4 Ways to Build Capacity in Yourself and Others
In 2015, I started sending an email every Friday to our employees. I focused on the concept of inspiration and self-improvement. I thought my Friday emails would be skimmed, or even ignored.
To my surprise, employees told me they looked forward to the messages and were sharing them with friends and family. I renamed it Friday Forward and opened it to the public. Today, over 100,000 people read it each week, and I often get notes from people who used it as inspiration to achieve their goals.
What I learned from this, and in growing my company, is leadership is about improving your own capacity and helping others to do the same. There are four essential elements involved in capacity building—elevating performance holistically requires growing capacity in each:
Spiritual Capacity is who you are and what you want most. If you can’t articulate your core values, take some quiet time to reflect on when you are fulfilled, and when you struggle. Write those words down.
Intellectual Capacity is your ability to think, learn, plan, and execute. Wake up even 15 minutes earlier this week and dedicate that time to meditation, reading or journaling. You’ll see a difference.
Physical Capacity measures health and physical performance. To start, commit to sleeping eight hours each night, and see how you feel.
Emotional Capacity is how we react to challenging situations and people, and the quality of our relationships. Make a list of 5 most positive relationships in your life, and commit to spending more time with each.
A benefit of capacity building is its exponential impact on friends, family, and those you lead. It’s the foundation of my leadership approach, and of my new book Elevate: Push Your Limits and Unlock Success in Yourself and Others out October 1.
As you build your own capacity and achieve more, you’ll inspire others to do the same.
Which of these capacity building activities seem most relevant to you right now?
How might leaders build capacity in others?
This guest post is authored by Robert Glazer. Robert has a passion for helping individuals and organizations build their capacity to outperform. He is the Founder and CEO of global performance marketing agency, Acceleration Partners and was ranked #2 on Glassdoor’s list of Top CEO of Small & Medium Companies in the US.
Funny that you mention waking up early …
I’ve always achieved my best clarity, connective inspiration, and resolution of complexity in the wee hours, (It simply happens…)
and for twenty years never needed an alarm. I thought it was just me.
For a lot of ambitious people, sleep is wasted time;
But something is happening there, if we let it … are open to it.
And after 30+ years of 4-6(max) hours a nite, I suspect, like family time, it has much more to do with the quality more than the quantity.
Like you say, be present. Show up, bring your Self to the place you are.
Thanks Rurbane. After being a night owl most of my life. I’m more of an early bird. Two or three hours in the morning are worth six or seven later in the day.
Hah! Those first hours can be more meaningful than the productive Others, you mean?
Which of these capacity building activities seem most relevant to you right now? Spiritual! I know you’re thinking 🤔 she would pick that. Honestly, some old habits get you to the part of life you feel comfortable. Well I need to 💯 I’m uncomfortable because I don’t have what I want.
How might leaders build capacity in others? Express the need to set professional and personal-boundaries and goals. Challenge leadership to stand up for what’s and not The Who. ✔️
Thank you for sharing this post. I use to send out motivational information to my subordinates and others who I consider mentees, but over the course of the last several years, I have gone through some losses and I stopped. This has encouraged me to pick this back up and I will start this week. Thanks for this inspiration.
Thank you for sharing this. I use to send out motivational messages to my subordinates and those whom I consider mentees. However, over the last several years, I have suffered some personal losses and I stopped. This has inspired me to pick this back up and help others realize their full potential as I stretch mine to full capacity. This has inspired me to start again this week. I sure appreciate this confirmation.
This post illuminated how different people have different strengths and needs. Moreover, Strengths and needs change over time as you or an organization evolve. A monotonous approach may not work for different or evolving challenges.
Being a life long learner, this way as you grow others around you grow, because of the change in one’s behaviour and outlook in life. As we become better so our relationships become better.
Good evening,
Great piece. Spiritual capacity resonates within me. A person is a lost soul if they float throughout life never realizing who they are. It gets to a point where an individual must realize their capabilities. This rings true in the workplace. Who wants to follow a leader who has no idea where they are headed in life? That sounds like ineffective leader. Yet, I have worked under leadership who really didn’t have a clue who they were. More so, should not have been in a leadership position at an organization. I don’t expect a leader to move mountains. However, I have personally witnessed leaders who did not have the knowledge, skills, abilities to accomplish the most simplest of tasks.
Spiritual Capacity.
Not being able to express my core beliefs. At this point in my career, I’m middle management, so there isn’t a lot of room for my expression of beliefs. For those who I have influence over, I feel like I’m limited on the amount of room I can express my beliefs. I have to consider upper leadership and try not to undermine them. Additionally, for the last couple of years, I’ve been taking time to reflect and focus on what I feel are my foundational beliefs. Over the years, those have changed to reflect my current course or where I want to go. I just need to be patient and in time, I’ll be able to express my beliefs, after some revision, to a team for hopefully a long lasting impact.