Jun 25, 2026
What does it look like when someone making $10 million a year
calls you and says, "Get me out of here"?
For Alan Guarino, Vice Chairman of CEO and Board
Services at Korn Ferry, it happens more than you'd think —
and it's exactly what pushed him to write The Greatness Code: The Formula
Behind Unstoppable Success.
Alan has spent decades at the intersection of executive search,
C-suite coaching, and talent strategy. He's seen it all: brilliant
people in toxic environments, leaders who suck the oxygen out of
every room, and — on the other end of the spectrum — a rare few
whose leadership style is genuinely awe-inspiring. That range of
experience is precisely what gives him the standing to write about
greatness, and it's what makes this conversation so grounded.
Peter and Alan start with a question that doesn't get asked enough:
why would someone at Alan's level — running a globally dominant
practice, advising Fortune 500 boards — invest serious time in
writing a book and building a public voice? The answer is practical
and principled at once. Thought leadership isn't a side hustle for
people like Alan; it's a core part of how you stay relevant, how
you earn trust before you're even in the room, and how you
differentiate in a world full of smart people doing similar
work.
One of the sharpest moments in the conversation comes when Alan
offers what he calls his "secret sauce" — the one thing all top 1%
professionals have in common. It's not pedigree. It's not a
particular skill set. It's the ability to be impressive,
authentically. And as Peter quickly unpacks, there's a right way
and a wrong way to do that. The blowhard keynote speaker reads as
exposure. The quiet practitioner whose work speaks for itself reads
as visibility. Alan knows the difference firsthand.
The conversation also covers the lifecycle of thought leadership —
from white papers and CNBC appearances to publishing with Wiley —
and what intellectual curiosity has to do with all of it. Alan's
advice to younger professionals considering this path is unusually
direct: if the idea of documenting, sharing, and defending a point
of view doesn't excite you, find a different career.
If you're a practitioner in professional services trying to figure
out how ideas scale your business — or a leader trying to stay on
track in a difficult environment — this one's for you.
Three Key Takeaways:
• There's a leadership crisis hiding in plain sight at the
top of organizations. Alan regularly hears from executives
earning $700K–$30M who are miserable — not because of the work, but
because of their leaders. The problem isn't exclusive to middle
management; it runs all the way to the C-suite.
• The top 1% of professionals share one defining trait:
they find a way to be impressive authentically. It's not
about self-promotion or personal branding for its own sake — it's
about doing the work at such a level that the conclusion becomes
obvious. The key word is authentically; people see through anything
else immediately.
• Thought leadership isn't separate from your day job — it
is your day job. Alan frames intellectual curiosity,
documentation, and sharing a point of view as professional
obligations, not extras. The analogy he uses is sharp: a plumber
who never walks the supply store aisles ends up with outdated
tools. The same applies to any practitioner who stops engaging with
the evolving ideas in their field.
Enjoyed this episode? Check out Episode 471 with Raoul
Davis.
Alan talked about how thought leadership builds credibility and
puts you at the front of the line with clients. Raoul Davis goes deeper on the strategic side —
specifically how executives and CEOs build intentional brand equity
that drives real business results. Same audience, same problem,
different lens. Worth the hour.