Developing strategic goals and KPI is an important procedure that all organizations go through to grow into the future. You must analyze the numbers and make projections so that you stay ahead of the competition and serve your customers well.
Most leaders neglect an important factor in their strategic goal planning that holds their organization back from achieving and exceeding their potential. Looking over the numbers isn’t enough. You must also develop a personal growth and development plans.
Leaders Must Be Learners
There’s a direct correlation between a company’s grows and how the leader grows. For real growth, leaders must be continual learners. Otherwise, a stagnant lid is placed over the organization. So, if you want to continue to lead, you need to continue to learn.
Without a personal growth plan, you’ll create a gap between the person you are today and the person who is able to achieve the lofty goals you’ve set for your organization. The personal growth doesn’t stop at the leader. Creating a growth culture in your organization which encourages team members to stretch themselves to learn and develop their skills helps your organization achieve greatness.
Biggest Enemy of Growth
Your biggest enemy to your organization’s growth may not be what you think. Some blame past failures, the economy, or missed opportunities for stifled growth.
The true enemy of an organization’s growth is blinder-type focus on past successes. That’s right, your successes, not your failures, is often what keeps you from growing.
When you’re successful in an area, the normal response is to systematize so you can repeat the success, and then of course scale it. This is the prudent course of action because you will create efficiencies and generate a certain amount of growth.
The problem occurs when you lose the tension between where you are and where you could be. Over time, past successes can create slack which leads to a status quo and even complacency.
Growth Needs Tension
Take a few minutes right now and answer these questions:
- In what areas have you lost the tension for growth?
- Where is there slack that’s lulling you into becoming average?
- Are you noticing some areas of complacency in your life or in your team?
Now, take the step needed towards regaining the tension required for growth by creating a growth environment in your organization. Growth is the guarantee that tomorrow will be better than today.
John Maxwell identifies 10 characteristics that are indicative of a growth environment.
- Others are ahead of you
- You’re continually challenged
- Your focus is forward
- Your atmosphere is affirming
- You’re often out of your comfort zone
- You wake up excited
- You know failure is not your enemy
- Others are growing
- People desire change
- Growth is modeled and expected
Take a moment and rate your organization on a scale of one to five in these ten areas. How does your culture stack up to be prepared for the growth tension you need to reach your next year’s strategic goals?
By creating a growth environment, you’ll be able to turn the great resignation into the great retention movement and attract new people with amazing potential. You’ll knock yourself out of complacency and focused on past successes to prepare you and your team for future achievements.
The Reward for Growth
To generate growth, you must do some pruning. Pruning in your organization is like the concept of pruning in gardening.
In gardening, the definition of pruning is selectively removing parts of a plant to improve or sustain increased yield while controlling and redirecting growth.
In your leadership role, pruning is no different. You should be selectively removing the things that are holding your organization or team back. Healthy growth requires skillful pruning.
The question is what do you need to prune to grow?
Most likely, you have tasks you need to let go of and have a team member help you do or finish. However, it’s important to look at things you enjoy doing as well as things you would be happy to delegate or prune.
When you prune, you allow the time you need to grow in new areas. When you prune, you open doors for growth opportunities for your team.
Remember, developing a personal development growth plan is just as important as setting your organizational goals. Creating a growth culture to align with your strategic goals sometimes takes an outside perspective.
For help identifying what kind of program is right for you and your organizational needs, schedule a complimentary consultation.
