The Law Of Explosive Growth (20)

To Add Growth, Lead Followers; To Multiply Growth, Lead Followers

Leaders are naturally impatient; they want to move fast and to see their visions fulfilled.  They delight in progress.  Good leaders quickly assess where an organization is, project where it needs to go, and have strong ideas about how to get it there.  The problem is that most of the time the people and the organization lag behind the leader.  Because of that, leaders always feel a tension between where they and their people are and where they ought to be.  I have experienced this tension my entire life.

If you develop yourself, you can experience personal success.

If you develop a team, your organization can experience growth.

If you develop leaders, your organization can achieve explosive growth.

You can grow by leading followers.  But if you want to maximize your leadership and help your organization reach its potential, you need to develop leaders.

Leaders Who Develop Leaders ... Want To Be Succeeded
Good leaders lead for the sake of their followers and for what they can leave behind after their time of leadership is completed.

Leaders Who Develop Leaders ... Develop The Top 20%
They seek out the best 20% because those are the people with the greatest leadership potential.

Leaders Who Develop Leaders ... Focus On Strengths
Unsuccessful people usually need help with the basics.  Problems in those areas keep them from achieving consistent performance on a regular basis.  However, when you work with your best people, you can build on their strengths.

Leaders Who Develop Leaders ... Treat Individuals Differently
Any business or industry that pays equal rewards to its goof-offs and its eager beavers sooner or later will find itself with more goof-offs than eager beavers.

Leaders Who Develop Leaders ... Invest Time In Others
When leaders take time to develop the leaders they attract, they are making a valuable investment in them.  Every moment they spend helps to increase their ability and influence.

Leaders Who Develop Leaders ... Grow By Multiplication
When you attract one follower, you impact one person.  And you receive the value and power of one person.  However, leaders who develop leaders multiply their organization's growth, because for every leader they develop, they also receive the value of all of that leader's followers.

Leaders Who Develop Leaders ... Impact People Beyond Their Reach
Leaders who attract followers but never develop leaders get tired.  Why?  Because they themselves must deal with every person under their authority.  Being able to impact only the people you can touch personally is very limiting.  Leaders who develop leaders impact people far beyond their personal reach.

The Challenge Of Leading Leaders
1 - Leaders are hard to find

2 - Leaders are hard to gather
What you're doing has to be more compelling than what they're already doing.  Also, your organization needs to create an environment that is attractive to them.  That is often not the case.  Most organizations desire stability.  Leaders want excitement.  Most organizations desire structure and place a high value on following rules.  Leaders want flexibility and want to think outside the box. 

 If you want to gather leaders, you must create a place where they can thrive.

3 - Leaders are hard to keep

The only way to lead leaders is to become a better leader yourself.  If you keep growing and stay ahead of the people you lead, then you will be able to keep adding value to the leaders who follow you.  Your goals must be to keep developing them so that they can realize their potential.  Only a leader can do that for another leader, because it takes a leader to raise up another leader.

Applying The Law of Explosive Growth

1 - Identify which stage of the leadership development process you are currently in.

Stage 1 - Developing yourself

Stage 2 - Developing your team

Stage 3 - Developing leaders

To validate your answer, cite specific actions you have taken to develop yourself.

2 - What are you doing to find and gather leaders?  Going to events and conventions and networking?  

3 - What are you doing to gather and hold leaders?  Are you becoming a better leader so that leaders will want to follow you?  Are you trying to create an environment where leaders can thrive and succeed?  Are you giving leaders freedom to lead and be innovative?  Are you clearing away red tape?  Are you providing them with resources and greater responsibilities?  Are you praising risk and rewarding success?