3 Shifts to Make to Unlock Your Leadership Growth, Part 3

Mistakes bother me. Especially mistakes I make that could have been avoided. But that leads us to our next point: Evaluated Mistakes Unleash Growth

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How have you grown in your leadership capacity over the past month? The past six months? The past year?

Growth isn’t always immediately noticeable. But I really hope you can look back at the past twelve months and point out how you have grown. Maybe you added an arrow to your quiver, like moving conversations from surface to something more using intentional questions. Maybe you’ve spent more time pouring into someone. Maybe you’ve swung for the fences and learned something along the way.

Today we are looking at part 3 of a three part series. You can check out part 1 and part 2 to catch up.

Let’s get vulnerable for a moment. Mistakes bother me. Especially mistakes I make that could have been avoided. But that leads us to our next point:

Evaluated Mistakes Unleash Growth

Some situations require swinging for the fences, only to strike out and learn from the misfire. Mistakes don’t mean failure. Unevaluated mistakes mean failure.

Did you catch that? Once again, evaluation makes the difference. I am constantly amazed at what growth can be unlocked when we learn to evaluate our mistakes.

But that means we have to make mistakes. Not mistakes of ignorance, but mistakes of innovation.

A mistake of ignorance is making a mistake when you should have known better. Going to a Mexican food restaurant and binging chips and salsa when you’re trying to cut carbs, for example. Or planning an event without checking the necessary calendars, again.

But mistakes of innovation are mistakes made when trying something new. You plan an event you haven’t done before, or introduce a new emphasis for a season. Sometimes these things work really well, sometimes they flop.

Ultimately, mistakes provide an opportunity for evaluation, which in turn will unleash growth.

I’m going to guess you’re in one of two camps: you’re like me and cautiously move forward, rarely making mistakes, but also not innovating very well, OR you repeat mistakes over and over. I guess you could be in a third place and have this nailed down, to which I cheer you on.

But no matter where you find yourself, what’s your action step going to be? Do you need to do some evaluating? Do you need to take a risk on something? How can you improve? How have you learned from a recent mistake?

Happy New Year

I love the New Year. “Resolutions” are usually hit or miss as to what people think of them. I don’t know that I set actual resolutions, but I do try to lean into the rhythm and energy that comes with a new year.

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If you haven’t noticed, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus the last few months. But I didn’t want to let the New Year pass without a post, mostly because I love the New Year.

“Resolutions” are usually hit or miss as to what people think of them. I don’t know that I set actual resolutions, but I do try to lean into the rhythm and energy that comes with a new year.

A few years ago I worked up a sheet to review a year, and it made an incredible difference for the next year. I’d like to share that worksheet with you. There’s nothing magical about it, other than the time you take to put into it.

I remember hearing John Maxwell say “Experience isn’t the best teacher. Evaluated experience is.” That is incredibly true. It’s not enough to have an experience and expect to grow. If we truly want to grow, we have to evaluate. I almost erased that last line, but I think it’s incredibly true.

I’m going to spend the rest of this week evaluating and preparing for 2022. I’ve already done quite a bit of that, but I want the energy of the new year to continue to carry me. Will you do the same?

As for the worksheet I mentioned, I’ll send it out to subscribers on Thursday, but you have to be subscribed. So, if you don’t get these posts in your inbox, go here to subscribe!

And if you want a little more of my thoughts on the worksheet and some reflections pre-pandemic, you can go here.

Let’s make 2022 the best yet.

Teach Others the Power of Evaluation

If you are someone who has aspirations to develop other leaders, let me issue this charge to you: learn to evaluate. Don’t settle for mediocre or okay. Feed the drive and desire to make what you’re doing even better.

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This morning I woke up with a post I wrote last year on my mind. If you’re limited on time, let me encourage you to go read it instead of today (or do both!).

The short version is this quote from John Maxwell: Experience isn’t the best teacher. Evaluated experience is the best teacher.

If you are someone who has aspirations to develop other leaders, let me issue this charge to you: learn to evaluate. Don’t settle for mediocre or okay. Feed the drive and desire to make what you’re doing even better.

It’s too easy to settle for accomplishing something and moving on. Don’t. Accomplish something, evaluate it, and grow from it.

And to take it one step further, teach those within the sphere of your influence to do the same. Provide opportunities to evaluate. Be the one who is beating the drum for evaluation. Push it. Create the space for it. Highlight the benefits of it. And make it happen.

I think you’ll be amazed at what happens when you lean into evaluation as a tool for growth. But for now, go read this post.

Make the Next One Even Better

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Do you have something that you enjoy doing, but it takes a lot of energy to convince yourself to do it? Maybe it’s exercise, eating healthy, or following up on a conversation you had previously.

For me, I love when I’m finished reviewing an event. Not just pulling the event off, but actually sitting at the finish line and working through the process that got me there. Unfortunately, in spite of the joy I find in having finished it, I have to spend a lot of time convincing myself to do it.

Why do I love the finished product? Because I have a terrible memory, and when I can take notes on something I’m able to write down the things I don’t want to forget.

For example, this week we are doing a fund raiser at our church. Because of COVID, this is only the 2nd time we’ve done this fundraiser in my 25 months at this church. To spell it out even more: we haven’t done this fundraiser in 2 years. Now, my memory is pretty bad most of the time, but when I have to remember the minutia of an event 2 years ago, all hope is lost.

That’s why I’m grateful I took notes two years ago. I wrote down the process, what worked, and changes I needed to make. This way, I don’t have to re-apply the energy it takes to make a decision, and I can even make the event itself better.

As John Maxwell says: “Experience isn’t the best teacher. Evaluated experience is the best teacher.”

What do you need to review? It’s like writing a love note to yourself that delivers down the road. You’ll be grateful.

Finally, because I love practical elements, here are the questions I use to evaluate. Enjoy!

The Best Decision Making Tool

The cost of indecision in leadership can be incredibly damaging.

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I have a significant issue in my life. It plagues me constantly. It’s effects consume me. Some of the people around cannot stand what it does to me, while others have learned to appreciate it.

My issue is this: I can argue both sides of most situations. I have an uncanny ability to clearly see the argument from both sides.

At the end of the day, I believe this is part of my super-power. It gives me incredible perspective for most things. But there’s a downside–it takes me a long time to convince myself to make a decision.

Think about it. Not only can I make a case as to why I need yet another guitar, I can also make a case as to why I don’t need yet another guitar. And the battle wages constantly.

That’s where guiding principles come in.

To finish the thought on guitars, my guiding principle is simple: there’s always room for one more. (Well, maybe not…)

In all seriousness, though, I don’t want you to miss the next statement.

Guiding principles make us better and more consistent leaders.

Indecision in leadership can be incredibly harmful. So many times when I can’t make a decision, knowing my guiding principle gives me strength to move forward. Whether it be a program decision, an event to plan, a relationship to build, or so many other things. When I have spent time clarifying my wins, the decisions become less turbulent.

What decision are you trying to make today that could benefit from a guiding principle? Take some time to work through the big picture, and then see if that decision doesn’t become a little easier down the road.

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