John Maxwell, a renowned author and speaker on leadership, shares his insights on how to grow people within organizations. He outlines seven key practices for nurturing team members, emphasizing that true growth starts with leaders themselves. The discussion highlights the importance of listening, learning, and empowering future leaders. Maxwell encourages creating a culture of growth where personal development is prioritized. Anecdotes illustrate the transformative power of investing in young leaders and fostering supportive environments.
Personal growth is essential for leaders to effectively nurture the development of their team members and cultivate a growth culture.
Intentional practices such as challenging projects and shared experiences are crucial for empowering team members and fostering mutual accountability.
Deep dives
The Importance of Intentional Growth Plans
Developing a game plan to grow others is essential for effective leadership. This process requires intentionality, as growth does not happen by accident; leaders must actively design strategies to foster development within their teams. By focusing not just on leading but on producing more leaders, organizations can experience compound growth, moving from mere addition to multiplication. A structured approach encourages leaders to step outside of their own growth and prioritize nurturing the growth of others to create a thriving environment.
Modeling Personal Growth
Personal growth is a prerequisite for fostering growth in others, and leaders must put themselves in the growth picture. By sharing their learning experiences, leaders set an example and create an expectation for growth within the team. A visual form of learning plays a significant role, as individuals learn best through observation of others. Consequently, demonstrating one's growth process leads to a culture where continuous improvement becomes a shared responsibility.
Creating a Growth Culture
Establishing a growth culture in an organization involves the behaviors and practices that demonstrate the value of personal development. This culture can be cultivated through intentional practices such as personal development discussions and training opportunities that encourage employees to reflect on their growth. Leaders should also prioritize time for shared experiences where team members can learn from one another, creating a contagion of growth and mutual accountability. When growth becomes integrated into the organization's ethos, it raises the overall potential and performance of the team.
Empowerment and Connection
Empowering team members involves providing them with challenging projects that test their emotional and creative capacities while fostering their responsibility. This empowerment goes beyond mere task delegation; it connects individuals to the purpose behind their work, enhancing their sense of accountability and ownership. Effective leaders must invest energy in connecting with their team members, listening to their needs, and building trust to facilitate stronger relationships. Ensuring that team members feel connected and valued ultimately leads to a more motivated and high-performing organization.
As John Maxwell shares in this episode, “The most effective way to grow an organization is to grow the people in it.” But how can you do that in your organization and with your people? John answers that question in today’s lesson by giving 7 different practices of growing people so that you can begin developing those around you.
After his lesson, Mark Cole and Chris Goede discuss those practices and provide you with practical ways that you can integrate them into your life and leadership.
Key takeaways:
There are no limits to an organization if we put no limits on our people.
It’s impossible to grow people in the organization if the growth is always for someone else. It always starts with me.
Great leaders listen, learn, then lead.
Our BONUS resource for this episode is the Effective Ways to Grow Your People Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John’s teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/GrowYourPeople and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.”
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