Smart Growth
How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A Wall Street Journal bestseller
Named one of 10 Best New Management Books for 2022 by Thinkers50
Creating a culture of learning and growth.
Growth is the goal. Helping people develop their potential—enabling them to articulate and become the self they want to be, are capable of being, and that best serves them and others in the short and long term—is what we as individuals and leaders strive toward.
But how do we grow? It turns out it happens in a predictable way, which means we can understand where we are in our growth and chart a way forward. In this compact, complete guide, Whitney Johnson dives more deeply than ever into the S Curve of Learning so that you can envision how growth happens and direct yourself and others in your organization to create a culture that fosters it.
The growth and learning journey comes in three phases: the Launch Point, the Sweet Spot, and Mastery. Compelling examples of successful people will show you when and why growth is slow, how to keep going, what to do when growth and learning are almost too fast to keep up with, and how to leap from one growth journey to another.
As individuals grow, so do organizations and societies. Growth is learning put into action—action that betters the world as we better ourselves and our small niches, both personal and professional, within it. Growth occurs when learning is internalized—when we try something new and invest the effort to move it from being something we do to something we are.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The more you understand about your deep longing to grow... the greater your capacity to grow your people, to grow your company," writes Johnson (Build an A-Team), CEO of the talent development company Disruption Advisors, in this cogent survey. Johnson uses the idea of an S curve to explore how best to grow and implement change, both as individuals and in a group. She follows the map through its three main parts and stresses that it's most critical to get things right at the "explorer stage," the first phase, where one's goal is set. To that end, Johnson proposes prompts: readers should consider if their goal is achievable, easy to test, and worth the cost. The next phase is the "sweet spot," where the learning really ramps up, and then there's "mastery," where it's key to "say yes to new challenges or opportunities to find new rewards." Johnson also offers an insightful look at how leaders can establish an environment that fosters growth in others: managers should not "operate in a bubble," for example, but collaborate. Key takeaways round out each section, and Johnson is equal parts practical and inspiring. Leaders feeling stuck in a rut may likely find this to be the kick they need to shake things up.
