Within: Multiple Small Changes

One can imagine that hundreds of years ago the question “how long will it take to get to the beach?” was measured by how far your two feet could take you. Or maybe they measured things in buffalo lengths; who knows? But now, “how long will it take?” comes with options, and all of those options are about speed. How long will it take to get to the beach? Depends – are you taking your bike? The bus? A car? Segway? In the past hundred years vehicles were created that could move us faster and more efficiently than our feet or a couple of ponies ever could. At one point, progress was about Lindbergh flying over the Atlantic or getting to the moon. Now it is about how fast we can do that. In our “era of sprint,” it is easy to believe that changes in our leadership can happen just as quickly.

But personal transformation is not that simple or fast.

You can spot the leaders who have done the necessary work to achieve intrapersonal effectiveness or transformation within. They are the seasoned leaders who have a following of loyal employees behind them saying things like, “Best guy I ever worked for,” or “I learned a ton from her,” or “Sure, she can be tough, but she’s got high standards and you’ll never have a leader fight harder for you than she will.” They are “seasoned” because they have done the necessary work to improve their effectiveness as leaders. Ask them when their transformation happened and we imagine they will not be able to tell you. They will not be able to describe the weeklong course or the one project success that changed them forever. Why? Because the essence of true transformation is just that – the combination of many formations over time.

Many traditional coaching initiatives fall short because they stop at self-awareness and fail to create a clear plan integrally linked to a leader’s future requirements. Insight about why you lead the way you do is only half the story, and frankly, the easiest part of your work to complete. What is more difficult is learning to position that knowledge to realize the changes required for future success and future development.

For those who leave transformation to chance, want it to happen organically, or stop at a simple personality assessment, development becomes an arrested process leaving one exposed to great consequences both professionally and personally.

Transformation within is a continuous process; no one gets to wear the title of ‘arrived’. Even those who presumably have ‘arrived’ understand that their development must continue in a methodical way. Referring to golf’s greatest, in Jaime Diaz’s article, The Evolution of Tiger’s Swing, she notes that “As Woods achieved things no one had ever done, he did something else no champion golfer has ever done. While at the top of his game he committed to an overhaul of his swing; not once, but twice, and each time after a historic feat.” In fact, Woods has worked with not one but five different coaches over his career to refine his swing. He takes a long-term view toward improvement and understands that each victory, while worthy of celebration, is also data that can help him improve for the future. Tiger is always transforming his swing. For him, good is always becoming better, and best may never be attained but must always be strived for.

So, how long will it take you to become the leader you want to be? Hopefully forever.

GO WITHIN TODAY

Learn from the best – Often times we have our preferred method of self-improvement – conferences, coaches, books – and it can be good to learn the tricks of another’s trade. Think of a “seasoned” someone you know who is fearless, confident, handles crisis with grace, is thoughtful, optimistic, or leads with a great deal of intention. Spend an hour with that person asking them how they learned to lead this way.

Increase your versatility – As your career advanced you have likely focused on a specific aspect of your leadership – general management skills, strategic thinking, decisiveness, or holding others accountable, to name a few. Spending significant time improving these attributes is not a bad thing but can lead to “leadership lopsidedness.” Kaplan and Kaiser suggest that overdoing or overdeveloping a strength can be just as dangerous as our weaknesses. Therefore, it is important to see binaries (such as “he knows the business” versus “he’s a people person”) as an opportunity to develop leadership versatility rather than simply strengthening one side of the equation. At Navalent, we use Kaplan and Kaiser’s LVI assessment to help leaders begin to think about how they can increase their versatility.

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About

Jarrod Shappell

Jarrod has over 10 years’ experience working with leaders in high growth start-up, non-profit, and Fortune 500 environments. He helps teams systematically build distinct, high-performance cultures by leveraging each individual’s strengths.

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