Think back to the person who had the greatest influence on how you think and grow. Chances are, it was a teacher who asked the right questions, believed in your potential, and created space for you to problem-solve. Fast-forward to the professional workplace. Leaders are overwhelmed, teams are disengaged, and too much energy is spent complying with systems that were never designed to help people think, create, and innovate. When leadership rewards compliance over creativity and certainty over curiosity, it’s evident we’ve drifted from what actually works. It’s time for a new approach for leaders.

Lead Boldly, Think Deeply offers a different way forward. Award-winning teacher and researcher Dr. Katie Trowbridge has done decades of work with educators, administrators, and business leaders and uncovered a clear truth: Teachers are some of the most adaptive, courageous leaders in existence—and organizations can learn from them.

Grounded in the wisdom of great educators, Trowbridge challenges leaders to move past surface-level management and start designing cultures where curiosity is valued, trust is built, and thinking runs deep. Based on her research on the gap between education and the modern workplace, Trowbridge uses her trademarked CREATE Method to reframe leadership as the design of environments where people feel safe to ask bold questions, take risks, and solve problems together—skills today’s workforce demands. The result is teams that don’t just comply but engage, collaborate, and care deeply about what they’re building together.

In this book, you’ll learn how to:

Use the CREATE Method’s six leadership roles to build trust and engagement.

Run meetings that generate thinking, not passive agreement.

Turn employees into problem-solvers rather than order followers.

Bridge generational differences through curiosity and shared purpose.

Lead with confidence while staying grounded as a lifelong learner.