Three Tips for Individuals Who Want to Grow as Leaders

It was the early 2000’s and John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods, was attempting to build the company’s e-commerce capacities via an acquisition in Boulder, Colorado. After eight months, they realized the business was not yet viable.?

They sold off the assets. And John, who was CEO of the company at the time, shifted his focus back to the core business.?

He returned to a surprise.?

While John was focusing on the e-commerce buildout, several members of the board and the senior executive who had been put in charge of the company staged a coup. The senior executive wanted John out.

A meeting was scheduled in Florida with John, the board of directors, and the individual who wanted his job.?

Before the meeting, John decided to tour the local stores—something he frequently did, and it ended up being a “spiritual experience” for him.?

When he joined me on the Disrupt Yourself podcast, he reflected, “I just had my heart open, wide open. I felt so much love towards the team members as I connected with them during the tours. And I just felt so much love.”

John took that energy to the board meeting, and in the end, the board decided to keep him and remove the other executive.?

But it was a wake-up call for John. It became clear that he needed to change. He had another chance but needed to grow more as a leader.

And growth takes work.?

Due to my focus on growth and development, I’m often asked what people should do to develop as leaders. I suggest three things.

First, understand the growth process. How do people learn and make progress? When you know this, it increases your capacity to grow.?

To do this, make it easy for yourself to choose growth. Early successes help sustain us through launch point challenges—all the new pieces that must be learned at the beginning of any growth journey—until we hit the sweet spot where momentum can take the wheel.

Success is rewarded with little releases of dopamine, the chemical messenger of delight, in the brain that improves our sense of well-being. Failure, on the other hand, negatively impacts brain chemistry.?

A simple way to ensure our brain perceives our day’s work as a success rather than a failure is to set small goals—ridiculously small goals. Consider this example; you have eight lines on your to-do list and complete five. If your goal were to check two items off your list, you would feel successful and excited by the five. If you didn’t set a goal or if you told yourself you wanted to complete the whole list, then you feel like you failed.?

In both scenarios, you complete the same number of tasks, but your perception is entirely different based on your initial goal.?

Second, learn to apply this understanding to help your people in their growth. The S Curve? of Learning model provides a common language for you to have important conversations with your team. It allows you to understand where people are in their growth and where they perceive themselves to be, which is even more important.?

Then, once you’ve had these discussions, you can help your teammates get smart about their growth.

This is an amazing tool for talent development, recruiting, and retention.?

Third, start early to build momentum off the launch point of that new beginning.?

Beginning your morning with intention is important because each day is a new S Curve to scale. Before you check your email or social media, spend a few minutes thinking about what you want to do and why you are doing it.?

Mornings are the base camp of your day. Use it to choose growth and to identify your route.

Humans are wired for growth, but sometimes growth in a role or one facet of your life stalls for one reason or another. But if you, like John, realize that you need to grow, there are ways you can restart your growth to become the person you want to be.?

Where do you want to grow?

How can you set yourself up for success by using small goals??

What is the top mastery of today’s S Curve?

Are you committed to growing as a leader? Check out our Smart Growth Certification program! Sign up for our April 18-20 program by March 31 and receive 20% off your registration with the code Learn20.?