309: InnerWill Leadership Institute with Dr. Thomas Epperson

Dr. Thomas Epperson is the president of InnerWill Leadership Institute and has over 20 years of experience as a leadership coach, facilitator, and speaker, and he regularly works with clients to help transform leaders and their organizations.Tom is a certified business coach and has a doctorate in leadership from The George Washington University. Tom is currently an instructor in Virginia Commonwealth Universities’ Executive MBA Program. He is the author of InnerWill, Developing Better People, Braver Leaders, and a Wiser World Through the Practice of Values-Based Leadership.Tom believes that leadership is a choice, not a title, and that our responsibility as leaders is to make a positive difference in the lives of those around us. Tom balances high expectations of himself and others with relentless optimism about the ability of individuals to make our organizations, families, and communities amazing places to live, work, and grow. Tom believes that leadership is a powerful force for good in the world, if we choose to do so; his personal mission in life is to help others develop the skills to make that choice more often than not.Tom works hard to be a great husband and father; he’s married to a strong, creative woman and has two fantastic sons who have taught him that we can learn as much about ourselves and our leadership at home as we can at work.Born out of Luck Companies, InnerWillLeadership Institute was founded to teach other leaders how to build values-based organizations which ignite the potential in people. After an 85-year history as a successful business, President and CEO Charlie Luck IV realized that the business had so much more potential if alignment and collaboration of senior management could be improved. This led to a Values Based Leadership (VBL) journey—for his family and for the workplace. Ultimately, the Values Based Leadership principles and practices were shared with every employee at Luck Companies and every Luck family member. As a result, Luck Companies is the largest family-held and family-run aggregate business in the country, ranks in the top three most engaged places to work in the US, and is a thriving organization built for the future.The impact to Luck Companies, and to the individuals touched and transformed by the VBL journey, inspired the launch of InnerWill. Leadership is a choice, not a title –a conscious choice to work first on yourself to in turn positively impact the lives of those around you. Developing self-awareness takes tenacity and grit, while standing up for your core values take courage. We reflected on our definition of leadership and the strength needed to achieve it and chose the name InnerWill.Today, InnerWill teaches the necessary skills to strengthen leadership capabilities and drive results through the practice of VBL. More than a training company, InnerWillis a 501 c3 nonprofit that invests in the organizations and people that we serve through customized solutions built to ensure positive and measurable impacts.Websitewww.innerwill.orgSocial Media Informationwww.linkedin.com/company/innerwillShow SponsorNational Association for Primary Education (NAPE) are planning a Primary Education Summit in March 2023. For more information please visit www.educationonfire.com/summitMentioned in this episode:NAPE Al Kingsley Summit PromoWatch Mark Taylor interview Al Kingsley about 'Creating Digital Strategies for Schools' as part of the Primary Education Summit 2023 - Visions for the Future - presented by National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) https://www.educationonfire.com/creating-digital-strategies-for-schools/