powerful roadmap to enable people to intentionally develop their leadership presence and inevitably create success personally and professionally.

Paul Cronin, CEO, Apogee IT Services, and Leadership Challenge Certified Facilitator

The Intentional Leader is packed with rich content that includes practical tools for building and improving leadership success along with candid, humble leadership lessons shared by the amazing Tim Hebert. Its a must-read for leaders at any stage in their journey.

Marianne Caserta, VP of Finance Transformation, NWN/Carousel

A powerful step-by-step guide to how a deep understanding of self can translate to next-level leadership.

Ankit Mahadevia, MD, co-founder and CEO, Spero Therapeutics

The Intentional Leader unquestionably raises the game for leaders, from emerging to highly experienced, by diving deeper into self-awareness and unleashing ones inner authority. A must-read for leaders aspiring to greatness!

William F. Hatfield, Bank of America Rhode Island President (retired)

Tim enlightens the reader to embrace the notion that leadership is not an outward-focused discipline, but is instead one that begins as an intentional inward-focused practice that can manifest in big ways personally and professionally.

Chris Poe, Staff Vice President Manager, Cloud Infrastructure Services

A personal account of why and how self-awareness can benefit our professional and personal lives.

Carlos Fuentes, President, Axiom Actuarial Consulting

Brilliant and truly eye-opening.

Todd Cronin, VP of Business Development, CE Tech, LLC

A must-read for anyone who aspires to attain their peak powers as a leader. Hebert teaches us not only how to stay accountable to our vision, but how to bring our core values into our daily operations and make leadership decisions from a place of deep integrity, not expediency.

Chip Conley, author of Wisdom at Work and founder of Modern Elder Academy

To Kim

Only from the heart can you touch the sky Rumi

Contents

Its been said that it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a city to write a book. Our collective vision of the author as a solitary figure madly typing from some secluded location is the furthest thing from the truth. Dont get me wrong, there were moments of solitude and mad banging on my keyboard but this process would not have been possible without the help of many hands.

First, I would like to recognize every single employee, client, and partner that graced our doors at Atrion. Our almost-30-year journey together created the crucible that melded my wild leadership ideals with their practical application. Thank you for your patience, understanding, belief, and (most importantly), your sometimes harsh but always loving criticism. A man could not have asked for better teachers, mentors, and friends. I love you.

I never really understood the work of an editor, and I cautiously selected Bryna Haynes. Bryna was a fierce collaborator. She helped shape the nature of the book, worked magic on the wording, and provided guidance and direction every step of the way. Not only that, she helped capture the voice and tone I was looking to create no small task. The Intentional Leader wouldnt be a finished product without her.

Navigating the publishing world would have been impossible without Ken Lizotte and Elena Petricone at Emerson Consulting. For over 10 years, Ken has been encouraging me to write this book. He believed in my vision of leadership and the message I had to share. It wasnt a straight-line journey, but Ken secured a publishing deal with Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. What an incredibly supportive team! Thanks to Matt, Allie, and all of the editors and designers who helped bring this book to life.

Thanks to my team of beta readers and proofreaders who helped get this book across the finish line! Kim Hebert, Erica Davies, David Roache, Miguel Rey, Carole Ann Penny, David Braid, and JoAnn Johnson, your diligence allowed me to hit every deadline without looking like a fool.

Finally, I am deeply grateful for the love and support of my wife Kim for the last 33 years. In 2021 Kim lost a short but hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer. She always inspired me to be a better man, husband, father, leader, and human. Throughout our marriage, we learned the value of living in and for the moment. It was through these pure Unguarded Moments that the seeds of The Intentional Leader took hold. Kim, thank you for listening to me drone on about leadership, intentionality, and the unguarded moment. Your patience and grace knew no bounds as you listened to one story after another, helped to facilitate yet another leadership program, and read page after page of this manuscript. To infinity and beyond, plus one.

When I was in my second year of high school, my class was assigned to read Ralph Waldo Emersons essay, Self-Reliance.

When it was my turn to read aloud, I read this passage: Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. I was so struck by these words that I read the sentence over, and over, and overuntil the teacher finally snapped and sent me to the principals office.

As the principal regarded me dubiously, I explained that I hadnt been clowning around; I had just really liked that passage. For whatever reason, the idea of trust thyself resonated deeply with me. But as I struggled to put words around what was flying through my head, what became uncomfortably clear was that I didnt trust myself and I had no idea why.

That moment launched a 40-plus-year journey to find that iron string, establish a sense of trust in myself, and forge a connection to what I now refer to as inner authority a profound, unshakable clarity about who I am and what I value. It also brought me to some of the most influential literature of my life that of the transcendentalist movement.