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Leadership is about growth. We are a work in progress. We never fully arrive at developing our character. One way we can be intentional with our development would be to construct a personal growth plan. As a leader, I’ve made one for every year these past three years. It’s been a game changer: I know where I need to grow and how I’m going to do it. It requires self-awareness, humility, and perseverance. It’s not complicated and it’s pretty simple!

A personal growth plan is a template to grow in one specific area in our leadership. Let me share a recent example. This past summer, I ate very good pasta at my friend’s place in Belleville. The pasta doesn’t have much to this story, only that it was very good and one of my favourite meals. As we were eating, my friend talked about the flavour of the pasta and its ingredients. He noted a Latin phrase to describe his cooking process, “Non multa sed multum’, translated means “not many, but much.” A little bit goes a long way; quality over quantity. As he shared this, I had an “Aha!” moment. This simple phrase really spoke to me. 

During this season of my life, I can grow by being intentional with quality over quantity. I have a temperament that is goal-oriented and driven, however its downfall is that I can be impatient and rash. While I can be quick to make decisions, I’ve lacked the patience to deliberate. Taking time to do certain things, and to be with certain people, is a very prudent and excellent virtue. So when my friend talked about “not many, but much”, it really impacted me. So much so that I adopted it as my personal growth plan for 2022. 

The key consideration for a growth plan is that it should be personally impactful. We could consider what is that one area we could grow this upcoming year. We can take a look at either two ways to grow: in personal virtue or in personal skill. Personal virtue relates to great characteristics such as prudence, temperance, justice, or fortitude. We can grow in a specific virtue that we are lacking. Personal skill relates to our professional development in our careers and places of work or study. There might be a certain course, degree, or job competency we would like to accomplish this upcoming year. 

I developed a one page template to frequently remind myself of the personal growth plan. The key is not necessarily to follow a template, but to create one ourselves that reflects our personality. As we apply the personal growth plan, we could include motivational quotes, pictures of models we look up to, or even Scripture verses. Ultimately, the template should motivate us to implement the personal growth plan on a daily, weekly, and quarterly basis. Find a way to also incorporate goals; maybe one or two every quarter would be great.

To give you a little inside scoop on how I am living out “not many, but much”, I have three daily practices. You might find this trivial or funny, but the reality is, I look to grow in taking my time and live out quality over quantity. Every day I strive after these three specific things to help me grow. Here they are:

1. Do a ten minute workout to start my day. How does this incorporate my growth plan? Because I do a little bit of consistent exercise. I am intentional with my health and my body. It’s not a lot, but that is the point. I’ve realised that doing a little bit consistently goes a long way.
2. Eat slower than the slowest person at the dinner table. Those that know me well know that I have a large appetite. I eat fast. Dad would always say, “Chew your food. Bring fork to mouth.” How does this incorporate my growth plan? I emphasise quality conversations over the dinner table, rather than being one and done with my meal. I prioritise relationships over my appetite, and I spend good time with others. Also, it’s a good discipline for me, as I used to rush my meals. 
3. Write nicely. I used to rush writing notes at school. People thought my writing looked like chicken scratch. In any case, it’s been the last of my daily practices for my personal growth plan. How does it apply? Well, I take time to write. I journal every day in prayer. As I write in cursive, I go slow, trying to construct every letter as if it will be read by someone else.

So there you have it. Three simple ways I implement my personal growth plan. Note that I have weekly reflection questions on Sunday evening. I revisit my growth plan and journal my reflections on how I am doing. That keeps me accountable to revisit my week-by-week progress.

A leader needs to grow. It is part of the trade. Why don’t we adopt a personal growth plan for 2022 or even for the upcoming fiscal year? Don’t delay; begin!

This article is part of the Leadership section. Check out more entries here!