Jason Barger

The term leadership has been hijacked,” highlights Jason Barger. As a globally celebrated author, speaker, and consultant, Barger emphasizes that today, the word is being used loosely, and the majority fail to realize its true meaning. For a long time now, business leaders were only responsible to fulfill managerial responsibilities but not anymore. Present-day executives are also driven by an imperative to improve the overall productivity of a business through the power of relationships and technology. In other words, the role of a true leader extends beyond overseeing employee performance to include more challenging tasks such as engaging with the minds and hearts of people.

While numerous organizations recognize that molding influential leaders is pivotal to the success of any business, they seldom delve deep into it. Often, they seek solutions that are instant, employing off-the-shelf programs, failing to understand that a great team culture is the result of continuous, strategic planning and implementation. This, in turn, delays progress as firms lack a clear understanding of their vision.

Barger’s words, both books and speech, have resonated with many companies, driving them towards reshaping their understanding of leadership and culture. “Rather than offering an off-the-shelf kind of program, I have been successful in partnering with teams and organizations to help them redefine what authentic, compelling, and influential leadership looks like in action and behavior,” explains Barger.

Fundamentally, leadership training is a journey and not a drive-thru experience. Barger guides organizations through the road of introspection, initially stepping back to take a look at their current state of affairs.

“This enables us to define and re-evaluate desired leadership traits, painpoints, obstacles, and the overall culture within the business and what they need to do in order to strengthen leadership, culture, and clarity of mission, vision, and values,” adds Barger. With this as the starting point, Barger assists companies in proactively assessing the behaviors of their team members and then develops a training program that best fits the client’s needs.

Furthermore, Barger acknowledges that each client is unique, and that a one-size-fitsall approach to leadership is no longer sufficient. Barger’s holistic training programs are customized and tailored-made to address the requirements of each organization. Two of Barger’s most sought out programs are the emerging leadership training and senior leadership team development. The emerging leadership training program enables companies to identify and assess upcoming leaders using interactive training modules. Via the senior leadership team development program, on the other hand, Barger helps businesses improve how well executives work together—yielding better strategy, culture, and business performance. More importantly, Barger designs a plethora of styles to anchor the learnings within the culture, including keynote speeches, workshops, team discussions, and online programs for distance learning.

As a part of his plan for the future, Barger and his company Step Back Leadership Consulting LLC will continue to work with organizations that are passionate about culture change, leadership development, innovation, and service in bringing their mission to life every day. With a pandemic in the backdrop and remote work becoming the new normal, several organizations face disconnection and scattered communication with employees; this leaves them uncertain about the road ahead. Through a combination of virtual and face-to-face training, Barger is planning on equipping companies to dive deeper to develop their people and culture. “The outcome of this will be a greater alignment of people, consistent communication, and subsequently, increased performance,” concludes Barger.