“I’ve seen it all.  I’ve read it all.  I’ve sat through more leadership seminars than you can imagine.  Everything I see these days is just a repackaging of someone else’s work.”

Kurt’s reaction to the company’s latest leadership initiative did not surprise Judy.  In her first six months as VP of the division, she quickly realized that Kurt had all the answers.  At least he believed he did.

The Completed Leader is an OxyMORONic Leader

The Mentor

In fact, seven years earlier, Kurt had been assigned to be Judy’s mentor after she was first promoted into leadership.  He had been a great sounding board for a young leader.

Kurt’s experience and guidance seven years ago were invaluable to her.  She respected his insights.  He was perhaps the most well read and inspiring leader she encountered at that level.

But, now Kurt’s experience was keeping him from growing.  He was still an effective leader, but she could see that he was missing the fire she had seen in the past.

The Stagnant Leader

Since taking over the division, Judy made leadership development one of her primary goals.  She truly believed that the more leaders she had at all levels, the better the entire division would perform.

In fact, that was a lesson Kurt had impressed upon her many years ago.  When she brought this to his attention his response was typical:  “That should really help the young guys.”

Each time she encouraged him to reengage in development opportunities his responses were polite, but telling.

• “I’ve heard this stuff before.”
• “I’ve heard that guy speak before.”
• “I’ve read that author’s earlier work.”
• “This guy only did the job for 4 years.  I’ve been doing it 15 years.”

Judy knew he was right.  He had heard a lot of these leadership principles before.  However, she also could see that Kurt was not following those principles.  With each passing month, she saw Kurt getting further and further from the leader she had known seven years ago.

The Mentee Turned Mentor

“I’m sorry Kurt.  That’s the way I see it.  Honestly, I am not the only one.  Either you are phoning it in now, or you have lost track of what made you great earlier in your career.”

“What do you mean?  I haven’t changed since then.  I am the same guy you knew then.  I work hard.  I have just seen a lot and I’m not surprised by much.  Your previous comments, excepted of course!”

“That’s the problem Kurt! You haven’t changed.  Somewhere along the way, you stopped growing as a leader and it shows.  Have you gotten lazy or do you just have that high an opinion of yourself?”

“Ok….Ouch.  I don’t know if I deserved that last comment.”

“Kurt, I remember you telling me years ago that sometimes you have to jolt people awake with the truth.  Sometimes our biggest strengths are also our biggest weaknesses.

Your biggest strength is your experience.  But, now that strength is your weakness as well because you refuse to believe you can learn more as a leader.  By the way, are you as fired up to do your job as you were a few years ago?”

“Honestly Judy I am not that excited about it as I used to be.  But, I am good at it.  Maybe I have shifted back a gear or two.  I am not as challenged by the job as in the past.

“Kurt, you’ve stopped growing.  When a tree stops growing, it starts dying.  I want to challenge you.  I want you to embrace growth again.  If you are the same leader you were 5-7 years ago, you should be concerned.”

“Alright, Judy.   I need time to think this through.  Maybe I have been treading water.  Maybe I need to challenge myself again.”

“Great Kurt!  You know what you need to do.  You have been doing this a long time.  Just pick three things you are going to do in the next 12 months to begin growing again.  We can talk next week.”

Kurt’s 3 Point Plan

1. Read 1 new leadership book per quarter.
2. Attend 1 leadership seminar by June 1^st.
3. Lead a monthly leadership roundtable among my peers.

“This looks great Kurt.  I especially love #3.  If we don’t continue to talk about leadership principles and how they apply to us, they remain theories and never get implemented. 

Thanks for taking the initiative to get that started.  This will help the whole team!”

The Bottom Line:

A leader is never fully formed.  A real leader will continue to grow and change throughout their lifetime. 

The Completed Leader is an OxyMORONic Leader.

My father, General Jim Anderson was and is a great example to me in this area.

He is almost 80 years old.  He was a battalion commander in Vietnam and focused his last 24 years in the Army developing future leaders at West Point.  To this day, he voraciously reads books and articles on leadership.

He also speaks on character based leadership at The Lincoln Leadership Institute.

But perhaps the greatest lesson he continues to teach me is that he listens to me about my leadership philosophies.  He is still hungry to grow as a leader.  Even if it is his son who is providing the input.

At time’s I played the role of Kurt and stopped seeking growth opportunities.  Those were the times I was least engaged and most ineffective as a leader.  Real leaders are hungry to get better.

If you find yourself bored, disengaged, or unchallenged in your role as a leader.  Start looking for ways to grow.  If you do, you will look back 12 months from now and see a difference.

Trust me.  You are not completed as a leader or a person.  And neither am I.

Question: 

What do you need to do to jumpstart your growth as a leader?