Greensboro, NC – For decades, leadership development has focused on who leaders are—their personalities, styles, and behaviors. But what if the fundamental component to leadership effectiveness lies not in traits, but in time?
A new book, Mastering Leadership Level Alignment by executive coach Thomas Desch, turns conventional wisdom on its head. It introduces a groundbreaking concept: leadership level alignment: the match (or mismatch) between how leaders spend their thought time and action time and the actual demands of their leadership level.
“Most organizations promote people based on past performance or personality fit,” says Desch. “But leaders often fail not because they lack talent or drive, but because they’re spending their mental and operational energy at the wrong level. You can have exceptionally talented people who are inexplicably coming up short. The problem has been hiding in plain sight: misalignment.”
A Simple Idea That Solves a Complex Problem
Research shows that 38–50% of new leaders underperform or fail within 18 months. Despite massive global investment in leadership training, success rates have stagnated, a clear sign that something deeper is being missed.
Traditional management training has relied on personality assessments, motivational indicators, and 360º feedback to drive growth. Desch doesn’t discard these tools, rather, he reorders them. He argues that unless leaders are aligned with the scope of their role — whether it’s Transactional, Managerial, Tactical, Strategic, or Transformational — even the best coaching won’t deliver results.
Mastering Leadership Level Alignment gives readers a practical roadmap to calibrate their leadership “altitude.” It helps leaders identify whether they’re over-functioning at lower levels or under-engaged at higher ones and offers actionable strategies to course-correct.
Drawing from Desch’s 25 years of coaching and his co-authored assessment tool, The Leadership Nexus™, the book helps individuals and organizations close the costly gap between where leaders are and where they need to be.
Desch’s assessment has helped hundreds of executives identify the disconnect between mindset and level. But, as he emphasizes, the book stands on its own:
“I wrote this to be usable out of the box. Leaders can recognize their own patterns and make adjustments immediately, no instrument required.”
About the Author
Thomas Desch is a Senior Partner at Explore Development, Winston-Salem, NC, and co-creator of The Leadership Nexus™ assessment, in partnership with Jamesson Solutions in Greensboro, NC.
A veteran executive coach with more than 25 years of experience, he has guided over 300 leaders, from emerging managers to C-suite executives across healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services sectors.