BOB ANDERSON is a pioneer in the field of leadership development and research. He is a preeminent thought leader globally, widely sought after for keynotes and collaboration around the world, and is the creator of the Leadership Circle Profile. He is the founder, chairman, and chief development officer of The Leadership Circle; co-founder and chairman of Full Circle Group. For the past 35 years, he has dedicated his career to exploring the intersections between leadership and mastery, competence and consciousness, and spirituality and business. He serves as adjunct faculty for the Executive Education Center at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business. Bob and Kim, his wife of 32 years, make their home near Toledo, Ohio, but enjoy traveling the globe for both work and play with their three adult children.
Impacting the Field:
Our Founders
Together we are striving to do much more than sell assessments. We endeavor to change the global leadership mind. We want to shift the conversation about what leaders do (a competency-based approach) to a focus on how leaders think—the ways they think that allows them to become extraordinary.

BILL ADAMS is known for partnering with leaders to unlock breakthrough performance, develop deep leadership capability, and produce transformational business results. He is the co-founder and CEO of Full Circle Group, North America; CEO of The Leadership Circle; and co-author of several books, including The Whole Systems Approach and The Quest for Quality. His clients range from Fortune 500 corporations to start-ups across multiple industries. He sits on numerous boards in the for-profit, education, and non-profit worlds. Bill holds a Master’s Degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from the University of Montana. He and his wife and business partner, Cindy, live in Utah where they love exploring the outdoors with their four children and their increasing number of grandchildren.
Some praise from our wonderful friends and clients.
“The Leadership Circle lens is a gift that keeps on giving! Its enormous database has long provided unrivaled quantitative power. Now, in Scaling Leadership, Anderson and Adams open up the corresponding qualitative treasure-trove to further illuminate the paths to truly transformative leadership. A must-read for all leaders, and those who help them!”
Robert Kegan and Lisa LaheyHarvard University faculty and co-authors of Immunity to Change, and An Everyone Culture.
“The future of capitalism is conscious capitalism. A conscious business can only emerge through conscious leadership at scale. Anderson and Adams, in Scaling Leadership, clearly and practically show you how to become a more conscious and effective leader, how to replicate that in your teams, and how to scale conscious leadership throughout the organization. Read this book and put it into practice!”
John MackeyCo-founder and CEO, Whole Foods Market, Co-founder, Conscious Capitalism Inc.
“Pixar is a creative company that has made it a priority to constantly re-examine itself, but even in a company like ours, certain leadership impediments can become impossible to see, and detrimental calcification can set in. As a consultant to me, Bill Adams has been an astonishingly quick study who was able to identify leadership issues and put me on a constructive path to remedy them. Bill's ability to see complex problems and help me generate gettable, actionable solutions has been both remarkable and pivotal in allowing us to bring a fresh leadership reset to a company in its 30th year. Bill and his partner Bob have captured the essence of the wisdom and the tools they bring to helping leaders in Scaling Leadership. I cannot recommend the book strongly enough—especially if you think you don't need it!”
Jim MorrisPresident, Pixar Animation Studios
“Bob and Bill do a masterful job of demystifying the complexities of leadership. Their Universal Model will change the way you think about leadership.”
Tim TobinVP Global Leadership, Marriott International and Author of 'Your Leadership Story'
From basement beginnings
From the early, humble basement beginnings, The Leadership Circle has been focused on the development of people from the inside out – with the goal to help people grow and develop emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. The story of The Leadership Circle is intertwined with the life and mission of its founder, Bob Anderson. Bob relates a memory from his first position out of college managing a livestock and pet food plant. One night, working late he was inside a rail car unloading some much-needed feed ingredients. When finished, he propped his feet up inside the hopper bottom to catch his breath. Out of his mouth, unrehearsed and un-reflected, came the words, “I am not becoming who I am.” He spoke out loud and with such inner authority that it startled him. He knew in that moment he was speaking a truth he could not ignore.