Staying Relevant As A Leader

Over my career, there have been a number of people that I have followed and learned from for various reasons.

As I focused on my own growth in my career, I started to notice something.

Over time, I found that many of the people I once looked up to were... stagnant.

I got an email earlier today from someone I used to look up greatly.

It was an email that was almost an exact replica of what I saw back in 2018 when I first started hearing about their work.

5 years later, nothing different.

Now, there is some value in keeping "introductory" offers, especially to gain new business, don't get me wrong.

But when your introductory offer is all you really offer?

You end up creating a revolving door of business where you always have to be chasing, never really getting anywhere.

Sadly I see this all the time, especially in the "Personal Development" field where people preach so highly of "growth".

Someone creates a program, they write a book, they have a talk on stage, and it's good.

Though, over time it's the same.

No improvements to what they talk about.

No "higher" levels of what they do.

No new discoveries from improvements in science and research.

It's stagnant.

They are stagnant, and I've outgrown them.

There is something important in this to realize as a Leader.

If you are stagnant, the people who either are the most impactful, or are showing the potential to be the most impactful, will outgrow you.

They won't wait for you either.

When people WANT to grow, they will do it, and it often happens much more quickly than you realize.

If you aren't growing yourself, they will outgrow and leave you behind.

When they do, they won't look back.

It happens frequently in business, I see it all the time.

I help a lot of individuals who have outgrown the organizations they are in.

They have decided they'd rather become entrepreneurs because their former Leaders won't grow fast enough, and they know they can do the work better.

I watch good individuals leave organizations because the Leadership refuses to grow, and I watch all of the bad employees remain and cause mayhem.

If you want the best employees, if you want the best team, you as a Leader need to grow like the best do.

The best employees and team expect their Leaders to be world-class, always growing, always becoming better.

They not only expect you to be growing, but they expect you to grow faster than them, so that they can continue to grow with you.

If you don't do that, they'll be gone faster than you'll be able to prepare for.

Over 80% of organizations feel their current Leadership are Ineffective.

Only 1/10 Leadership positions have someone ready to fill in if someone suddenly disappears.

The person who disappears could get a new job (because you didn't grow fast enough), they have a family emergency forcing them to leave, they decide to move, or they themselves get injured.

All of these are possible, and likely.

If you are stagnant, and you don't have a team growing with you...

Well...

You're screwed.

The business world won't "wait" for you to find or build a new Leader, they'll crush you under the lack of preparation.

It also gets worse, because usually when "One" domino falls, it becomes a chain reaction.

Rarely is it only "One" Leader that has to end up getting replaced in these situations - the others can read the writing on the wall.

The Leaders who are able will jump ship before it crashes down.

The challenges add up.

Until it's too late.

There's a reason 96% of businesses fail in 10 years - they aren't growing, and their Leaders aren't growing.

Don't become irrelevant.

Seek help from people who are constantly growing, who are always developing themselves to higher levels.

Be a Leader that is always growing to their maximum ability.