I believe leadership habit no.7 is to Learn.
Albert Einstein is famous for suggesting that, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
At some point, I feel like you learn “all there is to learn about Leadership and Leading your team” from inside the walls of your company. Maybe that takes six months or maybe six years, but the time comes. And then what? Too often, when that time comes, Leaders simply quit learning because they’ve effectively become experts in the very small world that is their own.
But what about that huge, untapped learning opportunity in the world outside the company? Could there be some things out there that would be good to know, exciting to know, beneficial to know? Things that could slash the frequency and time spent in your company making mistakes, doing things manually that could be automated, unleashing efficiency gains that remain ‘hidden’ in your expertise or prepare you to Lead at a level exponentially above where you are Leading now.
I was dumb.
For a long time, I built walls around my first company, inside of which I remained, and my learning suffocated. Although I hadn’t learned the trade, I became a competent mason. I felt fine because I didn’t realize that there was a better way to feel. I felt smart because I didn’t realize how dumb I was.
After a decade of isolation, it finally dawned on me that instead of getting sharper every day, I was dulling. My brain and my creativity were atrophying. My curiosity, rotting. My excitement, dimming. What a waste.
Then I busted myself out.
I started slowly, joining a small business CEO group to test the waters. Not bad, comfortable, I thought. Smart people I would not have otherwise met doing cool things I would otherwise have no idea about. From there, it spread. I got my learning mojo back. I joined groups that were at a higher level and put me in the company of Leaders who were at a higher level as well. Leaders who would share their ideas, and inadequacies, and who weren’t afraid to challenge my thinking – and vice versa. Breaking out made me realize that Leadership is a life-time learning proposition and that the real learning in life happens in the school that’s out there, beyond my self-constructed walls.
For me, being a good – or maybe even a great – Leader doesn’t just come down to having an understanding about what good Leadership takes.
It also comes down to the execution of what it takes. To the doing of what it takes. To the habits of what it takes. Read all my 10 leadership habits here.
I love supporting and helping entrepreneurs bring their dreams to fruition, break through barriers, and achieve massive success.
As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve helped found, grow, and sell 2 waste treatment, recycling, and disposal companies. These companies collectively generated more than $500M in revenue while I was involved and sold for more than $180M.
I’ve lived in entrepreneurial shoes like yours since I was 26. For 30 years I’ve been through – and am still on – the roller coaster you’re on. I’ve experienced the excitement, pain, grit, and mistakes that come with every entrepreneurial journey.
You can learn about many of the problems I dealt with starting my companies, and how I overcame them in my book “Owner Shift – How Getting Selfish Got Me Unstuck” available on Amazon. Purchase my book Owner Shift, make notes along the way in the book, and reread all the stories that inspire you to become an entrepreneur. I want this book to inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey to get unstuck, and achieve the future you always imagined.
If you prefer to listen, get my audiobook, Owner Shift. Free with your trial on Audible or Amazon. You’ll get access to all my stories that lead me to become an entrepreneur. Most importantly, you’ll hear my journey to get unstuck, and achieve the future I always imagined. And you’ll hear it directly from me, I narrate the audiobook!
And if you want my professional help as your coach, contact me here. I’ve mastered what it takes to start, build, grow, and sell a business. When I work with clients through my OwnerShift coaching, I help entrepreneurs and business owners get unstuck and start living the life they want.
My purpose is to inspire and activate increasing greatness in entrepreneurs and leaders. My goal is to make a positive and profitable difference with every client I work with. I help clients apply the lessons I’ve been fortunate to learn in my 30 years as an entrepreneur to help them excel and create amazing lives, companies, teams, and futures.
I don’t do this work to make a living.
I do it to make a difference.
I’m very selective about my OwnerShift coaching relationships. I ONLY work with these kinds of clients:
- Entrepreneurs and CEOs of profitable, privately held companies leading companies with revenues between $10M and $250M.
- Leaders who are committed to moving beyond where they are professionally and personally AND have the autonomy to make the decisions and take the actions necessary to do so.
- People who value making significant investments in themselves.
- Kind people.
OwnerShift is an exclusive and customized one on one coaching program for high-performing entrepreneurs and CEOs. It’s designed to guide them to the bigger and brighter personal and professional future they want to own and make their property.
In the OwnerShift program, my client is the Hero, and I am their Guide. I will never have all the answers, but I will always ask the right questions.
My mission is to help every client identify, sharpen, and leverage the tools in themselves, and those in their companies, to make significant progress toward their most important life goals.
Take the first step and learn more about my entire OwnerShift Coaching program.
