Keep Getting Better

I had been dealing with several injuries from running and not taking the time to get better. My physical therapist had a prescription: Yoga. Seemed easy enough. I found out very quickly during the first session that I had a lot to learn if this was going to be sustainable! I thought I was a fairly decent athlete and doing the stretches during yoga helped me take it to another level and eventually get better.

I’ve watched many great leaders excel in their careers and they all had the same thing in common. They were (and still are) constantly getting better. Visionary leaders are constantly tinkering and trying to improve themselves and their teams. Here are some areas that we can focus on in our journey to continue to improve.

 

Get better in service
If you work in an environment that is successful, it can be tempting to look at all of your internal and external awards and enjoy the time. You earned it after all! It’s easy to do. I have found myself a few times over the years thinking, “We’ve got the perfect model of training, people and investment.” and then something changes. We find some new talent that brings a different perspective, I would learn something at a conference or from another business leader, that resulted in an improvement on something we thought was already great. Now, many of those improvements weren’t groundbreaking, earth-shattering learnings and growth. They were chances for us to raise the bar just a little bit more than we thought was possible.

When I moved back to the East Coast, I had a group of leaders that I was challenging to raise their conversion rate. (The % of people who buy something.) Many of the seasoned leaders thought that they had reached their ceiling. Fast forward a year later and many of them were breaking records they thought were unbreakable. The fun thing? They are even higher than that first-year success today.  Find things on your team to push for a little bit more excellence in. Start small and move around your operations until you’ve touched everything. If you are having trouble seeing ways to improve, ask your boss, your co-workers or your guests for ideas. They’ll be happy to give you the feedback.

The other challenge in continuing to improve is that if you are in an organization with a good group of leaders, you raise the level for everyone because they will strive to make the same progress. If you don’t improve, you’ll eventually find yourself like everyone else and then you’ll be behind the rest.

 

Get better in your personal learning
You and I don’t know it all, and I find that very….. exciting. I’ve seen time and again leaders who are well established and think they don’t have anything else to learn. Avoid this trap so that the world doesn’t pass you by. I would encourage you to continue your learning in a few areas.

In your area of expertise: Stay sharp. Learn from the new ones. Be a part of a professional organization related to your job. Network like there is no tomorrow.

In an area outside of your current job:  Learn the ins and outs. Find a mentor in that area. Explore that career path. It might just be your next job.

In your personal life: Try new things. Meet new people. Take up a new hobby.

Continue to grow and get better in how you lead your team and how you lead yourself and you’ll have a stellar career and impact ahead.

Make a better tomorrow.
-ZH