Jerome Zeyen
Executive Coach and Senior Consultant at InsightHR
I’ve coached many capable, values-driven leaders who genuinely want to do the right thing. They care about people. They want to lead with integrity. They want to make a difference. And yet – they hold back.
Not because they lack intelligence. Not because they lack values. Not because they lack potential. They hold back because values alone don’t automatically become behaviour.
That gap is exactly why I created the SCALE model:
- Seek the call.
- Challenge the barrier.
- Acquire the capability.
- Leverage the action.
- Elevate the impact.
This is the real leadership journey – not a straight line, but a deliberate sequence:
- First, choose to lead.
- Then, confront what gets in the way.
- Then, build the tools, courage, and capability required.
- Then, apply what you know in the moments that matter.
- Finally, create impact (people, productivity, profit, fulfillment) that lifts others – not just yourself.
SCALE leadership is not passive. It’s not staying quiet to keep the peace. It’s not hoping goodness will somehow speak for itself.
It is disciplined action. It means bringing your values into the meeting, the hard decision, the conflict, the conversation you’ve been avoiding – and the system you’re trying to improve.
That’s how capable leaders become effective leaders. And that’s how the good person finishes first – not by compromising who they are, but by finally putting who they are into action.
Where do you see the biggest gap between good intentions and leadership action?