I’m very excited about my upcoming book, Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life, coauthored by Mark Miller from Chick-fil-A and published by our good friends at Berrett-Koehler. It will be available to everyone this Tuesday, February 7.
Like many of my books, Great Leaders Grow is an easy-to-read parable, but its message is significant: Our capacity to grow determines our capacity to lead. In today’s economy, this is more important than ever before. Will you be a leader who is always ready to face the next challenge? Or will you be a leader who tries to apply yesterday’s solutions to today’s problems?
Mark and I are convinced that the path to increased influence, impact, and leadership effectiveness is paved with personal growth. Growth is at the heart of what creates and sustains great leaders. And the lack of personal growth sabotages the careers of more leaders than anything else. Case in point: A leader mentioned in the book was terminated after fourteen years with the same company. Because he wasn’t learning and growing, he had basically repeated his first year of service fourteen times. The world is moving too fast to rely on past success and past knowledge alone. Leaders must continue to grow.
We believe that great leaders make a choice to GROW in four areas. In a nutshell, to be a great leader, you must:
- Gain Knowledge
- Reach Out to Others
- Open Your World
- Walk toward Wisdom
In the next few blogs, I’ll expand on each of these ideas. In the meantime, in both your professional and personal life, think about whether you are growing in these four areas. And remember: Continuing to learn and grow leads not only to professional success, but also to personal fulfillment.