Not everyone is blessed to land in a company with a strong growth culture. While it’s getting better, most organizations still don’t have personal development opportunities for team members.

So a common question I get is: Dr. Rob, what should I do when my organization doesn’t support my leadership journey?‍

The world-leading researchers (Kouzes and Posner) say:
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No matter where you are, you must eventually build your own “good house”— to cultivate your leadership.

If you need to take next steps to build your own leadership environment, it’s time to press the ignition switch. Take these three steps in order:

1. Look around and identify the people you trust. Give them ways they can support your leadership journey. Be specific. Ask them. They will say yes.
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2. Who are the people around you that have expertise in something that you want to learn? Ask them to help you learn from their experience and/or their network. They will say yes.
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3. Identify opportunities for you to get feedback from your colleagues. Ask for specific feedback that you’re looking for in each situation. Assure them that your feelings will not be hurt, and that you are looking for constructive feedback so that you can grow.
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4. Contact the best leaders you know. Tell them that you’d like to ask them four questions about their leadership journeys. Come up with great questions. Afterwards always ask, “What’s a question that I should have asked?” Their response will be a Gold Nugget!

Take those four steps, one at a time. You will have AN INCREDIBLE START TO YOUR JOURNEY, and others will ask you how you did it!

But each of those require you to become proactive. Please note: those of us who are proactive will win in the end. And the others will explain away our success by saying we were lucky and they were not. 

You don’t have to go big right away. In fact, take it one step at a time, and you’ll definitely get here.

Here’s the bottom line: if you want to grow, you don’t have to wait for it to happen.

You can MAKE it happen.

If you want to reach out to talk more about how to build your own “good house,” hit me up: rob@leadertribe.com

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