To Get to the Next Level You Must Have Passion for a Destination at a Much Greater Intensity Than Your Desire to Remain Comfortable.

A few entries back, I wrote an entry entitled “The Last Obstacle to Executive Development = The Executive.”  This provocative sentiment was not in any way meant to be disrespectful to those who do not choose to proactively engage in their development as leaders.  A core principle to our work is to respect a person where they are while at the same time encouraging them to reach deeper to enrich their capacity.  For the most part, I think leaders who do not take their own development seriously do so for what appear to be very good reasons.

First, they have been promoted to a leadership position and therefore  they believe that they have everything they need to succeed or they are supposed to know everything already.  Second, they feel they have arrived and except for, possibly, their boss and/or the board – they do not need to be held accountable for how they lead anyone at a peer level or below.  Third, they realize there is some discomfort and disruption that comes from challenging old habits of thinking, feeling and behaving.  They have a concern that adding development to their already crowded schedule – might slow them down or worse hurt their results.  Finally, because the leadership development journey is so personal and experiential – the journey naturally provides more questions than answers – at least in the beginning.  Certainly the development path is not as clear cut as their P&L, sales numbers, and other goals they are expected to accomplish.  In fact, to those whose awareness is far away from the leadership mindset – the whole development process feels “touchy-feely” and has no rigor to it.

These beliefs are rarely conscious.  And most executives and  organizations rarely challenge them.  The problem is when someone in a leadership position refuses to engage in a more proactive development journey – they are cheating themselves as well as their organization because no matter how good anyone is there is always room to expand one’s capacity and impact.  Yet, in order to step onto the development path – a leader must clearly understand where they are going, have some level of passion for the longer term outcome and be able to honestly assess what they most need to lead people there.  When you think about it there is nothing “touchy-feely” there!

Let’s clear the air on a few things pertaining to leadership success.  Leadership Development is not about change for the sake of change – there must be a purpose and priority placed on development because it will make some type of difference.   In addition, leadership development is not about becoming someone you are not.  In actuality it is about becoming a more powerful you!   And the reason for traversing the journey to master leadership must be founded in a deep sense of purpose along with a strong passion for that purpose.  In addition, while the development journey naturally has times of discomfort – when ever we move towards something we assess is worth achieving includes discomfort.  The best way to understand this is to do the following exercise ¹:

First, think of a time when you wanted something really bad and you achieved it!   For example, you achieved a business or personal goal you really cared about, took a stand for a relationship you wanted, engaged in a process that lead to better health and vitality, etc.  Now when you have a specific achievement in mind – reminisce a bit by asking the following questions:

• What did I really care about?
• Why did I want it so bad?
• How did I deal with obstacles?
• Did I feel a high level of discomfort at any time during the process of achieving my goal and if so – what did I do with that discomfort?
• How did I elicit support from others?

Now think of a time when you thought you wanted something but you did not achieve it.  Maybe it was your last New Years Resolution, a desire to make a relationship right that ended, a sense that you had to get back into that regular exercise routine but you slipped back, etc.   Given that experience, ask yourself:

• On a scale from 1 to 10 – 10 being the highest possible score, how much did you really care about the result in comparison to other commitments at that time?
• What was really driving you towards the goal?
• What happened when you stopped going for it?
• How did you elicit support from others?

Now take a step back and look at both this situations.  What do you notice is different about them? I have done this same exercise with most of the executives I work with and the main difference usually boils down to three issues:

• How clear I was about the destination.
• The level of passion I had for the outcome.
• Was I willing to ask for help?
• How I dealt with obstacles that got in the way.

Doing this exercise should bring things into perspective and it directly relates to any decision to deepen your mastery as a leader.  Again, if you don’t have a passion for leadership and the difference it will make then you will not care to go on the journey of doing what is necessary to evolve.   If you have not made up your mind or feel that you are ready to take the next step – start with these questions:

• If you were leaving your job today would you be you satisfied with your current level of impact?
• If you are dissatisfied or feel you would like to enhance your impact – how do you define the impact you would like to have – on the business, with others, etc.?
  
• Is there an area in work, in your life, in the community that you feel some passion for – where you are not fully engaging yourself to lead?  If so, what is your vision?
  
• Are you willing to face the changes necessary to lead and make that impact?

These are not questions to answer quickly.  Rather they are ones to reflect upon.   The answers are there yet you can not discover them unless you ask yourself earnestly and with real curiosity.  All great leaders can usually point to a time when everything changed for them.  When they came to realize they passionately wanted to create something or they were unwilling to put up with something else.  From that decision point on – they began to transform their entire mindset.  Their purpose and vision became more important to them than their own comfort.

The fundamental key to success is having a vision you are compelled to achieve.  Central to this vision is having a purpose for your life that embraces yet transcends everything else.   The true leadership development journey starts when you not only realize that purpose but you take it on as your primary focus.  Yet, the true value of the development journey is not what drives us – it is the results that come from it.  These results include increased fulfillment, greater achievement, more powerful influence, and the ability to make better choices in the line of fire.  If that sounds like something you want to embody – then it may just be time to take the next bold step in your development!

Tags: leadership, secrets to success, success, the leadership development journey

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Leadership Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.