But the trick to it is to make these small daily improvements thoughtfully. Without a clear, purposeful trajectory, we don’t know what we are building toward. We don’t usually realize it, but personal development and business transformation often go hand in hand.
To create stronger, more profitable businesses, we must become better leaders that lead stronger teams. To do this, our personal growth should be built on three bedrocks of transformation:
• Transformation leadership
• Transformational teams
• Building a transformational plan for the future
By following these three principles to growth, we can live in a way that allows us to sustain excellence over a long period of time.
Let’s talk about being transformational.
Transformation is where you make a difference and leave things better than how you found them. It’s a simple concept, but can be hard to put into practice. Let’s talk a retail experience as an example.
A customer walks into a shoe store. She notices there are three sales assistants chatting together while one is on their phone. The customer browses around and leaves without any response or acknowledgment from the sales team. The customer decides to leave and go next door.
At the next store, she is warmly greeted by an employee who says, “Welcome to our store. We’re so delighted to have you here. What can I help you with?” The customer walks out with two pairs of shoes and a strong loyalty to this brand.
Transformation is the only true way to make a positive change for your employees, your patients, and your business. As we take a look at our three concepts, we will come back to this idea of transformation again and again.
Become a transformational leader.
When I am thinking about how I can be a better business leader and inspiration for my teams, I often go back to the difference between a leader and a manager. A leader is someone that is transformational – they push back against the status quo, even when it’s uncomfortable. They fight for ideas they believe in that will make huge differences in the long term. They are constantly questioning, “Is there a better way to do this?”
Managers, on the other hand, are more transactional. They are creating a list and checking off items as they go. They have a necessary function within each business, as we need managers to ensure necessary business functions continue. However, they are not agents for change.
What is the key difference here?
On some level, everyone is a leader. We are the captains of our own ships. We lead our own lives and make choices that align with our personal vision of who we are and where we want to be. But on a team level, whether that’s within a family unit or a business unit, we can apply the same principle.