The Growth Cycle

How often do you stop and think about the process of personal growth?

If you are like I was when I was in a corporate role probably never! You’re way to busy and just get on with what you have to do. Your development actions become part of your task list and you may do some reflection on the way home.

 If you follow any process you use Kolb’s learning cycle. Whilst this is a great process to get your head around learning it doesn’t quite address some of the deeper things you need to consider as a leader if you want to grow. So, I thought I’d share this process that I have taken from the work I do with archetypes.

There are basically 3 stages:

·       Preparation

·       Learning and Growth

·       Application and Celebration

Preparation

Here you get clarity on what it is you want to learn or how you want to develop. You may set a goal, an intention or outcomes and identify any tools or support you need on the way. This includes your own mental preparation and readiness to start.

Learning and Growth

This is almost a cycle on it’s own with four parts to it:

1. Exploration: To experiment, study, understand, and discover the topic you set out to achieve.
2.  Commitment: Determine what it is you will commit to. What will you do differently?
3. Let Go: Having made the commitment let go of anything that no longer serves you. This may be an old habit, a belief, people or tools and techniques. There may also be more than one thing!
4. Create: Start doing, being and or thinking differently.

You may go around this several times before you move on to the last stage.

Application and Celebration

The final stage is to practice and practice and practice and celebrate your achievements. This may sound easy and it’s the one most people do less consciously or give up if something doesn’t work.

To get good at something we have to continually fine tune and we may also need to adapt for differing situations. So always recognise your progress and celebrate!

“The voyage of discovery is not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

Marcel Proust