I am Greg Zlevor, the founder and president of Westwood International Company. I have written many books on self-development and leadership development. I am the author of Amazon’s bestselling book “Success Habits of Super Achievers”. My books cover deep insights about the importance of leadership, which is necessary for today’s organizational management. They include deep insights that help individuals improve their abilities to a large extent.

Can you share the history of Westwood International and its initial struggles, and how did you manage to take the company on a success path?

Westwood International was founded in 1995. As the founder of the company, I have to face many struggles in the initial days. We didn’t get enough clients, and our company focused more on bringing them through conferences. I spent ten years with Scott Peck, who is the psychiatrist and author of the popular book” The Road Less Travelled”. The company developed an orientation program called “48 Hours “for Boston College students, which received a huge response.

Apart from that, we started to conduct workshops and conferences for organizations to develop the leadership qualities of employees. Our company worked with some leading companies, such as Volvo, The Singapore Police Force, ConMed, Cohen & Gottlieb, Fortune50 Healthcare, and J&J, to perform a case study on the employees. Our company offered solutions for the problems and helped them create a cohesive and collaborative working environment. This helped our company gain trust among others, which improved our business in the market.

What, according to you, makes one a transformational leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

Leadership differs from one person to another based on various factors. Anyone who wants to become a transformational leader should focus more on important elements such as intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, idealized influence, inspiration motivation, leading others, visionary thinking, empowerment, adaptability, etc.

I integrated them into my leadership style, which helped me get the desired results. For instance, visionary thinking allows an individual to define clear goals and vision for a team in an organization. Moreover, it provides methods to achieve goals and objectives to get optimal results. Acquiring communication skills will help resolve conflicts and disputes in the workplace by recognizing the needs of employees. A leader should know the aspirations and challenges of team members properly to support them in their personal and professional development. Some other traits to include in transformational leadership are building trust, fostering creativity, empowering, delegating, etc.

What prompted you to become a coach and help corporations generate the next generation of leaders for their organizations?

I did market research on companies, including start-ups, and found most of them failed to grow due to various reasons. This is because they don’t plan for the present environment and future challenges. Although some companies succeeded in implementing innovative approaches, the results are not satisfactory. The success of a company depends on creating leaders who can handle problems with good skills.

Therefore, I decided to develop leadership programs for them that offer solutions with the best strategies. Our company will use the latest tools and methodologies while offering services to corporations that can help teams understand their leadership traits and qualities better. This will foster collaboration and enable organizations to identify the areas that need improvement to align objectives effectively. Business growth requires clear vision, trust, collaboration, and managing challenges. Westwood International will cater to the needs of clients with highly qualified teams that can deliver outstanding services.

What advice would you give an introvert to become a leader?

If you are an introverted person, you should know how to become a successful leader. The first thing is that you should take advantage of your strengths that aren’t seen in others. You should improve your listening skills for effective communication. Moreover, you can build relationships with your team members in the workplace.

Don’t stay in your comfort zone and try to break it. This will help you understand your weaknesses and build your confidence levels while conversing with others. As an introvert, you should enhance your speaking skills in group meetings or table discussions. Surround yourself with the right talent or groups of proactive workers that help you learn more things. Get advice from extroverts to know how they are successful when it comes to leadership. Feedback plays an important role in creating a strong culture. You should give and receive feedback in the workplace to become a leader. It even allows you to build relationships with your employees that will increase their productivity. Include your team members in brainstorming activities, which ultimately lead to excellent ideas. Practice makes perfect, and you should track your progress through some small tasks to make informed decisions.

What does the future look like for Westwood International? On a personal front, where do you see yourself in the future?

The future of Westwood International looks bright due to the emergence of many start-ups after the pandemic. Technologies are growing rapidly these days, and our company will utilize them to deliver services with high efficiency. Our company focuses on building the next generation of global leaders, renowned industry experts, and facilitators. We will implement the best strategies in the future to guide clients to streamline their operations and revenue streams to ensure high success.

 “We care about people. We care about the planet. We want to do our part for both.”

“At Westwood International, a culture of service is inherent in all that we do.”

“Your organization is unique and needs an efficient, powerful, and personalized solution.”