It takes time to become the best you
Years ago, my leadership team and I made each other a promise that I believe is the sole reason for our success: Every month, no matter how busy we are or what’s going on in our business, we will make time to come together to learn and grow as humans and leaders.
It all started with a lunch. If you’ve read my book, you know the story of how our leadership workshops came to be: I went to a training where I learned about communication and listening, learned a ton, came back to Student Maid and taught my favorite parts to my leadership team over a brown-bag lunch. They loved taking a break in the workday to learn, and they wanted more. Next thing I knew, I was teaching something every month.
Over the years, these lunches transformed into daylong workshops where we work on the business and on ourselves as the people leading it. There are always two core components: Work that helps us strengthen the relationship we have with ourselves and work that helps us to better show up as leaders and serve others. We’ve done everything from personal assessments that help us become more self-aware and in tune to the blind spots holding us back, to tough conversations about why are aren’t making our personal goals a priority, to understanding the limiting beliefs that affect the way we show up in relationships, to developing our visions and legacies as leaders, to learning how to create professional goals that are aligned with our motivations and talents. The things we talk about and do together change depending on what we need or what we’re struggling with.
When I tell people that we do this every month for a whole day—and sometimes multiple days—they’re shocked. “How do you have the time?” they say. And, “EVERY month?!” with a dropped jaw.
From my perspective, we do have the time. We all do. We just don’t make growth a priority. And what is more important than taking time to pause from the day-to-day, getting in reflection mode, and investing in our own development? The better humans we become, the better we can impact others. But becoming the best version of yourself requires a commitment, and that commitment is time.
What would it look like if we blocked out a few hours every month to focus on our growth? To read? To set goals? To reflect and make notes of our lessons learned? To look in the mirror and get honest about the things we want to change?
What would it look like if we gathered our team around us and did this work together? You don’t have to be an expert. Every time you have a session, ask a different person on the team to teach something they are passionate about. Explore together. Try having a session without an agenda and start with a question: “What’s holding you back from being the best you? And what are you going to do about it?” The conversation will flow from there, I promise.
I’m not going to say it’s easy to dedicate the time it takes to becoming a better you, but it’s extremely important. So important that I want to help you get started. In December, I acted on a dream I’ve had for a long time: To bring a group of people together and host a retreat inspired by the content from the workshops I’ve done with my leadership team. It was so moving and fulfilling to watch the work that’s helped us internally begin to help those outside of Student Maid—so much so that I’ve decided to host multiple retreats a year. My goal is to create the space for you to do the deep and necessary work that’s critical to success and to empower you with the courage and conviction to become the human and leader you’ve always known you can be. I’d be honored to accompany you along your growth journey, and you can learn more by clicking here.
The point is that there are so many opportunities around us to grow. We make it a lot more complicated than it needs to be. The hardest thing is just blocking the time and sticking to it.
Remember: The only person who can make you a better human and leader is you. So get out there and take ownership of your growth and development—no matter what that looks like for you.
Hope this gets you thinking.
Big hugs,
