Personal development means many things to many people. Many view it as being the same as self-improvement, which has a short-term focus and aims to improve one’s employability, reach particular goals, or develop certain capabilities.
While self-improvement is important, personal development is a concept that helps us to understand a larger scale of our development. Personal development speaks to the things we each peruse all throughout our lives and achieve by making impactful, challenging shifts in our thinking and behavior over time.
Looking Through the Personal Development Lens
Looking at management through the lens of personal development gives you a more holistic, long-term vision of your team’s needs. Here are three ways managers can help their teams to take command of their personal development.
1. Pay attention to your thoughts and put them into action.
A phrase many of us have heard in our childhoods is “Do as I say, not as I do.” As a leader, it can be tempting to adopt this attitude. This philosophy of leadership allows you to “turn off” as a leader so you can do things you would prefer your employees don’t do.
While it can be challenging, leaders must use their leadership position to not only tell people what to do but to show them what to do by modeling positive behaviors and avoiding negative ones. One internal study at Google found that a leader’s behavior—such as speaking loudly over others—can become an “unwritten rule” for a team, leading employees to try to emulate their leader’s behavior actively. The way you behave as a leader sets expectations tone and can even accidentally create regulations within the workplace.
To impact your team’s behavior, start by introspecting. Consider your own thoughts and actions. Don’t doubt the impact your actions can have on your team, even actions that are small and seemingly inconsequential. Rather than unconsciously setting a bad example for your team, make a focused effort to model behaviors of positive personal development as often as possible.
Communicate with your team the ways you’d like them to communicate. Find ways to show your team how you reflect on your own actions—verbalize your thinking when possible. Over time, you’ll see a great impact on your team’s behavior—and your own personal development.
2. Find the right goals—together.
Living with intention is a key part of personal development. To live with intention, you need a deep understanding of what you do in life and why you do it. What intentions guide your behavior? Becoming conscious of this will help you to find personal inspiration and continually grow as a person.
Setting goals is a concrete way to engage with the idea of finding your intentions because the process of setting a goal in and of itself compels you to consider what you want to accomplish and why. In this way, the goal-setting process is a powerful way to reflect on your work and find inspiration for your personal development.
Make goals with your team that emphasize the intention—the why—behind what you do. Give team members the opportunity to meaningfully express their intentions and goals they would like to reach. This process will help everyone on the team understand how each person sees the direction of the team and what they imagine is possible.
As a leader, you will hear new ideas through this process. You’ll also have the opportunity to personally connect with what inspires your team. A deep understanding of your team’s intentions and goals will be vital as you guide your team toward personal development.
3. Build enduring relationships with active listening.
For managers, listening should not be a passive action. Push past thinking of listening as something you do without thinking—just hearing what others say and responding—and truly listen to your team. Allow yourself to be driven by your curiosity and interest in their ideas. Don’t just wait for your turn to talk.
You can shift from passive to active listening by asking more follow-up questions before you respond to what a team member is saying. Try to deeply understand what is being said to you and why by asking questions. Take time to reflect on the information you’ve been given. Before responding, check with your team member that you’re understanding where they’re coming from. You can reflect what you’ve been told to your team members to check your understanding: Ask them, am I getting this? Am I understanding you correctly?
According to a Center for Creative Leadership report, “Active listening requires you to listen attentively to a speaker, understand what they’re saying, respond and reflect on what’s being said, and retain the information for later. This keeps both listener and speaker actively engaged in the conversation.”
Everyone has greatness within them—pursuing personal development is an acknowledgment of this fact. Helping your team to develop and leverage their greatness through personal development will not only lead to a more productive, happier team. It also will help you as a leader to control your future, lead effectively, and live life to its fullest.
