Are You Willing to Improve Yourself?
24. Jan, 2010 
9 Comments
This past week I was impacted by a great quote and a challenging leadership question. I’ve not been able to stop thinking about either of them all week. Both of them will stay with me forever and have become a part of my growth as a leader.
The quote came from an audio teaching by author and CEO John Maxwell. He was discussing the books that have marked his life and sharing his insights from these books. He shared a quote from one of his favorite books, As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen.
“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances but are unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound.”
This quote hit me right in the gut and immediately brought to mind how many times I am guilty of this type of thinking. I want my income to increase, sales to be up, marriage to improve, relationships to be stronger, but am I willing to first work on improving myself? Am I willing to look at my own faults and where I need improvement so that I can contribute more to the situation and not take away.
This quote reminded me I need to take an inventory of what I am doing to improve myself and bring more value and purpose to the people I love, lead and serve.
If that quote wasn’t challenging enough, later in the week I was faced with this great question from one of my mentors, author and CEO, Mike Hyatt. I was reading a past blog post by Mike where he recalled a challenging conversation regarding performance, results, and personal responsibility. Mike’s boss asked him about his production results and why he and his team did not reach certain goals. Mike started off by listing various external reasons such as the economy and said that at least they were doing better than last year.
Does this type of conversation sound familiar? It does for me. What came next was a question that only a leader dedicated to personal development and results could ask. Mike’s boss asked him,
“What is it about your leadership that led to this outcome?”
Ouch! The question hit me like a ton of bricks. I had a hard time concentrating on anything the rest of the day. Every conversation I entered, email I wrote, or interaction with someone I was thinking about this question in the back of my mind. I’m still processing the answer, to be honest, but here is what I’ve concluded so far.
It was another tough year for many real estate firms and sales associates. My team and I were not immune to the struggling market. For the past twelve months though I’ve been doing a lot of complaining about external factors like the tight credit market, depreciating home prices, the short sale process, and the number of foreclosed homes on the market. I’ve been privately blaming the market and others, even my own team for their lack of follow-through and discipline when it comes to prospecting and staying in touch with past clients to ask for referrals.
I’ve done very little soul searching and evaluation of my own leadership style. It bothers me that I would never have thought to ask myself this question. I am asking it of myself now though and it’s brutal. I’ve done many things right but I’ve definitely not done everything I could do to be a leader that produces better results. I’m sharing this question and my reaction with you not to bear my soul and tell you everything I’ve failed to do. Rather, my goal is to have you ask yourself the same question as it relates to your work and your personal relationships in life.
As you start to answer the question and identify areas of improvement, remember to document everything. Make a list of the key improvements you need to work on this quarter with your team, your clients, or in a personal relationship. Develop action plans under each key area and begin to execute.
Let’s all work towards improving ourselves and being able to answer with certainty how our leadership and actions this year led to the achievement of not only our goals but the goals of others we love, lead, and serve.
Make it a great day!
Coach Dan
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Very thought provoking. Thank you for being so candid.
Thank you Tara. I appreciate your kind words. Make it a great day! – Dan
That first quote is a motto I live by, but had never seen in a well expressed quote before. Thank you for sharing, thank you for the wisdom in all of what you shared.
It is a great day if we choose for it to be a great day — and it is, thank you!
Dan, I went through very similar things this month. As I blogged about it a week or so ago. As with you, I have to look on my leadership and ask how am I going to get better to improve things.
These are tough questions and the answers aren’t easy, but they are a necessity for growing.
Thank you for posting about your thinking and what you are struggling with right now.
Thank you Ron. Keep your head up brother. These were tough topics to think about but I feel more inspired and ready to lead than ever before. Stay in touch.
Thank you JD. Everyday we have the choice you mentioned. How we respond to our surroundings and things that are impacting us is completely up to us. I know you will make it a great week!
One of the BEST blog posts I’ve read in a long time! Right on, great job!
Thank you Scotty. I appreciate those kind words.
Thank you for this email. It was very eye opening and a true testimate of a good leader, when he can look within himself, make changes and stay positive, especially in the economy we are in today. Positive change is contagious and helps us to aspire to your level of leadership and you bring qualities that we want to emanate. I think we should all be looking into ourselves and seeing where we can put more energy into making positive changes. Thank you for being so open and for continuing to help us learn from you, as you grow as our leader! Great teams come from great leadership and direction. Keep it comin! Here’s to a great 2010!