GREAT BUSINESS LEADERS do four things:
1. they DISCOVER.
Here, at The Executives Institute, you’ll study the guiding principles that have built the most respected companies and strengthened the most successful business leaders in America.
The Rules for building strong companies have not changed in decades. Businesses come and go. Their leaders change. These Rules do not.
America’s Business Library highlights the books that decision-makers keep on their shelves, not for decoration, for direction. These are the books behind the Rules.
2. they PRACTICE.
Studying the Rules is never enough. The real value comes when those guiding principles actually change how you lead and how (and why) you serve. You don’t have to “hustle and grind” yourself to death, but if you want lead a business (not just own one), you gotta show up. You gotta do the work.
yourWeeklyEdge is 50-week entrepreneurial challenge and leadership study of the Rules.
Whether you study alone or with your leadership team, completing the course is tough, not because the Rules are complex, but because they demand discipline.
3. they CONTRIBUTE.
The most valuable contribution our Institute can receive is the Main Street experience and hard-won lessons of business owners and operators across America. Anyone can sit here and read the Rules, the value (the power) comes when someone says, “Let me tell you how that played out in my company.”
Through our Executive Study Groups, 10k Leaders, and the Add Your Insight tool, business leaders compare notes and share their experiences. After all, if we’re not teaching, we’re not really leading.
4. they PRESERVE.
The Executives Institute is not being built by AI or by academic scholars. It’s being built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, to help us leave our profession stronger than we found it. This is an educational initiative designed to help business leaders face everyday challenges and build strong companies, while also building a rewarding life of significance and contribution. The greatest business builders in history didn’t succeed because they worked every waking hour. They succeeded because they understood the basic principles, and practiced them consistently. We want you to build a company that lasts, but also build a life that does too.
Together, we steward America’s entrpreneurial wisdom.
Through Donor Support and a The Executives Institute Endowment, we invest in the builders; the risk-takers, innovators and job creators of America —for this generation and the next.
I’m Kurt McSparron, Founder of The Executives Institute. I am very glad that you’re here.
Let me walk you through a 5-minute orientation and show you how to get the most out of this project: 🗂️ Executive Orientation
If you have more questions or just want to talk, email me, thedean@theexecutivesinstitute.com or connect* and message me on LinkedIn
*LinkedIn connections: I value common sense, courtesy and humility. If we connect and your first interaction is to try and sell me something, that will likely be the end of our connection. I seldom connect with executives outside the U.S., but occasionally, if we have mutual connections.
our Core Values; our enduring commitment:
At The Executives Institute, we believe leadership is more than a title, a position, or a collection of skills, it is a lifelong discipline. The greatest leaders never stop learning, never stop refining their judgment, never stop investing in others, and never stop thinking about the legacy they will leave behind. These are more than our core values; they are a way of thinking about leadership itself. They define how we approach business, how we serve one another, and how we fulfill our mission of preserving and advancing America’s entrepreneurial wisdom. Every program, every conversation, and every contribution to the Institute is guided by these four enduring commitments: Discover. Practice. Contribute. Preserve.
Discover
Every great leader is also a student.
We believe wisdom is earned over generations, not invented overnight. Discover means seeking out the timeless principles, proven strategies, and hard-earned lessons that have shaped successful businesses throughout history. We study the ideas that have stood the test of time, not because the past has all the answers, but because it provides the strongest foundation for solving today’s challenges.
Practice
Knowledge changes nothing until it changes how you lead.
Reading a great idea is easy. Living it is far more difficult. Practice means intentionally applying timeless business principles in the daily realities of leadership —making decisions, serving customers, building teams, and overcoming setbacks. Progress is measured not by what we know, but by what we consistently do.
Contribute
Every leader has something worth passing on.
No book contains every lesson. Some of the most valuable insights come from experience, the failures that reshaped us, the decisions that tested us, and the moments that changed the course of our businesses. Contribute means sharing those lessons generously so others can learn faster, avoid unnecessary mistakes, and build upon the experience of those who came before them.
Preserve
The greatest legacy of leadership is what remains after we’re gone.
Business wisdom is too valuable to disappear with retirements, career changes, or the passing of a generation. Preserve means protecting the principles, stories, and practical knowledge that define American entrepreneurship and ensuring they remain freely available for those who follow. Through thoughtful stewardship, generous support, and a commitment to future generations, we help build a resource that will continue strengthening leaders long after our own careers have ended.
~ a note from our Founder
I’ll be 59 this summer, and have spent most of my 40 years in business working directly with owners, operators and business executives. Through the years I’ve been recommended the same books 100 times, heard the same advice, repeatedly, and noticed most of us making the same mistakes. Most entrepreneurs do not succeed. But, many find moments of clarity and turning points that lead to incredible success stories. The point being, we all have a story, and those stories deserve to be told, long past the entrepreneurs and founders who lived them.
This year, 2026, we’re laying the foundation for a national archive of those stories and experiences, with the intent that it never actually be finished. We are inviting executives across the U.S. to help shape the cirriculum by sharing the lessons they’ve learned. My hope is that years from now, someone starting a business will have one place to study not just the great business books, but the wisdom of the people who actually built companies.
If this resonates with you, I hope you’ll join us in building something that lasts. One day, someone you’ll never meet will face a business challenge you’ve already overcome. Your experience could become the advice that changes their future.
Thank you. Kurt McSparron | Connect with me on LinkedIn or email
“As business leaders continue to add their insights and challenge these ideas, the institute becomes more valuable —not because it’s finished, but because it never will be.”
Our first full operating year begins Monday, January 4, 2027.
The Vision
- 📚 100 Fundamental Rules
- 📖 1000 Timeless Business Books
- 💬 10,000 Executive Insights
- 🧭 Engaged Business Leaders across all 50 States