Leaders Make Things Bigger

You can tell if someone is a leader by how they treat the projects assigned to them. Successful people take what is given to them and add to it. Unsuccessful people take what is given to them and subtract from it; they make it smaller. They try to minimize tasks so they don’t have to put in the effort. The true test of successful leaders is to see what they do with what is given to them. Great leaders make things happen, average leaders watch things happen, bad leaders ask, “what just happened?”

Healthy things grow. The healthier your leadership is, the faster your organization grows. It’s unhealthy things that begin to decay and waste away. So, you have to ask yourself, “Am I making things bigger as a result of my leadership?” Walt Disney said, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” He understood that great leadership always seeks to advance. My mentor Dr. John C. Maxwell’s shares this in his book, Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn…

There’s a story of a salesman from the eastern United States who arrived at a frontier town somewhere in the Old West. As the salesman was talking with the owner of the general store a rancher came in. The owner excused himself to take care of the customer. The rancher gave the storekeeper a list of things he needed, but he wanted credit to purchase them. 

“Are you doing any fencing this spring?” asked the storekeeper. 

“Sure am,” said the rancher.

“Fencing in or fencing out?”

“Fencing in. Taking in another 360 acres across the creek,”

“Good to hear it’ Josh. You got credit. Just tell Harry out back what you need.”

The salesman was confused. “I’ve  seen all kinds of credit systems” he said, “but never one like that. How does it work?”

“Well,” said the storekeeper, “if a man’s fencing out, that means he’s on the defensive, just trying to keep what he’s got. But if he’s fencing in, he’s growing and getting bigger. I always give credit to a man who’s fencing in, because that means he’s got hope.”

Here’s 3 ways you can make things bigger…

1) Push Your Limits

T.S. Elliot said, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” Only doing what you are comfortable doing will never take you to greater heights. It is said that when you get to a point where you’re in over your head, it doesn’t really matter how much deeper you go; you’re still in over your head, so you might as well just keep diving in! Feeling overwhelmed by your potential and underwhelmed by your ability to succeed can discourage you or drive you forward. You’ll become successful when your dreams are greater than your excuses.

The issue lies in how you respond. If you let discouragement set in, you will give up in your pursuit for more. But if you allow discipline to motivate you, it can cause you to pursue greater possibilities. Extraordinary leaders are willing to step out even when the tasks ahead seem insurmountable. They understand that true growth takes place outside of the comfort zone. The next level of success for you lies not within what you have accomplished; it lies within what you haven’t accomplished yet. You will never be more than you are now, unless you do something you’ve never done. All great advancements were a result of someone attempting something that was beyond what was comfortable. In fact, most exploration of new ideas comes with a cost. That cost is abandoning your limiting fear. If your dreams don’t scare you, you’re not dreaming big enough.

2) Creatively Collaborate

2 Horses can pull about 9,000lbs. together. How much do you think 4 Horses can pull? You would assume 4 Horses are able to pull 18,000lbs. however, 4 Horses can pull over 30,000lbs. together. Collaboration doesn’t double your effort, it multiplies your effort. There is a compound effect that occurs when creative collaboration takes place. If you truly want to multiply your impact you must work with others. Going solo limits your impact. When you work alone you have to work 10x as hard to produce. Trying to be creative Rambo and change the world by yourself is set up for disaster. In the real world, extraordinary accomplishments are the result of a team working together for a common purpose. The better the team works together, the bigger the possibilities. Teamwork is only activated by moving from a me mindset to a we mindset. Having a group of people doesn’t mean you have a team. President Woodrow Wilson said, “We should not only use all the brains we have, but all that we can borrow.” Teams that work together, win together. You need to be in community with those who can band together for the cause. The more collaboration exist, the more creative you will be.

3) Double Down

If you want to see growth you have to be positioned for it. Growth only happens when you operate in a way that allows it to happen. Only when you prepare for growth will you actually experience it. You need to treat what you do as though it is double in size. This forces you to think at a higher level. It forces you to operate in a way that readies you for increase. What would need to change if you doubled in size overnight? What systems would need to be more efficient? Who would need to be in place? Where would you need to put your efforts? If you start to operate in a way that supports this kind of growth, you’ll begin to open the door for it to become a reality. Many organizations aren’t growing because they aren’t set up to handle it. Operate in a way that reflects where you want to go, not in a way of where you are. Too many times we are so bogged down in maintaining what we have that we fail to formulate where we want to go. Start to operate in a way that stretches you to grow.