Leadership: "A" is for Advancement

Advancement is the word for growth in leadership. Growth can mean increased size, but more importantly it means that you increase in your understanding of how leadership works. So the important thing isn’t that you are leading the largest group, but that your understanding of leadership is continually advancing.

To advance in your leadership understanding there will many times be painful experiences of failure. However, this failure is rarely fatal to your advancement. In fact, more times than not, it is vitally necessary for your advancement as a leader that you experience “growing pains”. It is in the times of failure that true leadership is easily spotted and solidly formed. In the face of failure, the true leader will get up off the ground and advance toward the goal, having gained the knowledge of a misstep.

As you continue in your leadership journey, remember in the times of the deepest despair you have an opportunity to use that painful situation to advance in your leadership ability. Advancement will not always mean that you are ahead of those around you either. You may be considered by many as a non-leader at your times of apparent failure. However, it is at those times when you advance in your leadership ability and see what is not apparent, learning the lessons of the pain and experiencing true advancement.