Leading Leaders Inc. is an executive education firm that has, over nearly twenty years, engineered a distinctive leadership technology for the digital age. What our research has taught us is that leaders lead other leaders by learning to lead and follow simultaneously. Moving beyond the practice of leading or following, or leading then following, Leading Leaders can empower executives and their teams or organizations to lead and follow in the same moment. The organization’s Simultaneity™ program unleashes the trust, creativity, and flow required to thrive in this turbulent now.

We are deeply grateful for our partners across several industries who have made vital contributions to our unique and proven practice. Notable projects include work with The Capital Group Companies, Inc., who utilize the Leading Leaders Practice in American Funds Distributers, American Funds Services, and now Capital Bank & Trust, Co. Steelcase purchased the intellectual property of Leading Leaders Inc. for their top executive online learning module entitled “Leading Diverse Thinkers.”

J. Jeffrey Spahn 
Founder and President of Leading Leaders Inc.

Jeff has integrated insights from business and philosophy, arts and athletics, science and spirituality to develop the distinctive leadership practice, Simultaneity™. A degree in business from the University of Michigan and a doctorate from the University of Chicago ground Simultaneity™ in sound scholarship. After more than twelve years of executive leadership, he taught business graduate students and conducted research on the purpose of business. During this investigation he engaged many of the top executives in the United States.

In response to a publisher’s request, Jeff is currently writing a book entitled Simultaneity: How to Lead and Follow Simultaneously for Exponential Results. His article, The Magic of Mutual Leadership, lays the foundation for the forthcoming book and can be found in Developing Leaders Magazine.

Jeff enjoys experiencing live jazz and swimming in natural water.

Board memberships include Ecosystems of Innovation, a different breed of private equity firm; The Chicago Moving Company, a modern dance enterprise; OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, Chief Learning Officers Business Intelligence Board; and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Alumni Club of Chicago.

Current Popular Blogs:

• Leadership is Evolving. Are You?
• A Completely New Way of Leading
• 75% of Cross Functional Teams are Dysfunctional

Selected Publications:

• “Magic of Mutual Leadership.” Developing Leaders Magazine
• “3 Steps to Empathic Active Listening.” FPA’s Practice Management Solution (March/April 2012).
• “Transforming (Not Overcoming) Objections.” Advisor Perspectives (November 2011).
• “A New Capitalist Manifesto?: Re-imagining Business in the 21st Century.” Virtual Strategist (Spring 2004).
• “The Leading of Leaders in the Boardroom.” Directors & Boards (Winter 2003).
• “Honest Boardroom Communication.” Director’s Monthly (November 2002).
• “Leading Leaders: The Art of Peak Performance.” Velocity, vol. 4, no. 2 (2002).