[Blog] Grow for It!

By Tyler Jeffs

You’ve probably attended your share of regional or national conventions. You sit through several days of high-energy motivational speakers and grassroots, detailed training. You get home utterly exhausted, and your spouse asks, “How was the convention?” “Great,” you say. “Lots of terrific speakers. Met a lot of people. Great. Just great.”

Next day at the office, you unload the stack of papers from the event. You tell yourself, I’ll sort all this out later when I revise my business plan, but right now, I’ve got a lot of fires to put out. But later never shows up. You certainly can’t work on it now because three days of calls, texts and emails are straining the capacity of your technology. After a few long, packed days, you’re finally caught up. Now you’re thinking about next week, next month and all the reports and appointments you already have on your schedule.

Day after day, those pesky conference notes sitting on the corner of your desk remind you that you didn’t follow through on your commitments. After they begin to grow mold, you slip the notes into the round file next to your desk.

So . . . what’s the point of it all? How many learners were there who were lapping up every idea and encouragement? And how many laggards were there wasting time and money because they didn’t apply much of anything when they came home?

What’s the difference between the two? Learners soak up every ounce of information, skills training and the wisdom of experts. They read books and articles, find the best podcasts, take notes, talk to peers to clarify what they’re learning and then take steps to apply the principles. These are the people who provide outstanding service to customers and clients, impress their bosses and leave the laggards in the dust.

Roadblocks to ‘Upskilling’

If you assume I’m coming down hard on laggards because I consider myself to be superior, let me disabuse you of that idea. I know a lot about laggards because I was one of them—a card-carrying, blue-chip version. Our office drifted along. We got some new clients, but we lost others. I was making a living, but certainly not knocking it out of the park.

Then, one day I got sick and tired of being mediocre. I began to notice the excuses that dominated my thinking. I was mired in “good enough.” Mediocrity was entirely normal. I had small dreams and no fire. Something had to change, and that something was me.

I’m not saying there aren’t real challenges when we want to pursue professional development. There are several, but in the vast majority of cases, the benefits far outweigh the risks or costs. Some common roadblocks include:

1.The cost

A study called “Upskilling at Scale” found that 40% of those surveyed said the biggest barrier to professional development was the cost. If companies pay all of the expenses, this problem is solved, but if they pay only part, the barrier may still be there, just not quite as tall.

2.The fit

Some employees are unsure where they’re going in their company or their career, so they’re hesitant to take courses that sharpen their skills in a particular function. Sometimes, it’s not the employee who’s unsure; it’s the boss who isn’t clear about the employee’s role.

3. The time

Most of us have a hard time squeezing everything into our schedules now, especially if we have children who, as they grow up, have different but equally consuming calls on our time. If we’re moving up the ladder in our companies, the bosses often expect us to put in more time at work. More than a third of employees reported they “don’t take professional development courses because they feel like they’re too busy at home or at work.”

4. The future

Some employees don’t feel their jobs are secure, so asking for time and money to develop their skills seems like a big risk. If they take this step, their supervisor may assume they’re actually looking for a job somewhere else and they’re using the company’s time and money as a springboard to something better.

If you’re a boss or manager, pay attention to this: If you don’t provide opportunities for professional development, you’re going to lose some of your best people. A study of 1,200 office workers found nearly 58% of respondents said they would likely leave their company without professional development or continuing education and career training to develop new skills and drive career advancement.

The gains of growth

I could list a dozen reasons why personal development benefits you and your company, but let me focus on just a few. First, for you. Professional development:

1. Revs your engine

You may have been bored out of your mind in some classes in high school and college, but when you picked your electives, you were far more motivated. Professional development targets specific knowledge and skills to open doors of opportunity, which fills our tanks with high-octane gas!

2. Enlarges your vision

When you learn from the best in your field, you’re exposed to high-level thinking, so your imagination can soar. You begin to see yourself succeeding in ways you hadn’t envisioned before.

3. Sharpens your thinking

These courses aren’t designed as “an easy A.” They challenge you to think more clearly, ask better questions and search for the best solutions.

4. Makes you indispensable

You were valuable to the company before, but now you’re much more valuable. You’re becoming an asset management relies on.

5. Impresses the boss

Your enthusiasm, insights and skills gleaned from the coursework aren’t hidden underground. People notice, especially those who are looking for people to promote.


And for your company, investing in the professional development of the staff:

1. Shows your commitment

When you invest time and money in the development of people, you’re making a bold statement about yourself, the company and the team members.

2. Raises expectations

It’s natural: everyone expects progress from those who have taken advantage of the company’s investment.

3. Adds a spark

Those who have taken courses and/or been coached inevitably have fresh ideas, more optimism and a higher level of energy.

4. Improves productivity

The bottom line is that the price companies pay for professional development is worth it. Employees will be more effective in their existing roles or equipped for a bigger role.

5. Facilitates team building

In most courses, interaction with other students is an integral part of the training. Participants learn to collaborate, resolve conflicts and encourage each other. Back with their teams, they bring these new skills to every interaction.

6. Deepens the pool

Good executives are always looking for more people who show leadership potential. One of the best ways to test someone’s interest and capacity is to send them to a development course and see what comes from it.

I wish I could say I was a learner in high school and college, but I wasn’t. In fact, I felt repulsed by some of my college profs in business school. They were telling me how to run a business and how to become wealthy using principles of economics and the finer points of accounting, but they were getting by on a teacher’s salary. Again and again, I thought of the saying, “Those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach.” My lofty educational goals were to make Cs and take Fridays off. I didn’t care what I learned; I just wanted to get my sheepskin at graduation.

When I became an avid learner, I wanted to understand the inner dynamics of the world of business, so I read everything I could get my hands on. (If my profs had seen me, they’d have fainted.) One day, I came across a single sentence that changed the trajectory of my life: “The knowledge and wisdom you gain by increasing your intelligence shouldn’t be used primarily to traffic in money but to improve people’s lives.”

Did you know that Elon Musk, one of the richest people in the world, open-sourced his Tesla patents so others could use his technology and build on his knowledge base? Musk is on one end of the spectrum. On the other are countless men and women who use their platform in business to serve customers, clients and team members. They are, to borrow a term, “shepherd leaders” who have found a way to blend creating a great business with creating a great life.

If you aren’t attending company meetings, showing up at conferences, studying industry news and events and getting involved in study groups, you’re on the road to mediocrity and failure.

Adapted from 10 Ways to Make Your Business Fail: You Can’t Avoid Mistakes, So Learn From Them (Four Rivers Media) and used with permission.

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