Introduction

Have you ever felt like you could lead at a higher level but you weren’t quite sure how to get there? Have you ever wondered how to strengthen your influence and increase your impact? Have you ever considered what enables some leaders to soar above all others? We’ve asked these questions and more just like them. We’re convinced, after more than seventy years of combined leadership, that the path to increased influence, impact, and leadership effectiveness is paved with personal growth. There’s certainly more to leadership than growth, but growth is at the heart of what creates and sustains great leaders. Growth is the leader’s fountain of youth.

Growing for a leader is like oxygen to a deep sea diver: without it you die. Unlike the diver, you may not physically die—but if you stop growing, your influence will erode; and over time, you can even lose the opportunity to lead at all.

Tragically, you see these losses in organizations large and small, for profit and not for profit—leaders who attain a position of leadership and fail to keep up. Or some get a promotion based on their potential, but that potential never materializes. Or perhaps you see it in young emerging leaders who never get their shot. Their untapped potential remains untapped. What do all these situations have in common? Personal growth—or the lack of it. The failure to grow sabotages the career of more leaders than anything else.

Our capacity to grow determines our capacity to lead. It’s really that simple. However, simple doesn’t mean easy. Like most of life’s powerful principles, the power is in the application. That’s what this book is all about.

In the pages that follow, you’ll go along for the ride of a lifetime with Blake, an energetic yet reluctant emerging leader. Don’t get hung up on his age or lack of experience. There’s some of Blake in all of us, particularly when we’re faced with the challenge of growing as a leader.

Debbie Brewster plays the part of trusted mentor to Blake and shares with him four big ideas that, if applied consistently, will enable him to be a leader for life.

The idea of leading for the rest of our lives is appealing to us. We may not choose to lead in our current context or circumstances indefinitely, but name a leader you know who wants to become stagnant or, worse, irrelevant. We don’t know any. If you decide that you want to lead well your entire life—whether in the marketplace, a nonprofit, or even in your family—you must continue to grow.

We pray that the ideas in this book will fuel your passion to grow, convince you that you can grow, show you how to grow, and empower you to grow for the rest of your life. Have fun as you GROW!

—Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller