Taming Your Crocodiles Practices: Daily Reflections for Leadership Depth

"Taming Your Crocodiles Practices is a personal tool for all leaders and followers looking to master authenticity and find greater purpose in their daily journey. Imagine the opportunity to explore who we are and what we want to accomplish — without fear. An extension of Hylke Faber's brilliant treatise, Taming Your Crocodiles, this book provides the component tools to unlearn fear-based leadership and practice constructive, creative, and inclusive behaviors with habit-forming frequency and consistency. A must for those ready to move past lip-service to liberation." — Toni Townes-Whitley, President, US Regulated Industries, Microsoft

How do I lead from the depth of who I am rather than from fear-based, conditioned thinking?
How do I shift my mindset to accelerate my growth?
How do I turn self-discovery and service into a daily habit?
How do I inspire others around me to keep growing and giving their best?
Hylke Faber explores these and other questions, offering tools for implementing leadership practices into everyday life and work. The exercises in this book — which can be used both as a standalone guide and as a companion to the Nautilus Silver Award–winning book Taming Your Crocodiles — will deepen your appreciation for the adventure of life and leadership, help you connect with your true calling, turn your fears into growth practices, and guide you in supporting others on their growth journey.

Praise for Taming Your Crocodiles Practices

“How do we know ourselves? Practice! Hylke’s newest book offers us seventy-seven
thoughtful and accessible practices toward greater self-discovery,
creative expression and ever-expanding potential.”
— Chris Ernst, Vice-President, Leadership & Organizational
Effectiveness, Workday; author of Boundary Spanning Leadership

“Taming Your Crocodiles Practices: Daily Reflections for Leadership Depth is a
magical combination of deeply wise insights and specific methods to make
these insights a reality in your life. I highly recommend this book for any
aspiring leader looking to grow professionally but, more importantly,
as a person.”
—Matt Oppenheimer, CEO, Remitly

“With great joy I have read this workbook. And it has pleased me to feel the
vulnerability of the author, which opens ways for both the reader and the
practitioner. Because of the vulnerability and openness of Hylke, he becomes
more of a co-passenger than a coach who tells you how it is. Also, I like the
fact that you have a choice of exercises related to your personal needs at every
given moment. Hylke really connects to the material, which for me is the
essence of personal leadership!”
— Wiet de Bruijn, Partner, Delight Group; former CEO VBK Publishers

“Hylke scores a home run again. Taming Your Crocodiles Practices: Daily Reflections
for Leadership Depth is a unique and easy-to-read, practical book on personal
and professional growth. Hylke reinforces key concepts from his first book,
continuously taking the reader out of their comfort zone and posing challenging
questions on how to think differently. In addition, by providing daily tips, he
helps shape positive habits and behaviors, with a growth mindset, all required to
be a great leader. I highly recommend his book for any current or future leader,
as well as for a reader in search of a purposeful and meaningful life.”
— Gioji Okuhara, Board Member & CEO, Brazilian consumer goods companies

“Through this simple yet powerful and practical book, I continue to explore
my fears, or crocodiles, and go deeper in myself. I connect to that place of
peace and of a growth mindset. With my busy life and working with world
humanitarian crises, this book helps me to be intentional and to continue
to practice my growth mindset and find that place of peace. The more I
practice leading with my authentic inner self, the more effectively I am able
to support leaders I work with globally. These practices apply universally:
across different cultures, countries, and religions. I highly recommend using
them, wherever you work and wherever you are from.”
— Dr. Valerie Nkamgang Bemo, MD-MPH,
Deputy Director, Emergency Response Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“A critical part of leadership requires the realization that we must continue
to learn and grow. We must find space to tame our fears so we can show our
vulnerability, honesty, and share encouragement in an authentic way. I found
this space while reading Taming Your Crocodiles Practices: Daily Reflections for
Leadership Depth. The concept of the crocodile and the owl is very relatable and
easy to integrate into a daily practice. I use this as a reminder to stay on the edge
of discovery and wonder, which has opened my eyes to infinite possibilities.”
—Marci Marra, Partner, Sia Partners

