One of the things that I’ve noticed with all successful leaders, regardless of the kind of leader they are – whether business, non-profit or Church leader – is that the one trait all successful leaders share is incredible passion for, and commitment to, personal growth. And somehow that core trait is the reason for their incredible success (results) as leaders. They have a passion for growth in every area of their lives -intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and even in their relationships- and especially in the leadership ability. If you ever want to be a better or more successful leader there is no way you can ever get there without developing a passion and commitment to growth in your life, especially your leadership ability. Now sure there are many things in our lives that God can use in our lives to grow us, including painful experiences. However, there is another component to growth that is entirely in your hands. And there are two core truths about growth that you must accept and embrace if you’re ever to see tremendous growth in your own success as a leader.
1. Growth Is Always Intentional – it is never accidental. You are not going to grow automatically or even by accident. You will always plateau. But real measurable growth will always be preceded by an intention and commitment to grow on your part. I use the word commitment specifically because it conveys a core truth about intentional growth: that it takes commitment. Meaning, growth in your life both as an intellectual, spiritual and emotional being, and especially your growth as a leader won’t always be inherently fun or even convenient, and many times you just won’t feel like it, and that’s where the commitment part comes in.
2. Growth Is Entirely In Your Hands – it is never someone else’s responsibility. It is easy for us to read a sentence like that and roll our eyes and think “yeah, I know that, I’ve heard it a thousand times” yet our own lives bear testimony that our true view of growth is largely a passive one. That we in fact view growth as something that happens to us, and not something we happen to. That even though we may say we understand and believe that our growth is entirely in our own hands, it is clear from our lives that we think of growth as being a by-product of going to a conference, or the preaching ability of our pastor and how “good of a teacher” they are. Or we think of growth as something that is responsibility of the leaders of our organizations, “if they want us to grow, they better send us to seminars or give us training.” Or worst of all we only go in search of answers when we run into problems that we cannot seem to explain or fix. Either way, a passive grower is someone who expects external forces to be the cause of their growth. But the difference between a passive grower and an active grower is that as a leader you will switch from being at the mercy of the wind (passive) to engine-power where you are in complete control of the pace, quality and schedule of your growth.
So the question becomes am I intentional about my growth? And secondly, am I an active grower or a passive one ? The sad truth for many leaders who are at the top of their organizations, is that there is not going to be anyone looking over your shoulder to see if you are indeed being intentional and active in your personal growth – but the one area of your life that will let everyone know whether you are an accidental and passive learner are your results as a leader. Results don’t lie, just a like the report card of a student is an unambiguous and unmistakable reflection of how much time that student spent learning outside of school, whether doing their homework, reading and studying for tests -so in the same way the results of your leadership will tell you what kind of grower you are. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that the areas in your life or your leadership where you’ve enjoyed or seen the most success (results) recently, are the areas that you have grown the most in over the last few years or months, whether that is in your marriage, in your spiritual walk, or in one area of your business or organization or department.
But best all . . . you can change all that today. And your results will be there to tell the world of your personal growth transformation.
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