Investing in Practical Growth

While working with a client’s leadership team about a decade ago, we were discussing their opportunities for improving processes, and by default, their overall profitability. One of the most senior team members commented on a specific function, saying “We’ve done it that way for thirty years, that’s the best way there is to do it.” The owner immediately replied with, “and unless we’re willing to find a way to do it even better, someone will take our market share” - and he was absolutely correct. But that’s not exclusive to how a business performs specific tasks. The same holds true for how their approach to leadership impacts their profitability. In fact, I provide a comprehensive statistical analysis of just that through the thirteen chapters of What’s KILLING Your Profitability? (It ALL Boils Down to Leadership!)... And it’s just as applicable to how providing mentorship exemplifies our own level of qualification.

Think about your entire career to this point. Who can you picture that made a tremendous impact in your growth early on but has remained in basically the same role ever since? Assuming you’ve continued to push forward, is that person still capable of providing you with the same kind of valuable guidance you received from them initially? Don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not condemning them in any way. I thank God every day for the hundreds of people I’ve had opportunities to learn from along the way, many of whom played crucial roles in very specific seasons of my life. Some of those, however, are in the same roles today as they’ve been in for decades. While I still appreciate them deeply, I can’t necessarily go to them for guidance on some of the challenges I face today.

Now, let’s flip the focus back to ourselves. While the qualifications I earned twenty years ago may help someone who’s following a similar path today (and even that’s not guaranteed), there’s no chance of that providing ongoing value to someone like Jake who’s been actively engaged in his own growth journey. If I’m not continually developing my skill sets, my qualifications are in danger of becoming obsolete; to the folks I’ve mentored previously, and possibly even to everyone starting out since the world around us changes constantly.

In early 2015, I was part of the very first group worldwide to study for and complete the exam to earn the Society for Human Resource Management’s “Certified Professional” credential. The prep course was several months long and covered about 1,400 pages of textbook content. The proctored exam sucked up an entire day of my life, a two-hour drive each way and nearly three hours to complete it. To maintain that credential for now more than a decade, I’ve had to log at least sixty hours of approved continuing education credits every three years - all of which are required to tie directly to the SHRM body of knowledge. While I’ve done that, I can assure you that simply checking the boxes to maintain the certification has done little to build my level of qualification as a human resources professional; I’ve experienced far more practical growth through hands-on application than even the best webinar that was approved for credit. Truth be told, that’s a big part of why Cindy and I wrap up every lesson we provide - for any group - by sharing a list of questions that challenges them to detail what they’ll apply immediately, the result they hope to achieve, how it will impact their leadership culture and their overall profitability, and to list three things they can implement to sustain that immediate action step. As approved recertification providers with the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Resource Certification Institute, we offer the credits professionals need to maintain their certification, but I’m far more interested in helping them increase their actual qualifications! That won’t happen, for any of us, unless we take intentional action by investing in practical growth.

When we’re focused on increasing our qualifications, we’ll earn influence that far surpasses any credential - and we’ll look at that in detail next. Until then, I want you to identify one specific leadership skill you can dedicate time to improving over the next month. As you do that, be sure to think about exactly how mentoring someone using that skill will continue to increase your qualifications.