Are you intentionally growing or continuously slowing?

Part 1 of 3: Laws 1 through 5

How do we grow an organization? We first must grow the people within the organization. How do we grow the people within our organization? We first must grow ourselves.

Do you want to grow? Then, you must grow yourself.

Do you want your team to grow? Then, you must create a growth environment for your team. It's the leader's responsibility to grow the team. If the leader can't grow the team, the leader needs to grow themselves.

In this three part series, I'll be sharing with you a brief description of each of The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell. This is a popular learning system that John Maxwell has certified Ria and me to speak and teach about. There is so much content that it normally takes a solid four hours to cover these principles in-depth. Whether you are an entry level team member, somewhere in the middle, or you have climbed your way to the top, you will find these principles can help you align yourself to get better results personally and professionally. Many organizations that truly want to grow and develop their team use this material as a foundation. The result: their team members take more responsibility, communicate at a higher level, work better together, and produce greater results. Knowing that growing yourself and your team will lead to better results is common sense. Yet, it is not common practice. As I discuss each law, I will share very briefly an example of how I have applied this law in my life.

Law #1: The Law of Intentionality – Growth doesn’t just happen.

"Life is now in session. Are you present?" ~ John C. Maxwell

If we want to grow, we’re going to grow on purpose. Growth is not an automatic process. The greatest gap in the world is the space between knowing and doing.

Growth Gaps The assumption gap — “I assume I will grow automatically.”

The knowledge gap — “I don’t know how to grow.”

The timing gap — “It’s just not the right time to begin.”

The Law of Diminishing Intent says: “The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never do it.”

The mistake gap — “I’m afraid of making mistakes.”

The inspiration gap — “I just don’t feel like it.”

What this law looks like in my life:

I have adopted the "Rule of 5" which means there are 5 things that I do intentionally every day to move myself from where I am to where I want to be. For me it is: reading leadership material, filing/recording leadership quotes, writing about leadership, teaching leadership to others, and connecting with other like-minded people. I'm constantly asking myself, "Will what I'm about to do move me in the right direction?"

Law #2: The Law of Awareness – You must know yourself to grow yourself.

"No one can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself." ~ James Russell Lowell

You and I need to become aware of who we are. We need to know what our passion is; we need to know what our purpose is.

Will you pay the price to do what you want to do?

Many people don’t reach their potential. It's not an ability issue. It’s a price issue. They’re unwilling to pay it.

What this law looks like in my life:As I have continued to be intentional about my growth. I've found that it's easier to define and refine my purpose. I've invested thousands of hours and thousands of dollars. I quickly discovered I had the most work to do in the area of developing my personal character. As I've gotten older, my growth journey has been primarily focused on working on who I am more than working on what I know. Who we are matters much more than what we know. Two big wins for me personally are that I haven't consumed a drop of alcohol or used a word of profanity in over three years! Neither of those accomplishments cost me a penny.

Law #3: The Law of the Mirror – You must see value in yourself to add value to yourself.

"Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself." ~ Denis Waitley

The “leadership lid” also works in the area of self-image. If from one to ten, my self-image is a three, what I’m able to accomplish will be a two.

Building Your Self-image How do you build your self-image? Four quick thoughts:

1. Guard your self-talk.
2. Add value to others.
3. Do the right thing even if it’s the hard thing.
4. Every day get a win.

If you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t bet on yourself.What this law looks like in my life:I first had to deal with the "BS" that affects us all. Not the "BS" you may be thinking of. I'm talking about my Belief System. Before I believed I could become a sought after leadership expert, before I believed I could help others achieve what they previously believed was unachieveable, before I believed I could help other people become better people, I first had believe in myself. If I don't believe in myself, why should anyone else believe in me? When I began to see myself at the next level, I began to develop myself for the next level. Then, I developed the habit of reaching, repeating, reaching, repeating.

Law #4: The Law of Reflection – Learning to pause allows growth to catch up with you.

"Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From quiet reflection will come even more effective action." ~ Peter F. Drucker

Don’t let people that you meet, experiences that you have, pass you without reflecting on them. Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is the best teacher.What this law looks like in my life:I often find myself pausing after meeting with others, after training others, and after speaking to groups. I replay the conversations, the questions, and the reactions. I ask myself, how could I have made the experience better? I ask myself, what seemed to be most valuable during the interaction? I ask myself, what can I do different next time to connect better? And most importantly, I ask myself, what did I miss?

Law #5: The Law of Consistency – Motivation gets you going….discipline keeps you growing.

"The hallmark of excellence, the test of greatness, is consistency." ~ Jim Tressel   

Three Personal Growth Questions

1. Do you know what you need to improve?
2. Do you know how you need to improve?
3. Do you know why you want to keep improving?

  “The why is what keeps you motivated long after that rush of energy and enthusiasm wears off. Your why can carry you through when will-power isn’t enough. Think of your why as a power.”  ~ Lucy Bieri

When you have enough whys—you’ll consistently keep growing.What this law looks like in my life:I consistently work to improve my character. I work on me. As my character improves, my life improves. That's all of the validation I need. I work on improving my character intentionally every day by reading, learning, and applying leadership principles to my own life. The more I learn, the more I realize how much there is that I don't know. I absolutely know "why" I need to keep improving. I want to help others be more, do more, and have more as they reach and stretch themselves and their teams. I'm motivated and inspired by people I've never met....people that I want to be prepared to help when I do meet them. Look for part 2 and part 3 in this series.

Contact me at [email protected] to discuss how we can work together to create a customized training program on this material for you and your entire team. If you want to grow your business, you must grow your team.

FREE downloads available:

Click here now for a FREE download of the entire leadership principle-packed Chapter 11, "Get Out of the Way and Lead" from the first book in my Demystifying Leadership Series: Defining Influence. In this nearly 20 page chapter, I share about:

• Managing vs Leading
• Scarcity vs Abundance
• Formal Authority vs Moral Authority
• The 5 Types of Leaders
• Compare/Contrast 17 Manager vs Leader Perspectives

Click here to access the first 5 chapters of “Blue-Collar Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines.”

• 1: I’m one of you.
• 2: I believe in you.
• 3: You’re in the perfect place.
• 4: Common sense is never enough.
• 5: There is an “I” in Team.

Note: I encourage you to be a river, not a reservoir. Please share my blogs with others if you find value in them. I believe in abundance and write them to help others become more effective, successful, and significant.

Make an impact!

Mack Story

My passion is to help you live with abundance, achieve success, choose significance, and leave a legacy. In other words, I want to help you make a High Impact!

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Mack’s story is an amazing journey of personal and professional growth. He began his career in manufacturing on the front lines of a machine shop. He grew himself into upper management and found his niche in lean manufacturing and along with it, developed his passion for leadership. He understands that everything rises and falls on leadership.

Mack is the author of Blue-Collar Leadership Series, Defining Influence, & 10 Values of High Impact Leaders. He's an inspiration for people everywhere as an example of achievement, growth, and personal development. His passion inspires people all over the world! Order signed copies here.

Mack’s experience as a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Coach, Trainer, and Speaker includes an international training event in Guatemala with John as part of the Cultural Transformation in Guatemala where more than 20,000 Guatemalan leaders were trained.

Contact Mack at 334-728-4143 or [email protected] for Keynote Speaking, Corporate Training, Professional Leadership Development, Cultural Enhancement/Transformation, and Process Improvement.