Personal Growth is NOT an Option!

8 Feb, 2012Business Coach, Career Coach, Leadership, Life Coach, Resources
Personal Growth is NOT an Option!

Personal Growth is not an option!  Your Business, Career and Life depend on it.  Check out this fun little video clip by Leadership Guru, Ken Blanchard, “Great Leaders Grow.”   I love its simplicity and truth.  It resonates deeply for me for a few reasons.

First, it says that everyone is a leader.  At my core I know this to be true.  As I coach clients around life goals and career goals what strikes me first is how we often operate from a place of follower in our lives, or worse yet, victim.  Like the proverbial frog in boiling water, we go about our lives not doing anything different as we get a little more uncomfortable, as we notice the water getting hotter and hotter.   It is only when we realize we are actually in boiling water that we think about doing something about it, like maybe, JUMPING OUT.  It has to  get pretty painful sometimes, may be even in more than one area of our life, before we decide to take the lead.

So what if we just decided to do that?  Just take the lead of our lives intentionally going forward?  It would mean getting to know ourselves, what we truly want and learning how to ask for and attract it.  Not an easy thing.  It takes attention, time and commitment, sometimes coaching or even therapy, but certainly study and practice.  Recently I participated in a dharma lesson or teaching that suggests a path (Prananda Tuscon).  Whatever path you take to practice life leadership, it would be a life well spent on this endeavor.  I believe this is the only way to live our lives.  My intention is to assist individuals and businesses to do just this, “Mindful Leadership” (more below).

It also takes courage to practice being the leader of your own life.  Courage to face the inevitable paradox that arises in its pursuit: responsibility and surrender.  Taking responsibility to accept oneself and own our decisions, choices and actions to set the stage for attaining what we want while, at the same time, surrendering to the will of life.  Wisdom and guru’s teach us that we cannot control everything that is going to happen, but it is how we prepare ourselves and respond with integrity to what happens that shapes our future.

Second, it speaks to failure.  It reminds us that if we are not growing, we are dying…professionally, personally and let’s face it, literally.  For many of us, even the thought of failure triggers a fear reaction.  A serious reframe is needed here.  I found a nice one recently: “Realize that perfection is not success and failure is opportunity to learn and evolve.”  Sweet.  This comes from “Profiles in Leadership: Ora Pescovitz,” EVP for Medical Affairs, U. of M., and CEO, University of Michigan Health System.  I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Pescovitz recently at 16th Annual Women and Leadership in the Workplace Conference & Awards Luncheon on January 26th in Dearborn, Michigan (hosted by the MBPA).  Dr. Pescovitz was the 2012 Award Honoree for the Professional Category.  She self proclaims living and working the Servant Leadership model, and by all accounts does so.  I have asked to be able to spend a little time in conversation on this topic with her in the future.  If it comes to pass, I will share my experience with you on my blog (with permission, of course).  If you want to know more about “Servant Leadership,” (for life, career and business) I recommend these books:

“The Congruent Life” by C. Michael Thompson

“The Heart Aroused” by David Whyte

“Conscious Business” by Fred Kofman

“Leading at a Higher Level” by Ken Blanchard

Finally, it resonates with me because I’ve been developing a signature leadership development model in congruence with Servant Leadership.  It is about “being” an authentic leader; consciously leading from centered and integrated self of mind, body and heart.  I am calling it, “Mindful Leadership,” wherein not only is the “what” learned by participants, but the “how” is taught, and taught through practical experience so that embodiment can be achieved.  Specifically this program is geared toward businesses.  However, I use this filter of “being mindful” or “integrated” in my coaching of clients for career and life leadership.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog.  I intend to blog more about leadership, so stay tuned.  Please let me hear from you.  I always like to know how what I share lands on people and am curious to hear your take.  Until next time, Be Well.

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3 Comments

  1. David Green says:
    February 9, 2012 at 11:06 am

    Excellent blog, Kathy. You are right, we are like frogs in hot water! We often think of leadership as a caricature, like Winston Churchill or Reagan or Kennedy etc. Leadership takes as many forms as there are people. Everyone needs to find their own unique style to strive for.

    Reply
    • Kathy says:
      February 9, 2012 at 4:16 pm

      Thanks David. I appreciate your comment, particularly the encouragement for everyone to bring their unique style and authentic self forward into leadership. Those icons were human beings like the rest of us, only they followed an inner compass as they moved through life and world challenges, which have been distilled into the caricatures of leadership we know today.

      Reply
  2. Servant Leadership by any other name… : Integral Life Designs says:
    April 2, 2012 at 8:44 pm

    [...] my post last month, “Personal Growth is NOT an option,” I promised if I were able to secure this interview I would blog about it, so here you go. [...]

    Reply