More on Dealing with Difficult People and Aligning Teams (Part 2)

The journey of personal growth and leadership through the decades

I left off last week with the big idea that perhaps the most difficult person to lead is yourself. It seems every season of life requires the right mindset and a new toolbox. When you’re young, single, and overflowing with energy, it’s about laying a foundation. It’s about learning.

In Your Thirties

When you’re in your thirties, your strengths are becoming more noticeable. Your blind spots too. If you’re driven, you get promoted and receive more responsibility. That’s when you realize things are not as easy as you thought them to be. You were probably promoted because you demonstrated some of your innate skills, they came naturally. Gifts from God. But they only take you so far because God designed life as a partnership. Now it’s time to grow up. To humble yourself. You’re not as smart as you thought you were.

In Your Forties

Your forties bring depth. You think more. Your relationships are different now. In some ways, you’ve grown up but in other ways, your growth is stunted. You are having a little trouble reconciling the fact that you are no longer a young man or woman. You are approaching middle adulthood. Now what? Is it too late? Am I stuck? What do I do now? Is this it?

For many, purpose takes center stage in our forties. Purpose transcends everything. It animates itself within relationships, work, and goals. It becomes the energy that fuels what is important to us. This decade is crucial. It’s when people decide to be readers. To exercise for a reason. To plan their lives… daily, weekly, monthly, annually. They are creating a life to bring relevance to their own.

The natural fruit that comes from leading a well-lived life is followers. You do not necessarily have to seek people to lead. You are noticed because you are beginning to differentiate yourself from others simply by the way you live. When you look over your shoulders, people are following you.

In Your Sixties

Now well into my sixties, my choices are very discriminating. I make decisions consciously and deliberately. More than ever before in my life. Easy is a bad word to me. Hard is a good word. I’ve learned that what is hard is often best. I’ve learned that fast is often poor. I don’t like slow but I’ve learned that many smaller steps create and accomplish 10x more than fast.  – More next time

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