Positive Influence: The First and Last Mile of Leadership

"Positive Influence recognizes human connection as a universal and enduring need. In an evolving world facing crises of disconnection where loneliness, division, and polarization have become commonplace, Tsun-yan Hsieh and Huijin Kong offer a substantive, go-to guide to build a personal craft for nurturing human connection." --Laxman Narasimhan, CEO, Starbucks

New York Times bestselling author and renowned leadership guru Tsun-yan Hsieh, together with his LinHart partner Huijin Kong, co-creator of high-impact programs, dive deep into how to master +Influence, an essential "soft skill" of our times.

We are a society shaped by influence. From Dale Carnegie's seminal book How to Win Friends and Influence Others (1936) to social media "Influencers" affecting thoughts and behaviors, influence has permeated society, business and our lives. Like it or not, we are all influencing or being influenced by one another every day.

However, we are getting more disconnected in our lives even as we get more digitally wired. This book is a bold attempt to reconnect us to our humanity and to each other by a type of influence the authors call +Influence (Positive Influence). In essence, +Influence effectuates mutually beneficial outcomes. With it, you can do well for yourself and do good to others.

Combining decades of experience from shopfloors to boardrooms, both in the West and the East, the authors have distilled the principles of +Influence to a repertoire of mindsets, habits and skills. Richly illustrated with real-life examples, this book will help you achieve an elevated level of empathy for where others are coming from, and better equip you to find mutually beneficial paths out of conflicts while promoting alignment around the goals that matter. Whether you are a CEO or professional, Positive Influence: The First and Last Mile of Leadership will inspire you to hone +Influence into a craft over time that will propel your career and personal relationships, with more of your humanity gaining greater expressions in every moment of influence.

Across 48 years of working with 100+ CEOs and +500 senior leaders across 30+ industries and countries, Professor Tsun-yan Hsieh has always connected with them as human beings first, influencing them with his heart, fueled by an intense desire to help each and every one of them reach their potential and better cope with expectations and pressures. The same character and craft pervade his mentorship of hundreds of younger partners in McKinsey and younger leaders who are lucky enough to be part of his MBA course or scale-up CEO leadership courses. Unique at McKinsey, he was as fearless in boardrooms as he was in unionized shop floors. Harnessing human energies is his unifying passion; moving people toward shared outcomes is his special gift. He takes great joy in learning how his mentees have progressed, capturing their thank you/update notes in a Mont Blanc book. Because his own influence and leadership skills were hard won, he is devoted to help all comers improve theirs. People may call him a leadership guru, spiritual leader, but to himself, Tsun-yan is foremost a learner: "There is always more to see and learn."

To set a new standard in injecting humanity into business leadership, in 2010 he founded LinHart Group, a leadership services firm specialized in helping founders, owners, boards and CEOs address their most difficult leadership issues including transitioning leadership and uplifting top talent.

He is/has been an Independent Director of Singapore Airlines, Manulife Financial, Dyson, Bharti Airtel and Sony. For social interests, he serves on the board of SingHealth and Singapore Institute of Management. He has taught subjects related to leadership influence at the National University of Singapore Business School, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. He co-authored the New York Times best-selling Heart, Smarts, Guts and Luck.

With nicknames such as Compass and Energizer bunny, Huijin Kong's strong sense of direction, courage to call out the elephants in the room and relentless energy has enabled her to counsel CEOs, owners, and founders from 30s to 60s. She has pioneered LinHart Group's group leadership programs that have made deep learning and leadership development scalable, as evidenced by LinHart's program for a few hundred MBAs. She has also had to work hard to better influence leaders in USA, China, India, and Southeast Asia, digging deeply into herself to connect with them as human beings and gain the necessary insights to challenge and support them. Being able to overcome her handicap in compassion, empathy and emotional awareness gives her the conviction that everyone can get better in influence and leadership. Her passion for inspiring Chinese business leaders also propelled her to lead the expansion of LinHart's leadership program to China and Hong Kong. She holds an MBA with Highest Distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School, and a BSc in Economics, summa cum laude from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, USA.