I recently responded to an article by John Maxwells called, Accidental Growth Versus Purposeful Growth. You can read it here.
Great article and challenge. I believe a personal growth plan starts with:
1. Reading good books, (ask your leaders what are they reading) Don’t let money stop you, – just go the library. Eventually you will want to develop your own library. Here’s a list of a few book i’ve read,
2. Connecting with a mentor or someone you can talk to and ask questions. Start rubbing shoulders with leaders. It may be uncomfortable at first but if you hang around turkeys, what do you think will eventually happen? Hand around eagles. Make friends on purpose. Ask someone to mentor you.
3. Getting involved. We can read about personal growth and leadership until we are blue in the face but we must get dirty. Discover your call and get in there and make something happen. Take chances, take a risk. Do something different. Practice, develop and you will grow.
I appreciate those in my life who have caused me to grow. I’ve been challenged and it’s all been good for me. It really is true, “Your influence as a leader can’t grow unless you do”.
Thanks again for this posting.
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One thing I realized after making my response was that, if you notice, personal growth is not so personal. It involves other people. Those who are working with us and those who we are working with. It’s what we practice and learn in private that helps us to be better and more effective with people around us.
Another important factor is that many times personal growth is going to cost you. It will cost you money, time and sacrifice. Eventually you will need to spend some money for your personal growth. It’s not free and it ain’t cheap. (Don’t say ain’t when you ain’t suppose to) You may need to go back to school, take some training classes, buy some books. It’s going to cost you. In my case, I had to go back to school again and again and again. I thought it would never end. It hasn’t. I have a long way to go.
I reminded of a quote, I recently tweeted about on Nov. 15th, 209. I wrote; “No pressure, No Diamonds”. How true that is. Too many times people want it way too easy. Instant results, instant harvest, instant growth. But I’m also reminded of a illustration I heard someone say a long time ago. It goes something like this; If you want to grow squash, that should take a few weeks, but if you want to grow an oak tree, that my friend is going to take a little longer. Just like squash grows very quickly, it also dies very quickly. But an oak tree take much more time but in the end it last much longer, is strong and can stand again just about every blow of life.
So, I’m curious what type of personal growth plan do you have? How do you plan to get better? By accident or on purpose?
