Business Leaders
How Personal Growth Fuels Business Growth
Written by Chukwuma Asala for Gaebler Ventures
Most businesses measure their growth by revenue or sales. But a more important proxy to measure an organizations growth with is the personal growth of the leader or head of the organization. This article will highlight the importance of pursuing personal growth as a standard for business growth.
Profit is the name of the game when it comes to business.
Most business plans focus on the break-even point of the business which is the point when the cost to produce the products or services is equal to the revenue generated. This is the benchmark for most start-up businesses and an indicator that profit is just around the corner. Or is it?
Most veterans in business understand that an organization only grows as fast as the leader spear-heading its growth.
Even if you may be seeing a profit in a new start-up, remember this: fast growth and permanent growth are two different things. If you have fast growth, that is awesome. But fast growth is not an indicator and definitely not a predictor for permanent growth.
Personal growth of the leader is the only real indicator for where the organization is going. Profit is actually a lagging indicator and is a result of the personal growth the leader experienced months before.
Why is personal growth so important and just how is it correlated to business growth and profit?
Duplication
A person who is driven to succeed will attract other people driven to succeed. A person who is ambitious will attract other people who are ambitious.
Get the point? You attract who you are, not what you're looking for.
John C. Maxwell, a guru on leadership, advocates that if you want a certain type of person in your company you must first ask yourself if you possess any of the attributes you are looking for. If you don't, then forget it. It won't happen until you possess those qualities.
Most people always talk to the CEO of a company and deduce right then and there whether or not they would want to work for that company. Why? Because the company is usually a reflection of the leader.
Your employees will do half of what you do
In business, your people will always do half of what you do right and double what you do wrong.
This can be dangerous but also a blessing in disguise if you're up for the challenge. If you are a hard worker, chances are your employees will mostly be average workers. If you usually work half days and your employees see you doing that, they will come to work to surf the web and get nothing accomplished.
As a leader you live in a glass house with the lights on. Everyone is always watching you regardless of if you want to be watched or not. Raise your expectations for excellence and this will permeate through the whole organization.
People follow growth
Most people want to be part of a winning team. A winning team is a growing team and a growing team has a growing leader. If you stop growing, the people in your organization will stop growing and the business itself will stop growing.
Your organization will only grow as fast as the people running it so make sure to always be setting the example.
Chukwuma Asala is an international student from Nigeria who is studying to earn an MBA from the State University of New York in Albany. He has analyzed more than 20 industry case studies throughout his education thus far, and hopes to bring some of his business knowledge to Gaebler.com.
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