There are many temptation that a leader faces during his or her leadership journey but one the most common and universal temptations of a leader especially after achieving something, is to lead people from what he or she have learnt in the past and stop growing. I have the opportunity to work with both young and old leaders and this temptation is not something that is only seen in the young leaders or only in the older leaders.
Learning and growth are an essential part of leadership and the minute a leader thinks that they do not need to learn and grow, they stop being effective leaders. Giving into the temptation of 'taking it easy' and abandoning personal growth is very dangerous for both the leader and the followers. The leader can stifle the growth of the organization as well as the people because the leader himself is not growing and learning. A leader can become very insecure and frustrated when there is a lack of personal growth.
The easy and comfortable thing to do is not to grow and to lead others based on things of the past. This does not mean that things learnt in the past are not important or not necessary but to stop growing and learning new things will only effect the organization in a negative way. It will not allow you to innovate and respond to the changes that are happening at a rapid pace everywhere.
Learning and growth may be hard at certain times but that is what a leader is called to do. Do hard things. It is the leaders job to do the hard things and inspire others to do the same. The leaders who will fight against this temption will be the ones who will lead people into the future and lead them well.
