First a quote: “The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” – Harvey S. Firestone
Hello and happy Monday.
Farmers fertilize their fields and crops, craftspeople sharpen their tools, IT professionals upgrade their servers and software, operations people upgrade their equipment and factories. Leaders grow their people and, perhaps more importantly, grow other leaders.
I have always believed that you can’t grow your business if you can’t, or don’t, grow your people. That statement has never been truer than in our current employment environment and it has been a rallying cry for most of my career.
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch
Most people will barely scratch the surface of their full potential, nor will they accomplish everything they are cable of, throughout their lives. For many, we’re kind of like 10-speed bicycles… most of us have gears we will never use.
When I was a young, inexperienced manager, I went into my boss’s office to complain about the individuals I was being asked to manage. I suspect I was complaining about their attitudes, or perhaps their work ethic, or maybe even a combination of both. He listened patiently to my tale of woe. And then, through his mentoring and coaching, he changed my perspective on one of the most important roles of a managers and leaders.
He explained how management, in its most basic form, is getting work done through others. Simple enough. But he then offered an expanded, and more enlightened point of view about the real essence of leadership.
Part of the issue was my frame of reference… seeing the people I managed as workers, not as human beings with dreams, aspirations, and hopes of a better life. He went on to explain that as managers of people, we have an opportunity, and indeed a responsibility, to influence careers, shape lives, and most importantly, expand peoples’ capacity for success. The “work to be done” is simply the “clay” used in the human development process.
What a paradigm shift for me!
Workers are human beings, each with their own set of fears, hopes, concerns, dreams, problems, aspirations, and mostly untapped potential. Who would have ‘thunk’ such a thought? Certainly not me at the time.
Not only did this mental shift change my outlook on my role as a manager… it ultimately changed the direction of my career. Please know I was never the model of a perfect manager, however, that simple shift in thinking allowed me to reach levels I would not have imagined earlier in my management career.
That mentoring greatly influenced how I chose to spend the last thirty years of my career. People, leadership, and organizational development have always been at the center of my consulting practice. Even now, they remain my primary focus as I write the last couple of chapters of my professional career.
So today, I offer you this challenge: Starting this week, look at the people you’re managing and leading. What actions, what discussions, what opportunities can you provide for them to learn, grow, and expand their capacities for success?
Figure that out. Schedule a meeting with one person this week to discuss their continued growth and development.
“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.” ― John Wooden
Maybe someday, they will be writing a blog about how you influenced and elevated their level of success, or the trajectory of their career. Just maybe you will grow other leaders who also see it as their responsibility to grow other leaders.
How will you love, live, or lead, differently, or better, this week?
Sincerely,
Bryan Yager
“Expanding Your Capacity for Success”
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Bonus Quotes:
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“It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed.” – Harvey S. Firestone
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“The best way to develop responsibility in people is to give them responsibility.” – Kenneth H Blanchard
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“If your business is to grow and prosper, as a leader, you need to focus on people development.” – Robert T Kiyosaki
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“Personal Development – the never ending chance to improve not only yourself, but also to attract opportunities and affect others.” – Jim Rohm
