The Case for the Inner Work, in One Visual
Decades of research keep landing on the same finding: the strongest predictors of success are skills you build inside yourself. The visual below maps the evidence behind six inner competencies and what avoiding the work costs.
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Why Trying To Change Everything Starts With Changing Yourself
Successful people aren't necessarily smarter or more talented than less successful people. Research shows it comes back to one thing — the inner work.
How Working on Yourself Can Improve Your Chances of Success
Successful people reach their goals because of what they think, how they respond, and how they embody and learn lessons.
- Growth mindset predicts achievement across socioeconomic levels
- Grit is a better predictor of success than IQ or conscientiousness, no matter the population
What you develop inside of yourself can have a substantially larger impact than your:
Doing the inner work for success is like building muscle: You use it, or you lose it.
- Exercise it to develop success skills
- Growing or shrinking is in your control
We all have unlimited potential to build inner skills of self-awareness, nervous system regulation, and the ability to stay present.
The Inner Competencies of Highly Successful People
Spirituality
"Natural spirituality is the direct sense of listening to the heartbeat of the universe, of being one with the seen and unseen world, open and at ease in that connection." Lisa Miller, Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
How to develop
- Practice radical compassion
- Meditate
- Volunteer
- Connect with your faith community
Why to develop
In a McKinsey Health global survey of 41,000 people, positive spiritual health was positively associated with:
- Physical health (75%)
- Mental health (12%)
- Social health (6%)
- Spiritual health (1%)
Self-Efficacy
How to develop
- Be mindfully aware
- Be gentle with yourself
- Check your narratives
Why to develop
In a meta-analysis of 49,464 participants, higher self-efficacy employees were more likely to:
- Help colleagues
- Voice concerns
- Provide exceptional customer service
- Engage in extra-role behaviors
"The most powerful transformations don't come from starting over. They come from finally understanding what you've been carrying all along and choosing, consciously, what to bring forward." Artemis Evangelidi, B.Sc., LLB, GradDip Psych, iMBA, Founder and Principal Consultant at Aipeia Consulting
Grit
"The common denominator of high achievers, no matter what they're achieving, is this special combination of passion and perseverance for really long-term goals." Angela Duckworth, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania
How to develop
- Find and cultivate passion
- Practice tolerating discomfort
Why to develop
Grit accounts for ~4% of the variance in success outcomes for:
- Educational attainment
- GPA
- Retention
- Competitions
Adaptability
Capacity to adjust your thinking, behavior, or approach in response to change.
How to develop
- Think of yourself as "flexible"
Why to develop
Adaptability with your career predicts success in:
- Employability
- Promotability
- Income
— beyond other individual difference characteristics
Growth Orientation
"Decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong—abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential." Heidi Grant Halvorson, Social Cognitive Psychologist Specializing in the Study of Leadership and Motivation
How to develop
- State the big goal
- Create long-term and short-term goals
- Build baby steps
- Involve other people
- Make the behavior enticing and habitual
Why to develop
Mastery-approach goals produce better task performance than:
- Performance-approach goals: d = 0.28 (p = .001)
- Performance-avoidance goals: d = 0.37 (p = .004)
- No goal at all: d = 0.21 (p = .045)
Emotional Regulation
Ability to monitor and manage your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in service of your goals.
How to develop
- Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) techniques
- Developing your EQ
- Following the RULER method
Why to develop
Workplace training that targets emotion regulation can help improve:
- Low employee job satisfaction
- Reduced team performance
- Poor cooperation between teams
- Unhealthy organizational climates
The Cost of Avoiding the Inner Work at Work
No Development for Teams
19%Just 19% of organizations think their leaders are effective at developing others.
High Costs
$550BPoor leadership costs US companies $550 billion a year in lost productivity.
Missing Performance & Effectiveness
58%58% of managers have never received formal leadership training. But companies that invest in training see:
- Better collaboration and teamwork (69%)
- Increased employee engagement (60%)
- Greater emotional intelligence (59%)
High Turnover
According to 2025 research:
| "Loved my job, but can't stand my manager" | 47% |
| "Boss influenced my decision to leave" | 90% |
| "Stayed because of a 'good' relationship with manager" | 45% |
US businesses lose $1 trillion per year from voluntary turnover.
