Deepak Chopra Shares His Formula for Successful Leadership, and How to Make Your Own

By: Sarah Lynch

Deepak Chopra MD (official) has asked countless leaders about the secret to their success. They all repeat the same refrain: "I was lucky."

While luck is part of the formula, there's more to it, Chopra says. The alternative medicine advocate, author of more than 90 books, and Inc. magazine's latest cover subject, spoke with editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk on the Main Stage at the 2023 Inc. 5000 Conference, where he defined good luck as "opportunity meeting preparedness." Watch the full conversation here.?

Chopra knows a thing or two about leadership. He even has a formula for it, which he shared with a room full of ambitious Inc. 5000 founders using an easy-to-remember acronym: LEADERS.

• L: Look and listen. "Look and listen with your mind and your heart and your body," Chopra says.
• E: Emotional intelligence. "Be in touch with your own emotions. Be in touch with other people's emotions, which triggers empathy and compassion and joy."
• A: Awareness. "Don't be reactive. Cultivate intuition, creativity, a higher vision and purpose."
• D: Dream and do. Because "if you want to manifest the dream, you have to do it."
• E: Empowerment. This "happens when you're not afraid of being criticized."
• R: Responsibility. "Take responsibility if things go wrong."
• S: Synchronicity. "The magical ingredient," Chopra says. Some may call it good luck.

Achieving synchronicity means surrendering to the day's infinite opportunities and being prepared, Chopra says. To do so, he recommends asking four important questions at the start of the day: "Who am I? What do I want? What's my purpose? What am I grateful for?"

These four questions will help business leaders stay focused as they pursue their goals, Chopra told the audience. But they should also remember to value happiness, he adds. Of course, leaders need to make sure that they are offering something new, providing a benefit to society, and sharing expertise, he says, but leaders can't forget about the fun -- or personal fulfillment.

"Ask yourself, 'What would make me happy?' and your business should be around that," he says. "Otherwise, you'll be stressed."

More From The 2023 Inc. 5000 Conference:

Insights from the Inc. Masters -- the inner circle of Inc. 5000 honorees

• 6 Things to Expect From the Best CFO
• From Traditional B2B Company to A.I.-First Firm
• How I Support Women at My Company

THE FIRST-EVER DIGITAL HOME FOR THE INC. 5000 COMMUNITY

Built by Inc. in partnership with Capital One Business , the Growth Network is a digital platform available for free to all founders and CEOs of Inc. 5000 companies. Join the Growth Network here.

Follow us on social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads.