Great leaders understand the importance of always adding to their wealth of knowledge. It is crucial for leaders to learn on a continuous basis. There are many leaders who don’t feel the need to keep learning. They feel like they’ve learned all they need to know to be leaders. Most of those leader types have already stopped reading this book. If you are still reading, good for you! I’ll ask you a question. Do you have a personal and/or growth plan? Leadership development is a process that takes place over time. It does not happen overnight. What are you doing every day to develop and become a better leader?
There are several ways to increase your knowledge and boost your development. You can attend workshops, seminars, read books, courses, audios, etc. There must be a commitment amount of personal investment towards your personal growth. For example, can you pinpoint a specific dollar amount that you invested last year towards personal development? Some experts recommend that we should spend 10% of our income annually to invest in our personal growth plans.
If you keep learning you can keep growing. There is a direct connection between the way you grow individually and the way your organization grows. Therefore, you cannot underestimate the importance of investing in yourself first. If you want to be a good leader, you must be a good learner. If you want to keep leading, you must keep learning. When you stop learning, you start becoming ineffective as a leader. When people that follow you see that you are continuing your quest for growth and development, you create an environment for them to repeat the same behavior. You have set the culture for your organization. No, everyone won’t buy into that, but the majority will. Those who don’t, will eventually fall off, fade to the background and become those who criticize and say, “It doesn’t take all that!” Don’t worry! If you create an environment of growth, not only will the people in your organization grow and improve, there will be others with great potential will show up, eager to be a part of your team. It will take your organization to the next level.