What Leading from the Soul Can Do for YOU
When you access and integrate your soul's wisdom, you learn to lead from a deep sense of purpose, meaning, and connection — at work, and at home.
Retain Employees
Highly engaged teams typically see:
- 21% less turnover in high-turnover* industries
- 51% less turnover in low-turnover* industries
- 78% less absenteeism
*generally
Boost Productivity
Leaders who develop emotional intelligence skills are associated with improvements in behaviors, business results, work team performance, and team members' attitudes about work. Employees who feel engaged at work — often a byproduct of leadership skills — may see:
- 70% higher wellbeing
- 63% fewer safety incidents
- 18% higher sales productivity
Achieve Greater Revenue
There's a 95% correlation between decision-making and financial results. Companies practicing conscious capitalism have outperformed the S&P 500 index by a factor of 10.5.
Provide Higher Shareholder Returns
Organizations that emphasize decisive leadership are 4.2x more likely to be healthy. These high-health organizations deliver 3x shareholder returns compared to those with low health.
Create Business Resilience
Between 2019 and 2022, 76% of B Corps reported revenue growth, compared with 60% of non-B Corps. Being mission-driven is often more profitable for businesses.
Strengthen Your Partnerships
High emotional intelligence is significantly and positively associated with romantic relationship satisfaction. Couples with high emotional intelligence report:
- Greater marital satisfaction
- Fewer conflicts
- Stronger commitment
Raise Emotionally Healthy Kids
In children ages 6 to 12, parental self-awareness accounts for 22% of the variance in how they learn to regulate emotion.
Protect Your Wellbeing
Self-awareness practices in everyday adults are linked to significant reductions in perceived stress. Also tied to:
- Better emotional regulation
- Resilience
- Life satisfaction
The first step is exploring inner work
Once you learn how to lead from your soul, you'll start improving the pathway between leadership impact and results.
Sources
- eprints.qut.edu.au/98891
- innermba.soundstrue.com
- pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16313657
- doi.org/10.1007/s11218-021-09606-1
- soundstrue.com/products/the-inner-mba-program
- bain.com/insights/score-your-organization-ame-info
- gallup.com/404252/indicator-leadership-management.aspx
- sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023075643
- psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.92.6.1087
- plansponsor.com/58-of-managers-never-got-supervisor-training
- greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/grit_needs_passion_not_fear
- bamboohr.com/resources/data-at-work/data-stories/the-boss-effect
- gallup.com/workplace/321725/gallup-q12-meta-analysis-report.aspx
- bcorporation.eu/news_article/resilience-financial-performance-b-corps
- greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_prime_your_mind_for_optimism
- forbes.com/sites/rasmushougaard/2018/09/09/the-real-crisis-in-leadership
- gallup.com/workplace/236366/right-culture-not-employee-satisfaction.aspx
- gallup.com/workplace/247391/fixable-problem-costs-businesses-trillion.aspx
- greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/nine_things_you_dont_know_about_yourself
- greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_get_better_at_achieving_your_goals
- greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_students_believe_in_themselves
- esalen.org/ctr-journal/companies-practicing-conscious-capitalism-perform-10x-better
- researchgate.net/publication/6290064_Grit_Perseverance_and_Passion_for_Long-Term_Goals
- greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/three_emotions_that_can_help_you_succeed_at_your_goals
- nationalsoftskills.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Mann-1918-Study_of_Engineering_Educ.pdf
- td.org/content/atd-blog/how-top-companies-get-results-from-leadership-development-programs
- forbes.com/sites/jimkeenan/2015/12/05/the-proven-predictor-of-sales-success-few-are-using
- researchgate.net/publication/390586333_Self-efficacy_and_nontask_performance_at_work_A_meta-analytic_summary
- mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/a-better-way-to-lead-large-scale-change
- semanticscholar.org/paper/Growth-mindset-tempers-the-effects-of-poverty-on-Claro-Paunesku/59ddd66f8b57c869d9db5b4aca9872a42c4afbe6
- mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/healthy-organizations-keep-winning-but-the-rules-are-changing-fast
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