The Patchwork Leader

Standing on Shoulders While Breaking New Ground

Many years ago, someone (a family member) once tried to insult me by comparing me to Elvis, suggesting I was "stealing" others' styles and beliefs. They couldn't have given me a better compliment if they'd tried.

To them I say...

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Evolution is the steady progressive increase of our capabilities and our capacity for greatness. I am continuing to evolve, and so is my leadership.

Here's the truth about innovation:

While we're always influenced by what came before us, true breakthroughs happen when we combine existing wisdom with fresh insights, new contexts, and bold experimentation. The greatest leaders and artists don't just imitate—they transform, innovate, and occasionally revolutionize.

The Elvis Fallacy

The criticism that Elvis "stole" Black music without credit misses the point spectacularly.

Did he absorb and transmute blues, gospel, and R&B into something that reached different audiences?

Absolutely.

That's not theft—that's transformation. That's evolution.

Elvis grew up in the black community he didn’t steal the music he helped evolve it

Consider this: In 2025, Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" won Grammy Awards for both Best Country Album and Album of the Year, making her the first Black woman to win the top prize in the 21st century and the first Black artist to win in the country category. Did she "steal" country music?

Of course not.

She honored its roots (including its often overlooked Black origins), brought her unique artistry to the genre, and created something that both respects tradition and pushes boundaries.

As a practitioner of leadership (not a theorist—an important distinction), I've built Circle Leadership on this exact principle.

Our core value of Wisdom is literally defined as "learning from experience."

Whose experience?

Everyone's. Mine. Yours. The leaders who came before us, both brilliant and terrible.

Ecosystem, Not Egosystem

The "egosystem" of traditional leadership tells a fairytale about self-made mavericks who invented their methods from thin air. What utter nonsense.

Bernard of Chartres had it right centuries ago—we're all "standing on the shoulders of giants." The real innovation is in how we combine, adapt, and transform those influences.

“We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.” ― Bernard De Chartres

Our belief in "Ecosystem of Leadership" recognizes this fundamental truth. Great leaders don't emerge fully formed like Athena from Zeus's head. They're shaped through observation, experience, and yes, by watching both the masterclasses and train wrecks of those who led before them.

The Human-Centric Remix

Every revolutionary idea in Circle Leadership, from treating people as humans first and employees second, to delegating outcomes rather than tasks, came from somewhere I worked and from some leader I worked with.

Some were reactions against toxic leadership I experienced. Others were borrowed and remixed from brilliant mentors who showed me what was possible.

I learned most of my lessons from some of the greatest leaders no one would know unless, like me, they had the privilege of working with them.

These unsung heroes, not the celebrity CEOs with bestselling books, provided the real blueprint. All the principles for evolving the world of work and leadership have come from experience, not theory.

The difference is that I'm blunt enough to admit it.

The Contrarian's Guide to Influence

When someone accuses you of being influenced, thank them for the compliment. Then ask them where their supposedly "original" ideas came from. Watch them squirm.

Consider Tony Robbins, who famously read hundreds of books and studied countless systems to develop his "Personal Power" program. Did that make his work less valuable or impactful? Quite the opposite.

By synthesizing the best ideas and adding his unique energy and framework, he created something that has helped millions. His power came not from originality in isolation, but from discernment, synthesis, and transformation.

The truly confident leader embraces their influences:

• From one leader, I learned the power of "binary Decision-Making"

• From a team member, I discovered what happens when you "treat people as humans first."

• From several spectacular failures, I learned exactly why we must focus on "evolution first, growth second"

This isn't imitation, it's evolution. It's how we fulfill our mission as "Trailblazers of revolutionary leadership."

Beyond Performance Management

The shift from performance management to performance leadership didn't happen because I had some mystical revelation. It happened because I observed the soul-crushing reality of traditional performance reviews and thought, "There has to be a better way."

Then I learned the process of human behaviour and realized why people don't change. Now I could do it differently, I studied people, adapted our methods, and built something new.

It's Time to Lead Different

The "crazy ones" we celebrate aren't those who pretend they invented leadership from scratch. They're the ones willing to learn from everyone, to absorb the wisdom of centuries, to stand on those giant shoulders—and then use that vantage point to see further than anyone else.

When you put people and purpose first, with profit naturally following, you're not being original. You're being smart. You're recognizing what actually works, regardless of who thought of it first.

So yes, I'm a patchwork of influences.

Every principle in Circle Leadership—from how we focus on punch out instead of punch in and out, to how we strengthen the relationship between culture and brand, came from somewhere. I just had the insight to recognize what worked, the wisdom to learn from it, and the clarity to simplify it into something revolutionary.

If that makes me Elvis, I'll take it.

Because Elvis didn't change music by inventing something from nothing.

He changed it by synthesizing everything into something powerful and new.

Together we can evolve the world of work.

One borrowed, adapted, and transformed idea at a time.

Davis Claresly has left the building...

Dave Clare, CEO & Founder of Circle Leadership

www.circleleadershipglobal.com