Being a leader means you have a proven ability to influence others, plain and simple. Now, whether your influence on others is positive or negative is down to you and the attitude and actions you choose to put into the world every day. But make no mistake, people are looking to YOU from all areas of your life. They look to you for cues through how you handle different situations, how you treat the people around you, the decisions you make and the energy you bring. In other words, who you are BE-ing.

So, being a leader doesn’t just mean you lead a team of people at work. It simply means you influence people. Therefore, every one of us is a leader to those who look to us – whoever those people may be. However, before we can lead anyone else effectively, we must first learn to lead ourselves! How do we do that? We place a high importance on investing time and effort in our own self-development.

Below are a selection of key concepts that when you reflect on them and then apply them, can help YOU pursue a life of continual growth and development and do your absolute best to reach your full potential. They are taken from one of the John Maxwell mastermind groups I run called ‘the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth’. Read them carefully and reflect on which ones you can focus a bit more attention on in your leadership journey.

  1. The Law of Intentionality – Growth doesn’t just happen. Just like developing any other skill, we need to make a plan and follow it!
  2. The Law of the Mirror – You must see value in yourself before you can add value to others. Others won’t value what you have to offer until you value it yourself. Learn to truly embrace and place a high value on your experience, your expertise, your strengths and your uniqueness.
  3. The Law of Consistency – Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you going. How will you ensure you make the pursuit of growth a habit long after the initial novelty wears off?
  4. The Law of Environment – Growth thrives in supportive environments. Having people around you who support your growth and who are happy for you to share what you learn is key to your continued motivation.
  5. The Law of Pain – Good management of bad experiences leads to great growth. What can you do to better manage your reaction to the unexpected, the disappointing and the distressing things that happen?
  6. The Law of Reflection – Learning to pause and reflect allows growth to catch up with you. Over-achievers, slow down and pace yourselves!
  7. The Law of Awareness – You must know yourself to grow yourself. Invest in behaviour profiling such as DISC or Strengthsfinder to gain a better understanding of your unique strengths so you can leverage them and your challenges so you can manage them.
  8. The Law of Design – To maximise growth, develop a strategy. Just like you plan your business strategy for the coming year, sit down and create your personal growth and development strategy! Identify goals and create a basic plan to reach them.
  9. The Law of the Ladder – Personal growth leads to professional growth. When we grow as individuals, our learning spills over and affects how we run our businesses and how we lead our teams, if we have them.
  10. The Law of the Rubber Band – Growth stops when you lose the tension between where you ARE and where you COULD BE. Don’t lose that tension. Keep identifying specific areas where you know you can improve.
  11. The Law of Trade-Offs – Often, you have to give up to go up. In order to implement a plan for growth, what activity might you need to give up to make room in your schedule?
  12. The Law of Curiosity – Growth is stimulated by asking ‘Why?’ Are you curious enough?
  13. The Law of Modeling – It’s hard to improve when you only have yourself to follow. Find role models who exemplify the kind of leadership and influence YOU want to have and follow them. Learn from them.
  14. The Law of Expansion – Growth always increases your capacity. What are you doing with your additional capacity? How can you put it to use to have the most impact possible?
  15. The Law of Contribution – Growing yourself allows you to grow others. This is the most rewarding bit of growth and development – sharing what you know with others and supporting them to BE better.

If you’d like to know more about how I support my clients to grow as business leaders, you can connect with me on LinkedIN https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermyersnz/ or check out https://www.gener8leadership.solutions

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