Different is a Blessing!

Growth rarely comes from the familiar.

Leaders expand when they stay humble, curious, and open to learning from people who see the world differently.

It’s been a couple of years now since my husband and I made a big move.

New state. New community. New home.

I learned a lot.

Some of it was hard. But looking back, I don’t think it had to be as hard as I made it.

Comparison got in the way.

Every new thing I needed to learn, I measured against what I already knew.

Easy or hard. Better or worse.

I had ideas about how things should be, and I wasn’t as open to learning and changing as I thought.

My brain judged my opportunities to learn.  I wasn’t looking at my situation with a beginners mind, with unlimited possibilities.

And if I’m honest, I wasn’t excited about different.

Different backgrounds. Different experiences. Different ways of doing things.

Our instinct is to look for someone “like us” to learn from. It feels comfortable. It feels safe.

But comfort can cheat us out of growth.

How many ideas do we miss because they come from someone we’ve decided is “too different”?

How often, as leaders, do we stay in the familiar -  asking people who think like us, lead like us, or agree with us?

We avoid brainstorming with staff who challenge us, the director who irritates us, or the colleagues we see as competitors.

We avoid people we assume don’t know as much as we do.

But different is a blessing.

We need humility - to be teachable and coachable.

We need to commit to learning from people who stretch us, not just those who mirror us.

We can’t influence until we’ve been influenced.

We learn, and then we lead by example.

Just as others pour into us, we pour into others.

We improve as leaders when we help others improve.

I believe you already carry the humility, curiosity, and openness that help leaders grow. When you use those virtues with intention, everything in your leadership gets better. Let’s keep choosing growth together.

Who is one person you can learn from today?

Who is one person you can teach?