You may dream big, but success is not the dream. Too many people get stuck on the dream and the dream never materializes. Success is a series of small steps or improvements that make the dream or vision a reality. Success is more a measurement of growth than anything else. Growth is an unyielding commitment to improvement. If you want to succeed as a leader, a follower or in your organization, then your focus and your efforts needs to be fixed on continuous improvement.

What is growth?

Growth is simply sustained improvement over time.

Those who fail to improve never arrive.

The key word in our definition is improvement. Improvement is gain by degrees or increments. To improve, things must become better or the quality must increase. Improvement is a statement of quality and is born of a spirit or attitude of excellence. The most excellent people and the most excellent organizations are composed or driven by an attitude of continuous improvement. This means the internal machinations and the external deliverables are always under review and always under construction. Those who fail to improve never arrive.

The spirit of continuous improvement is revealed by Sheldon (1897), “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” Who you are is not who you need to become. Becoming is superior to being. Becoming recognizes that you are not done growing and there is room for improvement.

Improvement takes humble conviction. Leaders and followers who truly make an impact on others, their organization or their environment do so with the humble conviction that they must get better. Information does not equate to improvement. Just because you have knowledge of something does not guarantee a change or transformation. Improvement is not knowledge it is transformation.

Improvement must be sustainable. If you change for growth too quickly, then you will outgrow your foundation. This principle applies to leaders as well as organizations. Every good thing that grows well over time has a solid foundation. Without a solid foundation of morality, integrity, and virtue what is being built will become too heavy and either collapse or crumble. We see this played out in the lives of leaders and organizations all the time. There is simply no substitute for integrity. Integrity’s offspring is  sustainability.

Don’t improve for the splash. A splash is noticeable, dramatic, and short-lived. A splash attracts attention but carriers very little momentum. Without organizational or personal momentum, energy is never captured and energy is quickly lost. Learn how to ease into the shallows one step at a time. These small steps are how you grow by degrees or increments. Dream big, but step small. This allows you to learn your environment, learn what opposes you, and learn your self. Sustained, incremental growth that garners little attention and draws no attention often seems like not a dramatic enough impact is being made. But, good growth is not always dramatic. Good growth is a result of daily habits. A runaway train is dramatic, but the end results are devastating. A forest fire is spectacular, but the end product is depressing. A tornado is powerful, but its outcome is destructive.

Improvement requires measurement. All growth goals that you have as a leader or for your organization must be more measurable than they are aspirational. Vision is important, but most visions are not measurable. The mission is measurable. The mission is composed of a series of goals. Goals guide growth. A leader without goals lacks guidance. An organization without well-communicated goals will meander like a river being driven where forces take them. A leader without goals will wander. The problem with a wandering leader is the leader’s replication and duplication are impaired. It’s hard to make followers when you aren’t entirely sure where you are heading or when you will arrive.

Improvements and Necessary Endings

Improvement doesn’t mean you get what you want. Often, a stuck or struggling leader or organization needs to remove, remodel or reorganize before improvement can happen. Often, improvement is simply addition by subtraction. However, this kind of improvement is a difficult form of improvement because there can be actual pain or perceived pain there. I remember years ago, I had a leader who was not growing. I had tried everything I knew after frequent meetings and counseling sessions to get the leader to improve. This leader would nod his head in agreement, yet never change his behavior. Eventually, after sustained poor performance and no improvement, I had to have a difficult meeting to set the date to part ways. Instead of improving between the meeting and the departure date, this leader demonstrated he had an unwillingness to improve under my leadership in our organization and became even more resistant. Consequently, the day of his departure was rapidly moved up. It was a painful departure. But, it was a necessary ending for our organization to improve. Necessary endings are often the catalyst for much-needed improvement. 

Dr. Henry Cloud (2011) wrote,  “Without the ability to end things, people stay stuck, never becoming who they are meant to be, never accomplishing all that their talents and abilities should afford them.” Some endings are not only necessary, they are past due. Like a library book long overdue, there are some relationships, actions, habits or processes that need to die, stop or end, in order, for improvement to occur. Leaders often have a hard time of letting go. But, leaders committed to improvement allow for every chance for betterment. When improvement does occur in a reasonable timeframe, then the leader is harming the individual and the organization by allowing the lack of improvement.

Improvement requires a culture. Culture is the key driver of organizational health. Organizational health facilitates organizational growth. If your organizational culture is not a culture that embraces improvement and rejects mediocrity, then yours will be an organization that fails and falters in its growth trajectory. Failure for an organization to grasp the importance of culture will result in the organization becoming a victim of it (Schein, 2010). Culture is more important than anything else in an organization (Schneider, 2000). Culture is more important than leadership,  followers, and what is produced or served. Culture is the glue that holds an organization together. Organizations that demonstrate continuous improvement have it wired into their organizational culture.

True success is a series of small steps of improvement. Improvement is a relentless commitment to getting better and ensuring that those in the organization believe and act in a way that proves true. Improvement is never accidental. Improvement requires intentionality, patience, and effort. Few things improve quickly and dramatically, unless you are in the midst of a crises. Organizations either fade slowly or improve systemically. Leaders who take the responsibility to improve, will strengthen their influence, grow their results and meet organizational goals.

References:

Cloud, H. (2011). Necessary endings: The employees, businesses, and relationships that all of us have to give up in order to move forward. Zondervan.

Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.

Schneider, W.E. (2000). “Why good management ideas fail: the neglected power of organizational culture.” Strategy & Leadership. Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 24-29.

Sheldon, W.L. (1897). What to believe: an ethical creed. Ethical Society of St. Louis.