33: Leaders With Heart Understand that Growth is a Journey

In this episode, I will share a private message with all of you about the need to be patient while growth and development are taking place within you and your team. I will also share a personal story about a big step I took to improve myself, how I stumbled along the way and got back on track again. 

 

Listen in on this episode of you are frustrated with not seeing results from change and development immediately. It might help you see things in a different way!

Tug-of-war with Patience

I wanted to share with you how I confirmed within myself that there really are no secret sauces or magic ingredients in achieving the growth that you aim for.

In the last six months, I decided to enter into an exercise program. It’s been quite rigorous. It is six days a week. It requires pretty stringent eating requirements. 

The first 80 days of doing it, I was about 85% compliant with my eating and worked out religiously six days a week, so I was pretty spot on with that. And I saw great results. But I wanted more so I decided to go another 80 days.

And this time my eating compliance went down and I was more like 60%. But I was still spot on with my workouts. And guess what. I saw even greater results. However, it wasn’t perfect because I fell back a little bit.

Heather-Younger-Quote-Card

And that is what happens in the leadership space, when we are trying to develop ourselves and our people. We kind of get focused on making others change as we read books, we listen to podcasts like this. We go and listen to speeches. We are around people who are inspiring and influencing us. And we make changes.

And that is what I am doing right now. I am trying to refocus myself on my health so that I can get back on track. We do that in every phase of our lives.

We make changes. Sometimes, rapid change. Sometimes we see immediate results and sometimes we don’t. And sometimes we see immediate results and then we fall back into our old patterns. #leadershipwithheart #change #patience Share on X

A Lifelong Lesson

And it all boils down to one ultimate instruction to living fully: Be patient.

Be patient with yourselves, be patient with your people and all the results will flow from that over time and in the end. #leadershipwithheart Share on X

For some things. we do benefit from them quite immediately just knowing that we are learning a new skill and we are using it. But often we won’t see an increased team engagement right away. We won’t see engagement scores or even just skill development happening right away inside of our teams or even ourselves. But do know, change is taking place.

Know that each of you is going through your own growth cycle and that is okay. 

Also if you are not patient with ourselves and with our people, that just causes more anxiety and in fact could cause less engagement, more active disengagement inside of our team and to be honest, more frustration inside of ourselves for feeling like we maybe deficient in some way. And it’s natural.

Key Takeaway

Team, professional, and personal developments take a lifetime. These are not immediate.

All the people you see standing on stages, all of the wonderful books that many of us write about leadership and employee loyalty and engagement—we do that from experience, but also experience knowing that sometimes we don’t all succeed right away.

Sometimes we don’t all succeed right away. Sometimes it takes a long time to see the end result. So, just know that it’s not going to be immediate. #leadershipwithheart Share on X Other people make it look effortless but it really isn't. It just consistent practice, focus, and determination. #leadershipwithheart Share on X

Mentions

Connect with Heather on LinkedIn and Facebook

Subscribe, rate and review the podcast on iTunes!

Listen to the podcast on Spotify

Leave a Comment

podcast

Leadership With Heart With Heather R Younger

“Heather’s courage and vulnerability to share her authentic self are truly inspiring. She shares the most cutting-edge leadership strategies on topics like emotional intelligence and employee experience. If you’re looking to sharpen your leadership skills, this podcast is for you.”

Heather is a Workplace Culture Expert

She's...

CEO of Employee Fanatix

A leading workplace culture and employee engagement consulting & training firm.

A highly sought-after keynote speaker

Bringing the best insights from over 25,000 employee stories to the stage.

A top company culture strategist

An expert in creating spaces for these vital conversations.

A contributor to leading news outlets

A trusted expert for stories on workplace culture, customer and employee engagement, and employee retention.

Heather_Younger_The_Cycle_of_Active_Listening_Guide

The Cycle of Active Listening

Create a listening culture that elevates the workplace experience for everyone.

Through this guide, uncover how to ensure those in your care at work feel heard and valued, resulting in increased loyalty and satisfaction.

  • Understand why listening is the key to improved engagement
  • Learn how the Cycle of Active Listening contributes to strong workplace relationships
  • Get a practical framework for creating a listening culture that is bidirectional, responsive, and supportive

Contact Heather Today!
720-295-1194

Contact
Contact

I'm really interested in...

(select all that apply)*

I can be reached at...

Additional Comments