I had the opportunity to attend the 2012 Chick-Fil-A Leadercast on Friday. The theme of this year’s Leadercast was “Choice”.
Two of the speakers that I would like to highlight are John Maxwell, the internationally renowned leadership expert, coach, and author, and Tim Tebow, a quarterback for the New York Jets. Both of these guys talked about some things that really emulated with me on servant leadership.
A key aspect of being an effective servant leader is committing to a culture of both personal and organizational development and growth. A true servant leader is dedicated to growing, stretching, and continuously improving to become the best leader they can be and that the people that they lead deserve.
John Maxwell recently wrote a book titled “15 Laws of Personal Growth”. He spoke about three of the laws at the Leadercast:
- The Law of Intentionality – Personal growth is intentional. You absolutely have to choose to grow on purpose, because it will not happen by accident.
- The Law of Awareness – You must know yourself in order to be able to grow. Know your strengths and your God-given gifts, as well as what you are passionate about, and continue to focus on them and develop them. This will provide the greatest return.
- The Law of Environment – You must get yourself into a growth environment to grow. Surround yourself with high performers and with people who want to grow and will challenge you. Get out of your comfort zone and focus on a positive future. And spend time in places where the atmosphere is affirming.
As you can see each of these laws require a choice. A choice a leader makes to make a commitment to growth. This commitment will lead to passion and I believe will lead to an atmosphere of positive flow in your life where you never feel like you are working.
Tim Tebow summed it up best when he shared the two things that he chooses to tell himself each morning when he gets up and starts the day.
- “I can’t wait to get better today!”
- “I can’t wait to make a positive impact on people’s lives today.”
He then goes about his day committed to each of these statements. We would all be better servant leaders if we live by those two statements each day.
We owe it to the people we serve to choose to commit to personal growth and be the very best that we can be for them. What are you doing to be intentional about your personal growth?
Mark Deterding