There has been an unprecedented change in the demands of leadership over the last decade or so. This has been created by social and technological change, by globalisation and by growing environmental concerns. This has highlighted a need for leaders who prioritise the true stakeholders of their organisations - customers, employees, suppliers, the community, the planet, and the shareholders - rather than putting personal reward first. This report sets out a journey towards the type of leadership that is a better fit for this future – ‘Transpersonal Leadership’ developed from 13 years of experience of working with senior leaders. ‘The Invisible Elephant & the Pyramid Treasure: Tomorrow’s Leadership – the transpersonal journey’ was authored by John Knights, Chairman of LeaderShape, and published by Tomorrow’s Company, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), PwC UK, Tata and Korn Ferry Whitehead Mann. It has been made available to CGMA designation holders.

The ‘Invisible Elephant’ refers to the fact that for many organisations, leadership is the highest priority ‘elephant in the room’ – where everybody knows it is a serious issue, but which no-one is willing to mention despite evidence that good leadership is the most important characteristic of a high-performing company. The ‘Pyramid Treasure’ refers to the ‘Eight Integral Competencies of Leadership’ and the report describes the key steps in the journey towards becoming a ‘Transpersonal Leader’. The report also includes a number of case studies and articles including ‘What makes a great finance leader?’