BlueSteps had the pleasure to chat this month with Louis Carter, CEO of Best Practice Institute (BPI). Louis Carter is a leading authority on best practices in learning, talent,  leadership development and change.

Bluesteps: Hi Louis, first of all, tell us a little about Best Practice Institute.

Louis Carter: Best Practice Institute (BPI) is a community of leaders dedicated to transforming themselves and their organizations. BPI produces whole systems transformation, online learning sessions, Webinars, action learning groups, on-site "by invitation-only" thought leader and executive case driven conferences, research publications and a knowledge and certification portal for its subscribers. BPI's subscriber base includes over 42,500 managers, coaches, directors, VP's, SVP's, and C-level's of branded, "household-name" Fortune 500/Global 1000 organizations worldwide.

BPI's faculty includes over 200 experts and world-renown thought leaders. Typically, BPI faculty members teach as professors or Chairs of Departments at Ivy League Schools and/or have contributed a wide-body of original research, innovative publications and practice to the field of management and leadership.  

BlueSteps: Could you share with us an outline--educationally, professionally, and/or personally--of your journey to founding BPI?

Louis Carter: I founded BPI in 2001 after completing a study with Warren Bennis on how our world’s best organizations develop their leaders. This study became the basis behind our research and network.

BlueSteps: "Best practices" is a term we hear frequently these days across various organizations and industries, but how does BPI define best practices in management and leadership, and how are best practices identified?

Louis Carter: We identify best practices as a program or system that achieves positive and sustainable change over time.  Innovative or next practices must be tested in order to become a best practice.

BlueSteps: In your career, you have had the chance to work and share ideas with the world's top executives. What are some leadership essentials you have gleaned along the way, and what would you offer to senior executives who want to become transformational leaders in their own industries and organizations?

Louis Carter: Transformation occurs when executives realize that it has nothing to do with them. Once I give up the process to my employees, I see dramatic shifts and organizational transformation.  Executives must mature as leaders in order to practice this critical success factor. If you think your job is to become the Superman or Superwoman of your organization and do all of the work, you will quickly burnout and want to leave your company. Your life will become stale and boring. You will begin to hate your organization. I must give roles to my employees, train them to facilitate, hold executive and large group meetings with detailed agendas that are planned by design team members, and follow-up within the system continuously.

BlueSteps: What industries are you seeing widely adopting innovative leadership strategies? What are you finding really exciting at the moment?

Louis Carter: It’s everywhere.

What’s exciting to me is Organizational Systems Transformation. There are only about 4 people in the world who can do it right. Don’t be fooled by the rest.

BlueSteps: In your experience, where do you see the greatest need for top executive talent, be it regionally or across certain sectors, and why? What role does innovation play in that?

Louis Carter: The greatest need for top talent is across all enterprises, globally. We need CEO’s and SVP’s who are trained and/or fully appreciate group facilitation, organization effectiveness and large meeting transformation. Executives must learn to lead differently with a management and design team who are dedicated to transformation and systems change. Without it, organizations cannot adapt quickly and remain agile.

About Best Practice Institute
Best Practice Institute (BPI) serves executives and managers from Fortune 500 organizations in the areas of organizational transformation, team development, networking, and talent management. BPI works hard “cool hunting” for the most innovated best practices. The BPI community is based upon sharing pragmatic approaches to best practices with executives and organizations to learn from in order to create successful strategies and organizational practices. Visit BPI online at www.bestpracticeinstitute.org.

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Interview conducted by Joe Chappell from the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).
 
About BlueSteps
BlueSteps is the exclusive service of the AESC that puts senior executives on the radar screen of over 8,000 executive search professionals in over 70 countries. Be visible, and be considered for up to 75,000 opportunities handled by AESC search firms every year. Find out more at www.BlueSteps.com.