4 Ways Professional Development Isn't Just for Managers

For many businesses, professional development tends to be focused on those entering management, or already at management level.  There are two good reasons for this, cost and time.  In today's blog we explore four ways professional development can make a massive impact on the performance of the business as a whole without the cost or losing time in the office.

But first, let's start with you.

How Did You Get Here?

Think of the biggest project you’ve worked on in your career so far.  Remember the hours and money spent, the stress and the deadlines, the hurdles and triumphs, the collaboration and logistics. Think of what it looked like when it began versus what it is now. 

You worked really, really hard to make that project happen. In doing so, you demonstrated what you're really capable of when you focus your attention and energy towards something that's meaningful to you.

Even if that project made a million, it’s still not the most important thing you’ll ever work on. You are.

Why?

Just imagine how much more you could bring to the table when you focus that same level of drive, intention and enthusiasm inwards on breaking through the glass ceilings of self-belief, mindset, habits & productivity by learning powerful and consistent self-leadership.

How much more could you bring to the table at work then?

Now multiply that by every member of your organisation if they had the opportunity to do the same.

Does it like a lot of work that you don't have time for and too costly for your training budget? It doesn't have to be, this is the reason Life Ladder was developed.

Here are 4 reasons why personal development for every employee is powerful. 

1. Enabling Your People to Be Extraordinary

You’re a human, and human beings are incredible creatures. Why is it then, that we so often disregard our own capabilities?

Why is it we believe there are things we can't do or achieve or fail to get the results we wanted? Why do so many people lack confidence and make themselves smaller, even if in reality they could be the genius in the room? Why do others feel the need to compete with each other so avidly but not always successfully?

To get results, we need to apply our minds. The mind is capable of incredible things but most of us don't use it effectively. When intention is focused inwards by learning and applying the right tools, your mind can change itself and as a result your actions and everything you create, build and achieve transforms.  How often have you heard phrases such as; "I'm just an anxious person.", or "I could never achieve that"? People across all types of businesses and in every area of life accept beliefs and attitudes that limit their potential all the time; but the reality is they don't have to and if they didn't, their performance would be unleashed.

The first step is the awareness that you can create change and that you too are capable of extraordinary things.  

Each one of us has so much untapped potential, the question is simply this: How great could you be?  Moreover how great could your whole team be if they had the keys to unlock their own potential and not be solely dependent on the leadership of their manager to coach them?

2. Accountability that Drives Improvement & Growth

What if more people in your business were more accountable for what they say and do and were great self-leaders?

Whether we like to admit it or not, we're responsible for most of the things that happen in our world. Our reactions to the things that happen to us are 100% within our control.

How many people seek to pass the buck? We often look for reasons why, or excuses. We look for external factors that caused an event to happen and we search for people to blame. 

Sugar is problematic, to be fair

Taking responsibility and acknowledging that ‘I am the cause’ can feel daunting, especially at work. It makes us feel vulnerable, like we may get something wrong or face repercussions; it’s easier to blame than be blamed, right?

However, something far more powerful and worthwhile happens when team members learn the personal development skills that enable them to move past fear. The internal conversations are no longer along the lines of: 'How do I adapt or respond?' They become: ‘What do I do next?’  Enabling individuals to see themselves as the cause of the effect, enables employees to be more accountable, resourceful and able to decide and take action on next steps.

3. Navigating Change Better

Change is common in business and it can be scary for employees if they don't have the skills to navigate it.

Change can be intimidating because our subconscious mind's highest need is security and safety. Our minds plan our next move based on what we know (or what our emotions are telling us).  If we can't find the answer from what we already know, our minds are forced to create an answer and a risk is flagged up by the mind, leading to anxiety or the belief we're not capable. 

If your managers are the only people that have learnt the mindsets and behaviours to manage change, your team members will still need support to stay focused and productive rather than being able to lead themselves.  Life Ladder can help with transforming everyone's relationship to organisational change; helping people become more resourceful in the unknown, where rather than becoming demotivated and fearful,  they are able to remain focused and productive, delivering much-needed results and are ultimately more likely to stay with the organisation.

4. Self-Leadership Empowers Others Too

Why is it that in case of an emergency on a plane, you must fit your own mask first? 

Because you can’t assist others if you’re in need of assistance yourself. In other words, you can’t pour from an empty cup. 

We can take this idea and apply it to our own performance and self-leadership. When we're subconsciously aware that we're not achieving our full potential, we can become negatively competitive with others. The focus shifts outward to other colleagues which can lead to co-workers putting each other down, stealing credit, or working environments becoming 'toxic'. 

The truth of the matter is, the presence of someone else's greatness doesn’t mean the absence of our own. 

We're at our most powerful, productive and collaborative when we pay attention to our own self-leadership first. When we empower ourselves first, we're more equipped to help others, and bring out the best in them. 

This is one of the most poignant reasons why working on one's own professional and personal development is so important. 

How Life Ladder Helps Improve Results

The success of the Life Ladder method lies in e-learning and its 7-Step Subconscious Catalyst System that makes it easy to implement professional development across all levels of the business - and for your employees to engage with it easily, delivering continuous performance improvement as a result. 

Imagine it like this:

A F1 sports car versus a reliable runabout. Are your managers driving the F1 car with regular tuning for their mind-engine going out for each lap with improved performance?  What if your wider staff body was able to have the same? You would move from maybe hundreds of reliable runabouts, serviced once a year that do keep their drivers on the straight and narrow (with airbags) but can't really keep up with the managers taking challenging corners or deliver the high-performance that wins the race. What if the whole team hand the mindsets and behaviours to win the race together?

"The bite-sized daily content approaches your development from a starting point of inspiration. You’re extraordinary now, but you can be even more extraordinary, even happier, even more successful. This makes the change part of your habitual behaviour, and as a result, it becomes sustainable."

- Natalie Rae

Photo by Kévin et Laurianne Langlais on Unsplash