ASTD session Ken Blanchard on Great Leaders GROW

I am a huge fan of Ken Blanchard books. He always manages to bring a clear story, easy reading and with a strong message. So I had to take the opportunity to attend his session at 2012 ASTD. It was amazing to see this 75 year old man talking for more than an hour with so much passion, so much enthusiasm.

What is GROW about ? 
GROW is an acronym which stand for

• Gain knowledge 
• Reach out for others
• Open your world
• Walk toward wisdom

Ken Blanchard gave us 4 questionnair to evaluate ourselves on these four levels. The results can feed discussions you can do with groups. 

How do you do the questionair ? On each statement you give give yourself a score between 1 and 5. 1 means completely disagree - 5 means completely agree.

Questionair one : Gain knowledge

• I know my own strengths and weaknesses
• I know the people I lead on a deep level
• I know my industry extremely well
• I have a high level of mastery of the principles and practices of leadership
• I have a detailed written personal development plan

Questionnair two : Reach out to Others

• I am always looking for ways to invest in the growth of others
• I have ongoing mentoring relationships with emerging leaders
• I frequently see and seize teachable moments
• I frequently share what I'm learning with others
• I have developed a high level of mastery communicating my point of view on leadership

Questionnair three : Open your world

• I constantly look for opportunities to grow at work
• I constantly seek new experiences outside the workplace
• I have a mentor(s) who helps me grow
• I am always looking for additional opportunities to lead
• I see every day as an opportunity to learn and grow

Questionnair four : Walk towards wisdom

• I consistently tell myself the truth regarding my leadership
• I actively seek feedback from those I know to be thruthtellers
• I have a group op people I trust to give me counsel on important questions
• I have mastered th art and discipline of asking profound questions
• I am fully committed to a lifelong pursuit of wisdom

What did I learn from this session ? 

I was very happy to hear what he said. I truly believe in the GROW principle. Yes it is important to constantly gain knowledge and reach out for others. People should open their world and and find a good personal coach who helps them to walk towards wisdom. 

Too often I see people stay at their desk all day long developing policies and strategies without having any connection with others in their organization. They don't want help from others, because the know what they are doing - or at least they think they know it. 

SO what should we remember ? 

1. Constantly seek for new knowledge
2. Reach out for others, try to teach and share your knowledge with others
3. Open your world, discover new opportunities
4. FInd yourself a good mentor, somebody who gives you advise to further develop. 

If you do so, you'll grow as a leader and as a human being.