Steve Lowisz leading a DEC session in front of the Guide How People Think slide

Detroit Economic Club Emerging Leaders

GDD Foundations - Six live sessions

Driving got you noticed. Guiding gets you promoted.

For company-sponsored, high-potential leaders ready to stop driving and start guiding - and become the standard their people can carry.

Apply for the 2027 CohortDownload the session overview (one-page PDF)See the cohort schedule

Application-only. Limited seats. Six sessions built around live work, peer checks, and evidence that your behavior changed.

Detroit Economic ClubDEC Emerging Leaders
Citizens BankHost
Powered by Guide Don't Drive

Detroit Economic Club and Lowisz Leadership Institute. Steve Lowisz and LLI know why driving earned your trust, your results, and your reputation. They guide you with the empathy to understand that pride and the authority to show you why it cannot lead you to the next rung.

What you become

The leader whose standard stays standing.

The driver

Carries it. Controls it. Keeps every decision.

You rose by out-working the room, doing what others would not, and personally enforcing the standard.

The guide

Holds under pressure through people, without you in the room.

The next rung belongs to leaders who can create performance that does not depend on their constant presence. That is the shift this installation demands.

Bring the work you are carrying

Leave with people who can carry the standard.

Six live sessions built to turn driver instincts into guide behavior.

Real work between sessions so the change happens in your role, not in a workbook.

Evidence and peer checks that show whether the standard held when pressure hit.

DEC Emerging Leaders alumni

Leaders in the room come from

  • Citizens Bank
  • General Motors
  • DTE Energy
  • Plante Moran
  • Comerica Bank
  • Henry Ford Health
  • Dakkota Integrated Systems
  • NBS Commercial Interiors

DEC GDD Foundations

The 2027 Cohort

Application-only. Limited seats.

Six in-person sessions

8:30 to 11:30 AM Eastern

Held every three weeks.

Dates - all 2027

  • 01 March 10
  • 02 March 31
  • 03 April 21
  • 04 May 12
  • 05 June 2
  • 06 June 23

Hosted by Citizens Bank

27777 Franklin Road
Southfield, Michigan

Three weeks apart on purpose. Install the behavior. Test it between sessions. This is an installation, not a one-day seminar.

The installation

Six sessions. Six installs. Driver out. Guide in.

Each session confronts the instinct that made you the driver, installs the guide behavior that replaces it, and produces a hard output from real work. This is identity transformation, not a skills workshop.

How it works

  1. Apply for a seat.

    Application-only. Limited seats. Bring a real responsibility you are ready to lead differently.

  2. Get accepted into the cohort.

    Join company-sponsored, high-potential leaders ready to stop driving and start guiding.

  3. Install it. Test it. Bring proof.

    Six in-person sessions, three weeks apart. Practice on live work between meetings.

  4. Lead as a guide.

    Hold the standard through your people. Build the behavior the next rung demands.

Session 01

Winning

Define winning, or you're just driving fast.

Drivers chase the number and call it strategy. You'll define what winning actually is - in behavior, not slogans - and the standards you won't trade to hit it. Walk out knowing exactly what you're leading people toward.

See how it works - Session 1
The driver instinct
Treat everything as urgent. Take every deadline. Out-work the conflict instead of forcing clarity.
What you install
Define Winning with a Score and Guardrails. Get the decision-maker to resolve the tradeoff before you commit your people to everything.
You practice
Two people give you conflicting deadlines. You surface the tradeoff and get the priority agreed before a deadline gets missed.
You walk out with
One clear result from your role, its score and guardrails, a seven-day commitment, and the authority needed to resolve competing priorities.

Session 02

Identity

Lead from who you are, not how you feel.

Under pressure, drivers react, rescue, or avoid. You'll anchor how you lead to your identity so the standard holds when it's tested, not just when it's easy. Walk out steady while everyone else scrambles.

See how it works - Session 2
The driver instinct
Interrupt, rescue, assume, or avoid when the deadline slips. Your intent stops mattering. Your reaction becomes your identity.
What you install
Name the trigger and choose the identity you will hold under pressure. Replace the reaction with an observable behavior your people can trust.
You practice
Someone brings bad news. You get clear on facts and support before deciding what happens next.
You walk out with
One behavior to stop, one to start, a real conversation to practice them in, and feedback from someone affected.

Session 03

Behavior

Stop being the answer to every question.

Drivers make themselves the bottleneck and call it helpful. You'll install the behavior that makes people think and own the next move. Walk out with people who bring you decisions, not questions.

See how it works - Session 3
The driver instinct
Jump in, give the answer, and call it helpful. The work moves once, then comes straight back for the next decision.
What you install
Set the result, decision boundaries, and support. Ask questions that make thinking visible, then leave the next action with its owner.
You practice
What should I do becomes facts, options, and a decision the person can own.
You walk out with
A real ownership conversation, decision boundaries, and a clear agreement about who owns the next action.

