Here is the problem with our paths to leadership.

We were thrown into it.

Yesterday you were the most creative marketing specialist. Today you need to herd marketing specialists;

Yesterday you were the star programmer. Today you are a PM.

When I became a manager I didn’t exactly know what good looked like. I did not know how to articulate that to my team, and I did not know how to help my team get there.

It’s not like companies don’t want to develop managers. Huge sums of $$ are thrown into training and development.

There are 3 issues:

1. Growth doesn’t come out of classrooms.
2. Inexperienced leaders are developed by leaders who were developed by inexperienced leaders.
3. The more senior you get, the more you are on your own to #bossbetter.

To me, leadership growth is very specific:

It is about developing your skills of inspecting yourself (plus people, processes, and results.)

It is about honing you ability to relate and influence.

It is about the psychology of fuelling grit and growth.

It is about developing a systematic way to practice all of the above.