Getting Growing ...

I rarely lack for vision and goals, but I've become a bit tired of goal setting.  There are so many variables at play that at times goals are really nothing more than my best hope for an ideal outcome.  I'm okay with that because as one friend is fond of saying 'if you shoot for the moon and miss, you just might hit a star!' 

As I weighed out where I wanted to go in 2017 and what I wanted to accomplish, I came to the conclusion that what I needed more than goals was a plan to grow.  My job has changed considerably.  My responsibilities have increased.  I have more to manage.  I have more to lead.  I am responsible for finding high capacity people and recruit them to join our team. Most of all, I am tasked with the challenge of turning a comprehensive vision into a national reality.  These are huge changes for me and ones that require something more than just another list of goals. 

Flatlined leaders have believed the lie that growth 'just happens'.  You can identify flatlined leaders by listening carefully.  They are replaying the same script that they playing a year ago!  The reality is that growth happens because we plan to grow.  Growth is INTENTIONAL! Getting intentional for me means that I devote an hour of my day, 5 days a week to personal/professional growth.  Some days I read and take notes, some days I listen to podcasts.  Some days I watch a video.  

Six weeks into my plan, I am seeing enormous growth and results.  Some of that growth is seen the way I am thinking.  Some of it is showing in the way I respond to situations and people around me.  Some of my growth appears in the content I have at my disposal in conversation and coaching.  It's been refreshing to do something more than repeating the same ideas I've had for years.  (Admittedly, not every new idea is a good idea, but not every new idea is a bad one either!)

I ran my first marathon in 2012.  Training was hard work and required more discipline and mental toughness than anything I had done before.  My muscles were sore more days than they weren't, but I grew from being a rookie runner into being a marathoner.  It wasn't always easy, but it was incredibly rewarding to cross the finish live upright and alive on race day!  

I'm seeing the same kind of growth happening in my life.  It's not always easy.  Some days I'm challenged on things that I've just been lazy about.  Some days I'm confronted with blind spots that I have intentionally ignored.   Other days, it's like I get an 'atta-boy' when something I've believed is confirmed to be true.  (It's rare, but it happens!)

If you're leading ANYTHING, you need to find a way to be intentional about your growth.  The people you lead, the people who look to you need you to be a growing leader!
What are you waiting for?  Get growing!