You’re Either Growing or Dying – Which is it?

Early on in my career, I was at an offsite meeting for up and coming leaders and the CEO of our company (we’ll call Dave, not his real name) made a comment that has always stuck with me. Dave said, “In business, you’re either growing or dying”. Intuitively, that made a lot of sense. I think we all can relate to this statement and it may seem a bit “elementary”.

In my years of leadership, I have heard this phrase used and, with a few exceptions, have supported it completely. Through the years, I’ve been a part of many aspects of business growth to include: mergers, acquisitions, expansions, new facility constructions, start-up/early stage businesses, and others. Without getting into details, I would say that I consistently noticed that our “growth” was at the sacrifice of others “death”. So, what’s the difference in a business which is “growing” versus “dying”? Well, while there are several factors, I believe most will agree, as John Maxwell quotes: “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

So, if “growing” as a leader is important, what’s the best approach? Well, first, it all starts with “personal responsibility”. Great leaders take personal responsibility for their personal growth independent of what environment they find themselves. And, a common thread we see with great leaders is that they are avid readers. (Yes, Chris Arnold, who used to joke about how little he read, did say, avid readers.) While there is a place for workshops, seminars, and offsite meetings which I regularly attend and facilitate, plugging into great leadership development content on a daily basis is the best method I have seen to date for continual growth as a leader.

In fact, we are so committed to this approach that we have now partnered with LIFE (Living Intentionally for Excellence) which is lead by two of the World’s Top 30 Leadership Guru, #7 Orrin Woodward and #12 Chris Brady as well as other great policy council leaders. LIFE has a systemized process for the personal development of leaders which is in the form of CDs, books, seminars, and association. It is through subscriptions to life transformation information and association with like-minded people and mentors, that individual are growing their leadership abilities. This growth is not only transitioning to growth in their businesses, but also their families and communities. Check out some of the personal testimonials by clicking here.

So, as a leader, do you read 1, 2, 5, 10 or even more books per month? If not, what if you did? Please notice I did say “read” as statistics do say that the majority of books purchased are never read. Also, how do you decide what to read? Where do you find the best information? With the internet and e-books, there are a tremendous amount of choices out there to choose; so, I caution you to make wise choices. For example, would you rather read a book on how to be a great leader written by someone with “results” or a person who has failed multiple times as a leader and decided to write a book on “how not to fail”? This is another reason I have chosen to partner with LIFE as they only provide information from those who have demonstrated results at a competitive price.

So, what is the best approach? We find that it is a combination of partnering with a 3rd party coach/mentor who can aid in providing an assessment of you and your teams present situation, facilitate an align toward a “growth” mindset, and getting plugged into a systematic process for continual reading and learning.

Are you and your team “growing” or “dying”? How do you know?

Need some help in assessing? We’d love to talk.

For more information on how to become a member or customer of LIFE, contact us.