One
of my most favorite activities to do in class or with a group is to ask
participants to list their Top 5 (that they can share publically!) life
experiences that shaped their growth and development. The answers fascinate me but
inevitably they come down to two things:
- High Impact People
- High Impact Experiences
High Impact People are usually those people that come into our lives that support us, lift us up, challenge us, love us and pour into us. These are people such as mentors, coaches, teachers, college professors, people of faith, etc. High Impact Experiences are usually those experiences that we immersed ourselves in that were totally out of our comfort zone. This could involve living in another country, that first job, volunteering in a place or with people that were completely unfamiliar to us. I am sure you can add so much more to my lists but you get the idea.
This
got me thinking out loud about how we as leaders could or better yet should
replicate both to accelerate development and growth in others.
Let’s
start with high impact experiences. One of my favorite is the off-site
retreat or training. Such opportunities remove people from their day to day
routine and helps them focus on learning. Throw in a Ropes Course or other type
of challenge experience then you are really cooking! Another example may be
taking your team on a service project. I have a team leader who does this to
very strong effect. No work conversations, just being together and helping
others. I am sure you can think of a variety of ideas but the point is this. In
order for an experience to have High Impact it must have a delegate balance of
both intentional and organic experiences that challenges but does not overwhelm
team members.
Next,
is exposing people to other high impact people. Establishing a cadre of trained
and able mentors and coaches (vs whoever just volunteers!) can have
enormous impact, especially on younger leaders. Bringing in outside speakers
with a relevant message for your team can also start someone on the path to
growth and increased effectiveness. Here’s another high impact person you can
introduce into the lives of others – YOU! You can be that high impact
person and I bet you are right now but do not even know it! But what if you established
yourself to do so intentionally?
Whatever
you choose (and I vote both!) keep this mind. Providing High Impact Experiences
is a monetary investment. Becoming a
High Impact Person for someone else requires a personal investment! Make
very certain that you are resourced
to do both!
As
always, if I can help you and the people you associate with Get
Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to visit my website
below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can
provide an impact! Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies
website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE
guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such
an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!
Yours in Leadership,
Bill Faulkner
Co-Founder – Out Loud
Strategies
Independent Coach,
Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email = bill@outloudinc.com
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