A question I like to ask people during coaching sessions, especially those in managerial and leadership positions, is: “What is the focus of your growth right now?” This is a valid question for everyone, but the reason I specifically mention managers is that growth can sometimes stop once a certain status is achieved. And yet, an essential ingredient of a future-fit organisation is leaders who are growing – and we need to challenge our leaders and our people to keep growing.
Why is growth essential for success?
Firstly, growth is a fundamental human need; It’s part of what makes us human. And when we are growing, we are more likely to experience a higher state of happiness. For many, their sense of discontent stems from being stuck and feeling like there’s no progress.
Secondly, growth is key to staying relevant. In a changing world, failure to grow and adapt makes us potential victims of irrelevancy. This thought is powerfully illustrated in this quote by Eric Hoffer:
How good is that? Learners will inherit the earth.
But one difficulty that may arise as you consider this topic of growth is: “Where should I grow?” Sometimes, our failure to grow comes from a lack of clarity and imagination. If we have options or considerations, we just might find a meaningful area of focus for growth.
Here are four key areas where you can focus your growth.
1. Develop Learnable Skills – Growth is not just about talent
There are learnable skills for almost any aspiration or value. Simply knowing this can ignite an aspiration and make it possible.
For example, I used to think drawing was a talent that only a few possess. But there are learnable skills to drawing that anyone can master. I might not become Picasso, but with effort and the right teacher, I can develop this skill.
The same applies to soft skills like courage, empathy, and resilience. For example, a learnable skill for curiosity is the art of asking good questions, and a learnable skill for collaboration is creating an environment of psychological safety.
Don’t settle for an inner dialogue that says, “I’m not talented enough.” Instead, ask: What are the learnable skills that will help me grow in this area?
2. Focus on Mastery - The power of deliberate practice
Mastery is about getting better and better at something meaningful. It’s the path of deliberate practice. Tons of research highlights that the focused repetition of a task over time separates those who excel from those who don’t.
Growth isn’t a linear process. You hit plateaus, push through them, and then experience another growth spurt. Sometimes, you even need to take a step backward to find a new way forward.
The challenge? The temptation to settle for “stuck and steady.” Do you have an area where you’re actively working to become better? Growth in mastery is often inch by inch. But it’s worth it.
Surely, we should all aspire to be in the top 10% of the world at something.
3. Upgrade Your Mindset - Growth starts with your beliefs
This type of growth focuses on changing how you think. It’s about challenging the limiting beliefs that hold you back or ‘control’ you.
Mindset growth often requires the help of others: coaches, mentors, therapists, role models, or even great content. We all have certain mindsets that inhibit our potential, relationships, and progress. And yet, all too often, we accept them.
To grow your mindset, start with these questions:
- What mindset shift do I need?
- Who can help me grow in this area?
- What resources will support my growth?
4. Expand Your Knowledge – Stay curious beyond your expertise
Never before has the world given us so much access to information. At our fingertips we have a library of information and resource. Sometimes the most wonderful growth happens when you simply become curious about things outside your field of excellence.
I once heard someone say:
“I want to be able to add to the conversation.”
For example, a non-marketing person might think, “When I’m in a meeting about marketing, I want to participate – so I’ll learn the basics.”
Here’s something fascinating for you – Leonardo da Vinci’s to-do list from one random day. It’s a perfect demonstration of his insatiable curiosity:
- Learn the measurement of Milan and its suburbs
- Get the master of arithmetic to show you how to square a triangle
- Ask Genino how the tower of Ferrara is walled
- Ask Benedetto how they walk on ice in Flanders
- Get a master of hydraulics to tell you how to repair a lock in the Lombard Manor
- Get the measurement of the sun promised to me by Master Giovanni, the Frenchman
No wonder he was Leonardo da Vinci. And to think – he didn’t even have the internet. Imagine what he would have done today.
Growth is available to all of us, just like the air we breathe. The key is choosing the right area to focus on.
In closing, this quote by Seth Godin perfectly captures whether you will grow, or whether stagnation is your path:
“I’m not that smart,” someone said to me the other day, and it was heartbreaking.
The number of tasks in our culture that require someone who was born with off-the-charts talent is small indeed.
Just about everything else we need people to do is the result of effort, practice, and care.
The correct thing to say is, “I don’t care that much.”
I don’t care enough to do the reading, to fail along the way, to show up, to make a promise, to learn as I go, to confront failure, to get better at the work.
All of that might be true. But you’re almost certainly smart enough.”
