With the December holidays upon us, I recently spent time reflecting on the greatest gifts I’ve ever received. Not surprisingly, the most impactful gifts weren’t physical gifts (well, other than my children, of course, and the trip we took to Disney World as a Christmas surprise).
My greatest gifts are from people who made significant investments in me
Kennedy Germain, my mentor at Procter and Gamble, gave me a blank Personal Vision when I was 25 years old and told me to complete it. Kathy DeLaura, who gave me time, emotional support, and many opportunities to work while raising three kids! My
My dear friend, my pillar of strength, Kathy DeLaura.
Stretch Team (Cyndi, Nancy, and Jane) who give me lots of “feedback gifts” and literally cheer me on. They surprised me at mile eight of the Queen Bee Half Marathon – I still get tears in my eyes thinking about them holding signs and shouting my name. The crazy thing is my splits were better for the last half of the race, thanks to my team!
Our company’s purpose is to help people stretch and enjoy the next level of growth
Ninety percent of the time, we work with organizations in a growth phase – and the ONLY way to successfully scale is to BUILD your leadership capacity. Yet, so many companies and leaders are quick to “buy” something but fail to prioritize the personal commitment and company investment necessary to develop leaders.
Here’s reality: only 10% of us are natural born leaders. The rest of us need training
Fortunately, I worked for P&G for the first five years of my career and had a formal mentor and many training opportunities. Many people think of P&G as a marketing company; I believe it is more than that: they want the best people and invest more in training than most companies!
Taking a personal investment in others is a real gift
Helping people reach new heights is what we all remember. Maya Angelou nailed it when she said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
As we think about “Giving” this season, consider the material, emotional, and mental investment you can make in 2024 to BUILD up others. We believe developing others and investing in leadership is the main responsibility of leaders. We want to partner with you in giving the gift to others that will have a lasting impact and INVESTMENT of your time and talents. Who are you investing in? Who is investing in you?