Everyone Deserves Growth
I’ve read a lot of stuff on leadership over the years but this is one aspect that I think gets neglected, and its core to the whole thing.
Its the idea that everyone deserves growth.
When people agree to be a part of your project or to help grow your business they do so because in helping you go where you want to go they also get to go somewhere they want to go.
Its the reason why mutually agreed goals are at the heart of any relationship.
After all what guarantee of growth do we have in life other than the belief that we are on a path that will bring stimulating challenges our way.
But for anyone in a leadership role it goes way beyond that.
It requires a commitment to not only your own growth and that of your organization but also to the growth of people on your team. Not just in terms of ‘Professional Development’ either, but in a personal ‘are people having their growth hunger satiated?’ kind of way.
Because personal growth is exactly that — ‘personal’. As personal as the individual dreams and aspirations of every one of us.
Embrace this and it becomes apparent that the idea of ‘Everyone Deserves Growth’ is in fact the first principle of leadership.
After all, if your people aren’t growing why should they be inspired by anything you ask them to do? And if you can’t inspire your people what right have you to be a leader?
In practice, this principle should even be applied in situations where not all team members are doing well.
People who are struggling in their role need to grow just as much (perhaps more?) than people who are doing well. In extreme cases you can even characterize an individual being let go as a growth enabling act. After all someone who is having a hard time isn’t going to find success by standing still.
On the more positive end of the scale, get your team stoked on growth by responding in a genuine way to people’s growth needs and by planning the path ahead with their agreement and they will follow you as you lead the way.
For more on startup management check out 139 Startup Notes — 139 of my notes drawn from my personal experience as COO of Unbounce.com
