I’m very excited about my upcoming book, Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life, coauthored by Mark Miller from Chick-fil-A and published by our good friends at Berrett-Koehler. It will be available to everyone this Tuesday, February 7.
Like many of my books, Great Leaders Grow is an easy-to-read parable, but its message is significant: Our capacity to grow determines our capacity to lead. In today’s economy, this is more important than ever before. Will you be a leader who is always ready to face the next challenge? Or will you be a leader who tries to apply yesterday’s solutions to today’s problems?
Mark and I are convinced that the path to increased influence, impact, and leadership effectiveness is paved with personal growth. Growth is at the heart of what creates and sustains great leaders. And the lack of personal growth sabotages the careers of more leaders than anything else. Case in point: A leader mentioned in the book was terminated after fourteen years with the same company. Because he wasn’t learning and growing, he had basically repeated his first year of service fourteen times. The world is moving too fast to rely on past success and past knowledge alone. Leaders must continue to grow.
We believe that great leaders make a choice to GROW in four areas. In a nutshell, to be a great leader, you must:
- Gain Knowledge
- Reach Out to Others
- Open Your World
- Walk toward Wisdom
In the next few blogs, I’ll expand on each of these ideas. In the meantime, in both your professional and personal life, think about whether you are growing in these four areas. And remember: Continuing to learn and grow leads not only to professional success, but also to personal fulfillment.
How We Lead 
Great summary of the key to growth and great leadership. When you think of the opposite of these four areas it brings up images certainly from my past (and even present) of leaders who could have been good/great but chose to stay safe, stay the same, talk of growth but do little (other than talk) to achieve it.
Look forward to how you unpack these ideas.
hello: you said the book will be available Feb 7th is this from the store on your website or will it be out in stores that day? thank you
Hi,
How can I have your book.
Thanks a lot
I’m looking forward to it. I always enjoy (and learn from) your work!
Reblogged this on awinningyou.
Hi, everybody! I agree with every piece of advice you give in your post! What I want to add to this list is – always strive for perfection! Because only constant development allows to reach great achievements, the calmness of mind is not for the leaders.
Glenna, visit convert mov to avi
Great information! I am working on most of these areas but these post has helped me realize that I need to take them to a higher level. Thanks for sharing this!