“Taming Your Crocodiles Practices underscores an important point that the academic
literature on leadership has largely overlooked—to wit, that the first step a would be
leader must take in the art of leading an organization is knowing thy self. Once
you have your own act together, you can start to lead others.”
— Ray Horton, Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Ethics &
Corporate Governance at Columbia Business School

“In his new book, Taming Your Crocodiles Practices: Daily Reflections for Leadership
Depth, Hylke accurately and thoughtfully captures the fundamental
development challenge that all humans face: that is to manage our limbic
system and to master our fears so that we can uncover our true, loving nature.
The practices in this book help us to lead from our heart’s wisdom, rather
than from our fear-based conditionings.”
—Andrew Blum, CEO, The Trium Group

“When you step into a leadership role the weight of responsibility is
immediately evident. Among the emotions that confront the moment
are thoughts of worthiness and doubt. Embracing the challenge means
amplifying your own capacity to explore and understand effective coaching
skills that lead teams to success.
Taming Your Crocodiles Practices: Daily Reflections for Leadership Depth
is a powerful platform to gain skills for reflection, perspective, and
growth. Leaders must use these essential tools—not only for their own
journey, but also for the people they engage and the organizations they
serve. This book presents realistic challenges and powerful questions to help
leaders gain depth in creative thinking, purposeful discussions and decision
making. Regardless of career stage or job title, this book provides a valuable
and essential framework for all professionals.”
— Carol Geiger-Wank, alumna, Columbia Business School Executive
Education Leader as Coach, senior leader in a governmental agency

“My ninety-year-old Uncle Bill is one of the happiest people I know. He has
a modest garage filled with tools he has used throughout his life to make
changes, do repairs, or perform maintenance. With the release of Taming Your
Crocodiles Practices, Hylke Faber has created a perfect sequel to his inspired
book, Taming Your Crocodiles. He has gifted us an exceptional set of tools and
practices to enable key life changes, initiate behavioral repairs, and perform
the maintenance on our own lives and relationships, so that we may be better
leaders and realize greater humanity in our actions. The seventy-seven daily
practices can be used solo, in a duet, or as an ensemble work. They have
been lovingly derived via an extraordinary synthesis of his global consulting
practice, multi-disciplinary research, the study of music and his learning
journeys through Eastern and Western philosophies. Bravo, Hylke!”
—Rebecca Kerr, Founder, Global Creative Solutions Group

“The leader today has already taken many courses in the market. So, what’s
next? With this practical book, Hylke paves us a path to accelerate our growth
through warm and compassionate guidance, and with exercises that we can
apply from minute one. He reminds us that true, honest leaders roll up their
sleeves practicing and reflecting daily, have a solid base about who they are,
and accept and work with their shadows, because it is not about hiding but
about taming our crocodiles. This book is such a gift for us!”
— Bibiana Badenes, PT (physical therapist), rolfing practitioner, somatic coach

“Growing as a person hurts sometimes. In discussion with my crocodiles and
looking for my owls daily, I find it very helpful to have this rich portfolio of
practices available to me that Hylke shares in his new book. When I’m puzzled
how to move on, they help me to see things from a different perspective, or
to recognize old patterns in the various aspects of my leadership. Is it my
overdrive again, acting too dominant, do I really listen for other people’s
intentions, and underlying interests, do I give my wisdom enough space?
The practical exercises don’t ask lots of time or study. Knowing there will
always be new crocodiles showing up and owls emerging, I’m pleased to now
have this travel guide on my never-ending tough, yet inspiring journey of
leadership.”
— Erica Schaper, President, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences

“Hylke’s new book provides us with a daily dose of self-knowledge. The
seventy-seven practices are great for learning something new every day and
reflecting on yourself and your business environment. It helps me to be more
attentive, to understand human behavior better, to see things more calmly
and to find better solutions for big and small problems. It is written in a vivid
and humorous way. I especially liked the examples of Crocodile FM and Owl
FM as permanent radio stations in our heads. Hylke always asks fascinating
questions. One of the most profound questions for me was from practice
7, ‘What is most important to me?’ I recommend this book to anyone who
wants to learn more about themselves and others and feels ready to grow.”
—Mark Schlegel, Director Sales & Marketing, Roxxlyn Design GmbH