Written by a team of highly experienced and successful executive leadership consultants, this book offers 10 data-driven insights regarding leadership effectiveness, accompanied by practical and easy-to-implement recommendations that directly serve the development of leadership ability. * Provides insights based on a sample of leaders who improved significantly over time, supplying findings that are based on actual research, not just opinion or anecdotal "evidence" * Offers practical and applicable recommendations for how individual leaders, organizations, and coaches/managers can apply the 10 insights shared in the book * Provides a novel framework for determining and assessing who is "ripe" for a leadership development opportunity (the RIPEN model), an effective way for individuals or organizations to determine in which leadership candidates to invest precious development resources * Supplies strategies for enhancing one's ripeness for a leadership development opportunity.

Why (and how) we wrote this book -- Ripeness (from the inside out) --Ripeness (from the outside in) -- Central issue -- Penetrating message -- Guiding metaphor -- Critical conversations -- Training experience -- Social support -- Keep it real (with yourself and others) -- Focus on strengths ... and weaknesses -- Where we've been and where we're going.