Session 04

Tolerance

Say the thing. Now, not later.

Drivers let it slide and call it patience while the standard erodes. You'll name what you won't tolerate and practice the conversation that resets it fast. Walk out able to hold the line without torching the relationship.

See how it works - Session 4
The driver instinct
Cover the missed commitment, protect the relationship, and carry the frustration yourself. Your rescue teaches everyone what is actually acceptable.
What you install
Separate unclear expectations from missed commitments. Name the facts, hold the standard, and make the next step owned.
You practice
A peer misses a handoff. You address the agreed commitment directly and bring in the right decision-maker when the fix is outside your authority.
You walk out with
A conversation you have been putting off, a clear standard, and an evidence check on what changes next.

Session 05

Standards / Recovery

Catch the drift before it becomes the culture.

Drift is inevitable. Recovery is optional. You'll spot where the standard has slipped and install how to bring it back on purpose. Walk out with a standard that survives contact with reality.

See how it works - Session 5
The driver instinct
Hope the standard recovers on its own, then seize the work when it does not. You absorb the cost and the owner learns nothing.
What you install
Address drift within 24 hours. Restate the standard, identify the gap, and have the owner define the Recovery approach and its evidence.
You practice
A commitment breaks. You name the drift early and ask the owner to define how they will return to standard.
You walk out with
A Recovery conversation within 24 hours where the owner defines the approach and the evidence check.

Session 06

Weekly Performance

Make it hold every week, not just this one.

Motivation fades by Monday. Discipline compounds. You'll install the weekly cadence that keeps the standard alive after the program ends. Walk out with a rhythm that turns one good week into a leader people count on.

See how it works - Session 6
The driver instinct
Accept busy updates, chase every loose end, and become the weekly performance system. Seven days later, nothing visible has changed.
What you install
Run the weekly rhythm. Check evidence, not activity. Make the next action owned and visible within seven days. Reinforce the behavior that must hold without you.
You practice
I am working on it becomes what changed, what is blocked, who owns the decision, and when you will check again.
You walk out with
A weekly check using the real result, last commitment, evidence, and next owned action, plus proof of progress and a 90-day plan.

Take the next step

Apply for the 2027 Cohort

Get the DEC cohort details, time commitment, and investment for GDD Foundations.

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Download the session overview (one-page PDF)

From DEC Emerging Leaders Academy participants

The change, in their words.

“The biggest change for me was understanding the difference between driving people and guiding them.”

Ebonee Patterson-Martin

Senior Compensation and Performance Analyst

Dakkota Integrated Systems

“What made this approach unique was the operating system. It provides structure, feedback, and practical takeaways you can use in your everyday work.”

Carl Rivera

Relationship Manager

Comerica Bank

“I realized that treating every person the same was not always the most effective way to lead.”

Michael Mannina

Assistant Clinical Manager

Henry Ford Health

“It taught me to think differently about leadership and how to apply those ideas in my day-to-day work.”

Dr. Issra Mehdi

Senior Strategist

DTE Energy

“The leadership operating system is a repeatable model for how to manage and lead a team.”

Zac Sepanik

General Manager

NBS Commercial Interiors

Inside the room

Real people. Real work. A higher standard.

DEC participants engaged in a live session with Steve Lowisz
Steve Lowisz in a gray jacket teaching at a whiteboard with participants seated around tables
Steve Lowisz in a light-blue shirt talking with participants during a session
Steve Lowisz teaching guide behaviors during a DEC session
Steve Lowisz with DEC emerging leaders gathered around tables during a session
Steve Lowisz seated in a gray armchair

Meet your guide

Steve Lowisz

Steve understands why taking charge got you here. He leads the installation by helping you practice a different way: guiding people to think, own decisions, and hold the standard without you doing it all.

A live installation

Not a class you forget by Monday.

Guide, Don’t Drive™ is the Human Performance Operating System. It connects how an organization defines Winning, assigns ownership, holds standards, and delivers performance. The full system starts with the CEO and runs through the organization.

DEC GDD Foundations is the personal six-session on-ramp: Winning, identity, behavior, standards, Recovery, and weekly performance installed in the way you lead real work.

This is not the full organization installation. That work starts with the CEO, runs through the organization, and is separately scoped.

Explore the GDD Operating System

Details before you decide

DEC GDD Foundations FAQs.

Application-only. Limited seats.

Keep driving and get passed over. Become the guide and earn the next rung.

Your next role requires a standard that holds under pressure, through your people, without you in the room.

For company-sponsored, high-potential leaders ready for the next rung.

Apply for the 2027 Cohort