How to Maximize the Most Neglected Growth Opportunity in Leadership
Pain doesn’t change you; neither does education, adversity, or social interaction. Only one thing changes you.
Attitude – mental disposition – determines the impact of life events.
The most neglected growth opportunity
Reflect on mental habits more than circumstances.
The same events produce different results.
Two people experience the same crisis. One is enriched; the other impoverished. The difference is attitude.
Education makes fools of some and sages of others. The difference is mental disposition.
Mental disposition establishes trajectory.
Stagnant dispositions:
Nasty mental habits produce stinky-pond leaders.
#1. Disrespect.
Disrespect is putting yourself above others. Your insight, for example, is more valuable than anyone else’s.
Disrespect simmers into stagnation because it has a closed mind.
#2. Defensiveness.
Defensiveness says, “It’s not my fault.”
Defensiveness is cousin to blame. Defensiveness says, “There’s nothing wrong with me.” Blame says, “There’s something wrong with you.”
Defensiveness turns the status quo into a grave.
#3. Disapproval.
Fault-finding is part of improvement, but don’t make it an Olympic sport.
Beware of the underhanded faultfinder; the person who tweaks everyone’s work.
Development dispositions:
#1. Generosity.
The dead sea is dead because water flows in but doesn’t flow out. You come to life when you make life richer for others.
The power of wealth is experienced when you give it to someone else. Remember you’re wealthy in many ways, even if you lack material wealth.
Walk into the room thinking, “How might I pour out of my cup?”
#2. Openness:
Learners grow. Knowers die.
When an unexpected person shows up at your door, invite them in. The thing that most expands your leadership is new relationships.
Think of irritating people as teachers that reveal who you are and expose who you might become.
When someone more successful crosses your path, ask, “What’s in their heart?”
Walk into the room thinking, “How might I connect and learn?”
What mental dispositions most hinder leaders?
What mental dispositions propel leaders forward?
Bonus material:
Why Is Leadership Development Important? | 4 Reasons | CCL
The Best Catalyst for Growth? Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone (forbes.com)
How to Develop Yourself: 8 Best Ways of Self Development (allresultnews.com)
What mental dispositions most hinder leaders? The “Generosity”,’ “Openness” that we reflect on often times are great when the paths are chosen and used. What happens when we totally were not open with everyone? You have to carry the same from start to finish. If we are generous with one bready ready to do the same for all, or soon the individuals will see favoritism and create unwillingness to follow.
What mental dispositions propel leaders forward? Have the sense of loyalty to maintain an even path within the functionality of those they Lead. Show the “Openness” that they want to exist within the organization. Take time to develop “Respect” for others as you would want form them for you. Develop the integrity and fortitude to make the right choices for everyone. Every one has to be rowing at the same time for a smooth trip.
Thanks Tim. One of my take aways from your comment is treating people with equity. That’s an important challenge. My concern is everyone isn’t equal in regard to contribution.
As a leader, I’ve dedicated more time to certain team members because they were willing to put more in. Where I may have made a mistake is I didn’t explain my thought process to the rest of the team. I’ll pour into you when you want to invest, also. Possibly not explaining it caused a sense of favoritism?
thanks for your insights Rich. Transparency helps eliminate gossip, lower anxiety, and fuel aspiration in those who want to get ahead.
“Walk into the room thinking, “How might I pour out of my cup?”- this is the homerun (for me) 🙂 My temptation is more like “how close do I hold my magic bag!”
Our value is what we release — what we contribute — not what we hold tight to.
Thanks again Dan, for “releasing” good thoughts daily.
Thanks Ken. Respect to you for being transparent. We think being tight fisted serves us well. You put it brilliantly. The value comes when we pour out/open our fist. Great encouragement.
I love your newsletter, and this one in particular is so useful to me that I am copying it pasting it into a Word doc to keep on my desktop. I know attitude can be everything. Not only at work, but in life.
I’m not in a leadership position myself (I wish I was!), but all of this has helped me to better understand the leaders in my work environment and how to work with their different personalities and approaches, and my own place in all of this as well. So many people are in leadership roles who don’t think of these things or aren’t trained in these things, and if you work for them you have to think about where they might be coming from (and it’s usually not going to be a place of perfection, because they are human). So thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thanks Kate. The last part of your comment sings. If we all understood that leaders are frail it would increase our joy and effectiveness at work. I wish you well on your leadership journey.
Kate, I’ll share a post from Dan with my team on a pretty regular basis. I consider my boss a part of the team, so he gets it, too! Others are now regular readers of LF and it gives us a common language to use. You may be the source of change in your organization!
Wow!! It’s a pleasure to be of serves. Best wishes Rich.
“Attitude – mental disposition – determines the impact of life events. Mental disposition establishes trajectory.” So how come we so little about how one develops a responsible positive “attitude” and mental disposition? We seem to see so much about how difficult life is with a woe is me direction flavored by media and government. Society teaches skill sets based on knowledge and tasks but so little on “attitude” and “disposition”. So who picks up the “slack” on those teachings. It seems like it is left to family and parents to teach that. But how many families and parents are equipped to teach attitude and mental disposition directions? We are sadly missing some critical aspects for development in our society.
Thanks Roger. You’re pointing out a great opportunity for any of us who want to make a difference.
This particular posted really resonated with me and what I try to teach my EOS clients. It brings to mind two books that I’ve found to be very powerful in case folks are interested in really diving in. The Art of Possibility by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander (Audible preferred because of some super cool work with an orchestra) and The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.
Thanks Jerry. I appreciate you suggesting some added resources. I have both books. The other opportunity is to watch Zander on Youtube. He’s awesome.
I had a baseball coach tell me a phrase that has always stuck with me. He said there are two things that you can control in life which are attitude and effort. He would always use this phrase as an example during a trying time in a baseball game that would not be going our way. We can’t control if an umpire has an inconsistent strike zone or a call does not go out way, but we can try how much effort we are going to put in and how are attitude is during those difficult times. This phrase is still relevant even more today in the workplace. The stagnant dispositions with attitudes can bring down not only that employee, but fellow employees or even the organization. Leaders must lead by example and have the development dispositions of generosity and openness.