Leaders urged to embrace real conviction over performance
The latest book from business strategist Glenn Llopis examines why corporate burnout persists even among high performers. He attributes the problem to leaders masking their true feelings rather than addressing them directly.
In Earning Conviction: The Practice That Redirects Leaders from Exhausted to Unshakable, Llopis identifies what he calls the “conviction crisis.” Many professionals, he explains, spend years projecting confidence they don’t genuinely feel while battling systems that resist meaningful change. The outcome is a generation of leaders who appear successful on the surface but struggle internally to maintain their momentum.
Capability isn’t the same as conviction
“Leaders burn out not from overwork but from constant pretense,” Llopis stated. “We’ve trained professionals to display confidence they lack and push for change in environments built to block it.”
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The book, scheduled for release on July 7, 2026, presents 101 specific redirects. These shifts aim to help leaders transition from exhaustion to lasting resilience. The central idea: competence is what you demonstrate; conviction is what anchors you when external pressures threaten to derail you. Unlike confidence, it cannot be performed.
Jeff Blue, the A&R executive behind Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory, contributed the foreword. He describes conviction as the unseen quality that distinguishes enduring figures from those who fade. “It’s raw, compelling, and spreads naturally,” Blue wrote. “Llopis has created a structure to discover it, strengthen it, and lead through it.”
A practice, not a personality trait
Llopis stresses that conviction develops through effort. “It grows from self-awareness, the decisions you make in private, and the commitment to keep evolving instead of just preserving what you have,” he said. The book includes an online assessment at theglennllopis.com/ec-assessment to help readers measure their progress.
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GLLG Press publishes the book, which will be available in print and digital formats. It targets professionals who’ve followed conventional paths to success yet still feel something vital is missing.
Llopis added, “Conviction is the ability to remain true to yourself when everything pushes against you. It can’t be manufactured or commanded.”
