Last week we talked about the Gallup poll that showed that 93% of the people surveyed have left their organization to find job growth opportunities elsewhere. We talked about being aware of the need to grow your teams and nurture your leadership pipeline to create ongoing success in your company.
This week we’d like to get you thinking about what this same statistic means for you in your personal life and relationships.
If this poll is even partially correct, it reminds us that humans thrive on opportunities for growth and learning. Not all humans, of course, but most.
So think about you, your partner, kids, parents, and friends. If growth is important, then it’s important to you and the people in your world to grow in areas that are meaningful. We’re not talking about growth in your work here; we’re talking about the kind of growth that excites you because it excites you… not because it gets you a promotion.
Some of the ways people want to grow include: as a gardener or a cook, learning about a new technology, understanding how a tool works, learning to play a musical instrument or speak a foreign language, or mastering a professional skill that will help them stretch.
For those of you with kids in your life, they will love this conversation, too. Kids are hungry to learn things from lacrosse to knitting, riding a bike to doing motocross, skiing or snowboarding or ice hockey, or designing and sewing dolls’ clothes to their own clothes.
There is no right or wrong to this longing. It’s within each of us and, as a leader in your own life, you’ll be most satisfied and successful if you take charge of your own growth and future. In addition, it’s a gift to those people in your life who you care about, for you to honor and support their need for growth in their lives.
This week, spend some time considering the following:
- What do you want to learn? What inspires and excites you deeply? What would you love to know and master?
- What will it take for you to grow in one or two of these key areas? Where can you get opportunities for growth in these areas?
- How do you start, today, to take steps toward learning in the areas that matter to you most?
Then, when you are chatting with people in your life, tell them you’ve been thinking about the importance of growth and learning and how you’ve been thinking of it in your life. Then ask them if they’d share with you the answers to these same questions. And, to the extent that you can—support their interests.
As always, let us know what you discover,
Your coaches at Carpenter Smith Consulting
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