Built With Brooks C. Holtom, PhD: Why EO Vietnam's Leadership Program Stands With the Best

Most founders have heard some version of the same advice: be a better leader. Almost nobody tells you how. That gap is exactly what Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Vietnam set out to close when we built Leadership in the AI Era with Brooks C. Holtom, PhD, Professor of Management at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.

This was not a case of licensing a name for credibility. Holtom, one of the most cited researchers in the world on employee retention with more than 27,000 academic citations to his name, built the curriculum directly with our team, for founders leading in Vietnam.

Three levels of leadership

The program is built around a simple structure, three levels that build on each other.

Lead yourself. Before you can lead anyone else, you need clarity on your own habits, blind spots, and how you make decisions under pressure. Most leadership problems start here, long before they show up on a team.

Lead others. Once you understand yourself, the program moves to how you coach, recruit, and negotiate with the people who report to you directly. This is where leadership stops being theory and starts being a daily practice.

Lead the organization. The final level zooms out. It looks at how your choices as a leader shape culture, structure, and the direction of the business as a whole, not just your team, but everyone downstream of you.

What changes because of AI

None of this happens in a vacuum. AI is changing how decisions get made, how teams communicate, and how fast a founder has to adapt. The program does not treat AI as a side topic bolted onto the curriculum. It sits inside every level, from how you manage your own time to how you build a team that works alongside new tools instead of around them.

What is next

The program runs once per quarter. Lead yourself and lead others make up the first quarter. Lead the organization and finance follow in the second. We will share exact dates the moment they are locked. If you want to be first to know, reach out to our team or keep an eye on our channels.

About Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO)

Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) is a global, not-for-profit membership community of 20,000 leading business founders and owners representing more than 90 countries and 220 chapters worldwide. Founded in 1987, EO helps entrepreneurs move the world forward by unlocking their full potential through the power of trusted connections, leadership development, and premier learning opportunities that support the whole person. Learn more at eonetwork.org.