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Growth is Worth It
By Mark Cole
John Maxwell wrote a
blog post on A Leader’s
Silent Investment. I was captivated by this thought and wanted
to spend some time unpacking this further with you.
I fully affirm
John’s belief that personal growth is a leader’s greatest silent investment.
Let’s break this down…
What
makes personal growth silent? Well, just as
John said, “it doesn’t speak up, it shows up!”
Personal growth always shows up in your actions.
Why
is personal growth a great investment? Focusing on your
growth will require you to pay a price, but as John says, “it’s not a price
if it yields a return. That’s when it becomes an investment.”
Now, growth doesn’t
happen accidentally. You have to be intentional in seeking out opportunities
for personal growth.
I’ve
always enjoyed this quote from Bruce Springsteen, “A time comes when you
need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you
want to be.”
I believe the most
dangerous trap you can fall into right now is to make growth a priority tomorrow.
Here are four things
you can focus on to become more intentional with your growth, today!
1.
Be reflective. Experience is
not your greatest teacher; evaluated experience is. John spends two hours of
reflection time for every hour of interaction time.
2.
Be curious. George Bernard Shaw
said, “Some people see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things
that never were and ask why not.”
3.
Make contributions. Pour into
other people around you.John says, “The measure of success is not the number
of people who serve you, but the number of people you serve.”
4.
Keep it simple! Find a resource that will help you
grow and learn from it. It could be a book, a person, an event or an ongoing
program; whatever it is, start learning from it now.
Years
ago, I was listening to John Maxwell teach on growth and he said something that
changed the trajectory of my leadership journey: “When I started my career,
I was intentional about working, reaching my goals, and being successful. I had
a strategy: hard work. I hoped that would get me where I wanted to go. But
working hard doesn’t guarantee success. And hope is not a strategy.”
After hearing these
words, I began asking myself some questions that I believe will help you on
your grow as well.
· Where do you want to go in life?
· What are your greatest strengths and
weaknesses?
· How can you improve your relationships?
· What obstacles stand in the way of
your growth?
· Whose advice can you get to help you
along the way?
If you want to reach
your potential and become a great leader, you have to do much more than just
experience life.
You will not be able
to learn what you need to along the way by merely hoping to learn. Growth
opportunities have to be seized! Get out there and go after it.
There will be a
price for growth, just like anything worthwhile, but the question is: are you
willing to pay it?
One thing I can
promise you from experience — it’s worth it!
Mark Cole
serves as the CEO of all John Maxwell Companies and has more than 25 years of
leadership and team development experience, which uniquely qualifies him to
have an integral role and be the champion of the John C. Maxwell brand. He is
committed to adding value to individual leaders and leadership teams. Mark has
experience in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, and he has led
companies through economic challenges, growth barriers, and disconnected team
dynamics.
Mark
has learned team development from the world’s leading source of expertise: John
C. Maxwell. Mark has worked more closely with John than anyone else in the
world, and brings exclusive access to John’s real time principles to the Team.
Mark delivers time tested leadership principles ranging from personal
leadership to multi-corporation leadership. He resources leaders to develop
those around them, ensuring teams are working to their highest potential.
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