How can your personal growth affect your business results?

We have all heard that you can only grow your business or your team to your level as a leader. Which also implies that you need to work on yourself and develop yourself constantly. In fact, Jim Rohn used to say, you need to work harder on yourself than you do your job. Do you invest time in your own development? How can you develop your leadership, as of today? 

The impact of a growth mindset 

I say that we need to invest 20% of our time on our growth and that we need to keep at it, to grow, to learn, to develop throughout our professional life. It never ends. Carol Dweck has defined this as growth mindset vs a fixed mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that their success depends on time and effort. Their skills and intelligence can be improved through effort and persistence. 

I invite you to put on your beginner’s mind and explore what you can learn, what can help you be the best version of yourself, what you can apply and maybe even, but just maybe, still transform. 

I have seen many leaders not invest in their growth out of fear of failure. That’s not you obviously or you wouldn’t be here. But what if this growth mindset was actually the best way to empower your business and your team? What if this was the best way to create the culture of accountability, empowerment, agility and engagement you have been working towards? 

I interviewed Natalie Brown, Senior Director, Legal Affairs, Desjardins Group, who is a great example of a leader with a growth mindset. She reads, she listens to podcasts, she wants to be challenged and she puts time in her agenda to reflect. She actually says : ‘’ I want to be in a constant state of development. You have to be in a constant state where you say I want to be better, I want to be a better person’’. 

The repercussions of a lack of investment in your development  

This has become prominent during the recent uncertain times. During this recent pandemic, we have stunted our development – we focused on doing and delivering short term results. We got so caught up in the operations and forgot that we are in a phase, a crisis or post-crisis, but nonetheless, just a phase. We need to operate for both the short and longer term.  

And so, if you accept that we are dealing with different phases  that might be  uncomfortable and that with it comes the best opportunity of growth, you will learn a tone of new perspectives and tools that will be so useful in a context of extreme change! You might also let go of attaining short term results and focus on how to create a space for growing yourself and growing your team. How do you create that space? 

Natalie shares that she used the beginning of the pandemic as an opportunity to grow: ’’I had more time since we worked remotely to take walks to reflect and to listen to podcasts. For me, the situation was an accelerator of growth and development’’. 

Examples of growth opportunities to boost your team and business results  

Think about what you need to learn as a leader. Which areas represents your stronger growth opportunities and could influence your impact? 

I was working with a leader that identified her coaching competencies to be a requirement for her growth. We worked together to give her the tools to become a better leader-coach! 

She discovered she had more time to deliver on creating a more engaged team and on her unique strategic contribution, her USC, a concept we explore in another blog: What is your Unique Strategic Contribution? 

What is a growth opportunity for you?   

• Learn how to engage your team from a distance? 
• Learn to focus and delegate? 
• Develop self-confidence? 
• Provide positive feedback to employees? 
• Become a better leader-coach? 
• Adapt your communication style to the other’s needs? 
• Adapt your leadership style to different situations? 
• Create agility and accountably amongst your team? 
• What else? 

Natalie is am a firm believer of ‘’always putting  yourself  in a situation where you are not in a comfort zone,  that is where you progress, it puts you in constant evolution because you always have to learn new things that will be relevant to where you want to go’’.  She says she had ‘’great bosses who allowed me to be very comfortable expressing my opinions, they created a safe space for me so I want to do the same. The members of my team can always challenge me on anything’’. 

So I ask you, how do you dare putting yourself outside your comfort zone to learn, grow and develop? And how do you create a safe space for your team to do that? 

 As always, I invite you to be inspired and inspire. 

For more information on this topic, I invite you to listen to my Podcast Empower your Team with Natalie Brown, Senior Director, Legal Affairs at Desjardins Group. In this episode, Nathalie shares, with humility, her passion towards leadership, self-development and building trust and empowerment amongst her team. Click here for further detail about this episode.