In our busy, modern world, it is sometimes difficult to isolate the core problem of a culture and find its basic answer—an answer that works. We often forget that pretense was the original sin management program initiated by Adam & Eve, and that this answer did not work for them. Nor does it work for us. Shakespeare said, “False heart must hide what false heart doth know.” For millions this is precisely their “solution.” However, we believe that trying to be our own “savior” for issues beyond our control, followed by hiding when these attempts inevitably fail, remains the core problem of human history and the fundamental reason Jesus came to rescue us.

After nearly 60 collective years of working with leaders in various countries in the fields of business and the professions, government, education, the arts and media, and the church, Bill & Grace Thrall and Bruce & Janet McNicol decided in 1995 to give their lives to offering the solution of God’s grace to this devastating problem sweeping many countries in the latter part of the 20thcentury. God’s grace is always the answer—not simply for entering the kingdom of heaven, which many of us understand, but for living well in that kingdom, which most of us do not experience.

This core problem of hiding has especially gained traction since the Enlightenment. The results have been colossal losses of healthy leaders and organizations, enormous financial reversals, and diminished kingdom expansion. Data coming in from Gallup, Harris, Barna, and other researchers confirm what many Christian leaders and committed followers of Jesus had suspected for some time: Despite mammoth efforts and countless sophisticated programs, transformed lives and healthy leaders are not the norm. The losses are incalculable.

In 1995 Bruce and Janet McNicol and their family moved from Chicago, Illinois to Phoenix, Arizona to address this central issue with Bill and Grace Thrall. Not long after, John & Stacey Lynch and the leadership of Open Door Fellowship in Phoenix followed in this pursuit.

In 1994 and 1995, four families from three states, including two widows, invested $375,000 to lay the base for a ministry whose experiential message of grace would transform thousands in multiple countries during the ensuing years.

In 1997 Leadership Catalyst released its first bestselling book, The Ascent of a Leader, in 2004 the second bestseller, TrueFaced, and in 2008, the third major book will be released, Bo’s Café. Along the way many collateral resources have been produced, including guides, booklets, videos, exercise tools. Most importantly, scores of “carriers” of this message have emerged from many organizations.

In 1998, through the counsel of Dr. Bobby Clinton, respected author, professor, and leadership development authority and the leadership of Mr. Alan Andrews, CEO of the US Navigators, Leadership Catalyst began working with its first major organizational client, the Navigators. Many have followed since then.

Today, Leadership Catalyst is recognized as an international resource for helping readers, leaders and groups discover the many freedoms of their identity, by learning to live truefaced. It is our prayer that one day, tens of thousands of communities around the globe will experience the freedoms of living authentically as the norm in all their key relationships.