What is Inner Mastery, Outer Impact
Inner Mastery, Outer Impact is a transformative approach to life and leadership, developed by Mentora Institute’s founder Hitendra Wadhwa. It emphasizes the importance of aligning one’s inner self with their outer actions to achieve both personal fulfillment and professional success. The approach is rooted in the belief that everyone possesses an Inner Core, a space of highest potential within, characterized by five Core Energies: Purpose, Wisdom, Growth, Love, and Self-Realization. By activating and expressing these energies in everything we do, we can operate from our Inner Core – free from ego, attachments, and limiting beliefs. This approach not only helps individuals to live authentically and at peace with themselves but also enables them to bring out the best in others, creating a Common Core that fosters deep resonance and collective success.
Inner Mastery, Outer Impact addresses the challenges of modern work life and offers a sustainable and fulfilling path to success. This redesigned approach to leadership development has received extensive media attention.
The Case for Inner Mastery, Outer Impact
Leadership needs a serious overhaul.
A staggering 78 percent of employees believe they are not getting as much purpose from work as they want. This suggests a disconnect between what employees seek from their work and what they are currently experiencing. Inner Mastery, Outer Impact, with its focus on personal growth and purpose, can help bridge this gap by aligning work with individuals’ core values and principles.
Only 20 percent of employees strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that inspires them to do outstanding work. This suggests that traditional performance management methods may not be motivating employees effectively. Inner Mastery, Outer Impact emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and self-motivation to inspire employees to perform at their best.
Only 4 in 10 U.S. employees strongly agree that their work gives them the opportunity to do what they are best at every day. This indicates a potential mismatch between employees’ skills and their job roles. Inner Mastery, Outer Impact encourages individuals to align their actions with their strengths, which can increase job satisfaction and performance.
Nearly one-third of employees wish their organizations would act with more empathy. This indicates a need for leaders to better understand and respond to the emotional needs of their teams. Inner Mastery, Outer Impact helps leaders to cultivate empathy and emotional intelligence as key components of effective leadership.
While 86 percent of leaders believe that they role-model desired behavior changes – allowing others to take cues from the leaders’ own behaviors – only 53 percent of people who report to these leaders agree. This discrepancy suggests a gap in leaders’ self-perception and how they are perceived by their teams. Inner Mastery, Outer Impact emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and authenticity in leadership, helping leaders better align their actions with their intentions.
How the 5 Core Energies Drive Outer Impact
PURPOSE
People who are “living their purpose” at work report five times higher levels of well-being than those who are not. They are also:
- Healthier.
- More productive.
- More resilient.
WISDOM
Emotionally agile people are able to:
- Alleviate their stress levels.
- Reduce the errors they make.
- Be more innovative.
- Improve job performance.
LOVE
Employees who feel empathized with at work are:
- More innovative.
- More engaged at work.
- More successful at navigating the demands of their work and life.
- Less inclined to leave their organizations.
GROWTH
Decades’ worth of data has shown that people with a growth mindset:
- Are better mentally primed to take on challenges.
- Take advantage of feedback.
- Use the most effective problem-solving techniques.
- Offer thoughtful feedback to others.
- Are persistent in pursuing goals.
SELF-REALIZATION
Mindfulness leads to an increase in emotional intelligence. This contributes to our ability to:
- Manage conflict.
- Communicate more effectively.
- Tap the “smart” part of our brain to bring out our best in all situations.
Behaviors Learned
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Gain intrinsic commitment by activating people’s values and purpose -
Help people direct their emotions to achieve high performance -
Move people away from limiting mindsets to drive big leaps in performance -
Build strong, trust-based relationships -
Move your team from conflict to collaboration -
Create a climate of inclusion and belonging -
Use challenges and setbacks to promote learning and growth -
Develop a feedback-friendly, growth mindset culture
Core Ideas
INNER CORE
Within each of us is a space of highest potential — our Inner Core. When we are at our Core, we feel most authentic — most true to ourselves. We are beyond ego, attachments, and insecurities.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership is about bringing out the best in ourselves and the best in others in all situations. We are at our best when we operate from our Inner Core. That’s where great leaders seek to take their people — to the Common Core that gets formed when everyone in a team is activated at their Core and aligned in their purpose.
FIVE ENERGIES
At our Core, we have access to five Energies: Purpose, Wisdom, Growth, Love, and Self-Realization. Leadership, at its essence, is about activating these energies in ourselves and others.
ACTION PATHS
We can activate these 5 Energies in us and in others by using a set of 25+ simple actions. By mixing-and-matching these actions, we can create countless behaviors (action-paths) that help us respond in the best way to the relentless demands of our work environment — by being “everything, and the complete opposite.” The 5 Core Energies keep us anchored on the inside, while the actions keep us adaptive on the outside.
BIG LEAPS IN SMALL STEPS
We can develop people into becoming exemplary leaders by helping them develop atomic habits — practicing and applying simple actions to improve their performance at work in small steps, week upon week.
