Grow But Don’t Ever Change

Grow But Don’t Ever Change

Choosing the path of leadership means embracing change. Leadership implies movement. If you are standing still, you aren’t leading. You cannot lead people where you haven’t gone yourself.

While the act of leading implies a journey, becoming a leader is a journey in itself. That journey is something we call growth.?We embrace a growth mindset. We listen. We learn. We improve our skills. We never stop working on ourselves to be the best leaders we can be. Why? Because the world needs better leaders. Our teams are counting on us. Our customers depend on us. Our mission is worthy. That is why.

Yet, there’s another side of the coin. There’s a part that should remain unchanged. You have a unique personality, style, attitude, set of values, and character that should endure. We’re all a little quirky in our own way. We’re all passionate, but about different things. I’m the type of guy that is more likely than most to wear a cape and propeller beanie to work. You probably aren’t. That’s cool.

Here’s the objective: Grow in your leadership capability, while simultaneously remaining true to yourself. That may sound straightforward, but it is not very easy at all.

Most do the opposite. Most do not experience significant growth in their leadership capability. Most people are leading at the same capacity and level of excellence that they were 5 years ago. Simultaneously, many fall prey to conformity. They go along to get along. They fit the mold. They slowly turn themselves into corporatized clones. Little by little, people lose themselves.

Authenticity

I recently had the opportunity to hear?Cynt Marshall?speak. She’s the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks. She got that job after a long and successful career at AT&T. Raised in the Richmond, CA housing projects, she experienced a violent childhood but overcame that through her faith and focus on education. As she progressed through her career at AT&T, she was often offered promotions with strings attached. She could advance, but she needed to tone down her faith, racial, and cultural identity. Each time, she turned it down. Other times, she got opportunities that embraced her uniqueness. Eventually, she made it to the C-suite of AT&T with her authenticity intact.

I take inspiration from Cynt’s?story. While much more extreme than my own, I can relate. Nearly 8 years ago, I reached an inflection point in my career. I had advanced significantly by that point in my leadership career, but I started to observe what it would take to advance further, and I didn’t like what I saw. I watched the layers of leadership above me. I saw the behaviors that were rewarded. I saw how they operated. I decided that I wanted to advance, but I couldn’t succeed in that environment without changing who I am.

I decided that my next step needed to be out, not up.?When interviewing for roles, I committed to presenting my true authentic self, as best as I could. That way, if I got an offer, I knew that I’d have the freedom to be myself. It worked. Many passed on me, but CHS took a chance.

Here’s my advice: Many people will tell you that you need to listen to feedback. That’s true, but there’s a twist. There are?different types of feedback: Some will tell you to grow and some will tell you to change who you are. When people tell you to grow, listen up. When people tell you to change yourself to become less authentic, throw that advice in the garbage can.

Read this article on my?blog site?or listen to it on my?podcast???

No alt text provided for this image
Nichole Hayes

Executive Assistant at CHS Inc.

2 年

I love it when a company values this statement: I can be myself at work. Important! It is too hard to be someone else.

Adam Lopez, MBA

Partnering with Businesses to Deliver Cybersecurity, Co-Managed IT, and On-Demand Technical Teams | President of CMIT Solutions Las Vegas

2 年

Zach Hughes you are 100% correct sometimes you have to figure out if you are the round peg in the square hole or the opposite. I just began to follow your podcast and look forward to more of your insight.

Very well said. A fundamental principle for a good leader is to serve the people they lead. Leaders will grow as they gain more experience and exposure to the outside world. The principle which initially gets them into the leadership role should stay true.

Clair Williams-Vavra, M.A.

COO | Founder | Growth Strategist | CX/EX Enthusiast | Ceramicist | Story Seeker

2 年

?? - agreed. The leaders that have had the biggest impact on me led in an authentic and vulnerable way which in turn, made it safe for us to do so as well. Non-conformity is by default, wildly scary. I applaud you and others who lean into it and lead by example.?

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Zach Hughes的更多文章

  • What to Do While You’re Waiting to Be Promoted

    What to Do While You’re Waiting to Be Promoted

    Do you ever get the feeling that you should’ve been promoted to the next level by now? If you are early in your career,…

    4 条评论
  • Everything is Computer

    Everything is Computer

    This week, the President of the United States stepped into a modern EV and remarked with exuberance, “Everything is…

    8 条评论
  • The Difference Between a Good Servant Leader and a Great One

    The Difference Between a Good Servant Leader and a Great One

    Can you be a people-first, servant leader and still have the guts to make the tough calls when you have to? Yes, but…

    15 条评论
  • How to Make Priority Calls

    How to Make Priority Calls

    So, what’s the priority? If you are in a leadership role, there’s a good chance you get asked that question regularly…

    8 条评论
  • The Critical Skill of Taking Correction

    The Critical Skill of Taking Correction

    As leaders, we have a lot of expectations on us. We need to be clear communicators, skilled team builders, good at…

    27 条评论
  • How Do You Know What’s Really Going on in Your Team?

    How Do You Know What’s Really Going on in Your Team?

    I was asked a pretty insightful question this week. I was doing Q&A with Minnesota Technology Association’s ACE…

    10 条评论
  • Remembering the Millennium Bug: 25 Years Since Y2K

    Remembering the Millennium Bug: 25 Years Since Y2K

    I started my career 26 years ago. The first year of my career was dedicated to preparing companies to cross the…

    19 条评论
  • For the Love of Robots

    For the Love of Robots

    It had been 5 years since I last coached a competitive Lego robotics team. 5 long years.

    10 条评论
  • Leadership Lessons from Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

    Leadership Lessons from Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

    Sports analogies in business leadership are nearly as certain as death and taxes. You simply cannot lead in a large…

    17 条评论
  • Be Excellent to Each Other: Leadership Lessons from Bill & Ted

    Be Excellent to Each Other: Leadership Lessons from Bill & Ted

    35 years ago, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was released in theaters. For the subsequent 10 years or so, every kid…

    6 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了