How are you helping your team or business grow—and how are you growing so you can keep helping?
Those are two different questions. We can get so busy doing today's work that we don't spend much time thinking about either one.
For me, personal growth for business leaders starts with paying attention: to the person we're becoming, to what our clients actually need, and to the habits we're carrying into the future. Then we have to do something with what we notice.
When I think about 2030 and beyond, I want to ask whether the way I'm contributing today will still be useful then. That question applies whether you own the business, lead a team, or contribute as an employee.
I'm asking myself, too. Familiar habits can feel productive simply because we've practiced them for a long time.
Start with the person your work is supposed to help
Alongside my coaching work at One More Benefit, I work in employee benefits. That gives me a practical place to examine how I'm helping people.
I need to understand what's happening in my industry. But I also need to understand the client's world. What are they dealing with? Where are they struggling? What would actually help them move forward?
Here's a hypothetical example. Suppose I focused on serving manufacturing companies. Manufacturing isn't an actual specialty I'm claiming here; it's an example of how to think through the work.
I'd want to learn about that industry, then get more specific about the individual business. What challenges does its team face? What is taking up the owner's attention? Where does administration become difficult?
Only then can I consider where my services fit. Maybe the company needs help with benefits. Maybe there's an administrative problem to explore. Maybe it doesn't need my help yet.
That last possibility matters. If I'm going to start with the client, I have to be willing to learn that my service isn't the answer right now.
Try this with one client or one person your team serves: write down the problem you believe they're facing. Then have a conversation to find out whether you've understood it correctly.
Look at the culture underneath the offering
Benefits can be valuable. I also believe we ask too much of them when we expect a new offering to repair how people are treated every day.
If there's a culture problem, we need to work on the culture.
To me, culture is who we are and how we act. It's the care people experience through our behavior over time.
Think about a hypothetical team where employees hesitate to bring up a concern because their manager routinely dismisses them. Adding a benefit leaves that conversation pattern in place. The manager still has work to do.
We don't have to be perfectly warm and encouraging every moment. I'm certainly not claiming perfection. We do need to care about the people we're working with and let that care shape our actions.
Ask yourself: when someone brings me a problem, what do they experience? Do I listen long enough to understand? Do I follow through on what I say I'll do?
Those questions give us something we can practice today.
Give technology a specific job
I believe learning to use technology belongs in our preparation for the future. So does building meaningful connections with our teams, clients, vendors, and communities.
The useful starting point for technology is a person with a problem.
Consider someone handling HR and benefits responsibilities while wearing several other hats. What takes their attention? Which tasks are difficult to keep up with? Where could better support make their work more manageable?
That kind of inquiry gives technology a purpose. It also gives us a way to evaluate an idea: did it help with the problem we identified?
We can bring that same approach to the people advising us on technology. I want guidance that helps me think ahead about how the business can improve. I want someone willing to understand where we're going and help us consider what's useful.
You don't have to become an expert in every tool. You can become more intentional about the questions you bring to the conversation.
Choose one recurring problem. Describe who experiences it and what improvement would look like. Then explore the tools and support that might help.
Work on the person who brings all of this to the team
Understanding clients, building culture, and learning technology all bring me back to a personal question: how am I growing me?
For me, faith in God is foundational. When things get hard, I need a foundation bigger and stronger than myself. You may approach that differently. I'm sharing what I rely on.
I also need to work on my mindset and physical health. And I haven't always been as consistent with physical training as I want to be. I'm human, just like you.
That's why I want us to approach growth with honesty. Where are we giving ourselves credit for an intention we haven't been practicing? Where do we need another rep?
Pay attention to the way you think about your ability to contribute. If you catch yourself assuming there's nothing useful you can do, pause and ask what one step is available to you.
You might need to learn something, ask for help, or have a conversation you've been avoiding. Make it specific enough to act on.
Give the first 1% of your day a purpose
One percent of a day is 14 minutes and 24 seconds. Here's a practice I encourage: use that first portion of your day to be intentional about your inputs and mindset.
As a starting exercise, write down three questions:
- Who needs me to understand their situation more clearly?
- What do I need to learn or practice to help them?
- What's one action I can take today?
Choose an input that supports that work—something to read, reflect on, or learn. Then put your action on the calendar.
This small practice doesn't answer every question about the future. It gives you a place to begin participating in it more deliberately.
Your team, business, family, and community are full of people you have an opportunity to serve. As you grow, keep bringing your attention back to them.
Who are you becoming, and how will that help someone today?
One more mental rep. Let's go.
