About Perceptual Intelligence®
Perceptual Intelligence® is a leadership strategy that identifies the root causes of emotional and behavioral problems in the workplace, enabling transformations in leaders and organizational culture.
This leadership philosophy was first outlined by founder, Erik Van Alstine, in the first book in the Perceptual Intelligence® Series, Automatic Influence: New Power for Change in Work and Life (New York: Stone Lounge Press, 2016).
Since the book’s release we have developed the full 19-lesson digital course that is being offered as part of enterprise-wide culture transformation efforts in large corporations, schools, and government agencies.
Since September 2005, I’ve dedicated the first two hours of my day to writing. Over three hundred days a year. No morning appointments. No calls or emails. A total time-block for deep thinking, problem-solving, getting solutions to paper.
In the nearly ten thousand hours invested from that day to now, my sole purpose has been to empower you to lead change in work and life, to give you profound, powerful, and elegant solutions to serious personal and organizational challenges.
In the process, I’ve discovered the revolutionary clarity of Perceptual IntelligenceTM. I’ve found ways to help you overcome and get ahead in your personal life, in your relationships, in your work teams. I’ve discovered the roots of love and humility and organizational health. I’ve watched them work. Not just for me and my family and my businesses. For many many others.
It’s my pleasure and honor to share these hard-won insights, the high-priced clarity and power, with you through books and courses and partnership with talented trainers and coaches and consultants. It’s also my joy to continue developing ways to boost your power to lead and live.
— Erik Van Alstine
About Erik Van Alstine
Erik Van Alstine is a humorous, dynamic communicator and strategic leader whose mission is to promote transformation in people and organizations around the world.
After graduating with an engineering degree from the University of Washington, Erik started an advertising communication company and grew it over seven years to near Inc. 500 status and multi-millions in sales before the age of 30. In 1999, Erik founded an internet publishing company that grew to 1.5 million readers in over 180 countries around the world.
Erik is the author of Automatic Influence: New Power for Change in Work and Life, along with a companion digital course that is transforming the health and vitality of leaders and their company cultures. In this work Erik introduced the concept of Perceptual Intelligence®.
Erik is also the author of several upcoming books in the Perceptual Intelligence® Series, including Radically Receptive: How to Love Feedback and Learn from Everyone, The Motivation Equation: A Formula for Change in a Challenging World, and Perceptual Intelligence: The Science of Mental Strength for a Highly Constructive Life.
Erik is founder of several companies, including a leadership consulting firm figure headed by Harvard Business School’s most recognized professor of leadership. Erik’s other companies have served several New York Times bestselling authors, company executives, and the largest retailers in the world.
He and his wife Sandy have six children, have been married for thirty-three years, and live in the Seattle area.
Erik has a message of wisdom that's profound, practical, and powerful.
—John Bevere, President, Messenger International
Profound, Significant Empowerment
Teaches how to optimize emotions, motivations, and behavior.
Optimal Decisions and Alignment
Helps leaders and teams paddle in the best direction.
Transforming Happiness and Morale
Builds happy people who get things done and get better together.
What is Perceptual Intelligence® Training and How Does It Help?
The first step to Perceptual IntelligenceTM is to understand the nature of perception, to know what perception is and how it works. This includes the way we characterize things and situations, then the way we evaluate them as good and bad. It includes sensory experience, but also imagination and memory. It involves perceptual limits and the “lock and block” effect created by those limits. Finally, it includes views of self, others, situations, and life.
Once we understand the nature of perception, we look at the dynamics of perception, emotion, motivation, and behavior. We learn to identify categories of “See,” “Feel,” and “Act,” and see how these categories automatically influence each other. Instead of hacking the branches in a futile effort to change emotions and behaviors, we strike the root, following the smart change strategy of starting with perception.Once the foundational ideas are solid, we start optimizing corporate culture and every area of life by embedding four prime perceptions: views of self and others that improve the way we work in organizations and live our lives. Changes that seemed almost impossible before we understood this power are now profoundly easier.