Beverlee Rasmussen CEC PCC In the front window of my friend’s house is a lemon tree. It’s a small tree, sitting at about 2ft tall.
For the longest time, my friend was perplexed as to why it wasn’t growing. She spritzed it with water twice a day and she rotated the pot so the plant was getting an even amount of sunlight. Nothing seemed to be working.
That is until she decided to move the tree to a better location… and dropped it.
The pot shattered all over the floor.
There were pieces of clay everywhere, dirt spread across the floor, and the devastating sight of the lemon tree roots upturned.
Although a little panicked, my friend was able to quickly transplant her tree into another pot.
This pot was much bigger than the last one.
And wouldn’t you know it, the tree began to grow.
Personal Mastery
Perhaps you are wondering why I am telling you a story about a tree in a business blog.
Well when I heard the story, I immediately thought of small business owners, and how they are often constrained by their own pot.
Their business is struggling and they blame outside factors, like customers or staff or even the weather.
Instead, they need to look inside their own pot. How are they showing up? What are they doing to produce these results?
Small business owners need to cultivate an awareness of their own values, principles, strengths and limitations.
Are you aware of yours?
Knowing what you bring to the table as the leader of your company is essential to adjusting your business results and reaching your dreams.
Awareness creates Personal Mastery in leadership.
How You Show Up
Personal Mastery was made famous by Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline.
It involves both clarifying what is important to you and assessing your current reality to see how you are progressing towards that vision.
People with high levels of personal mastery are more curious and are open to learning, changing and growing.
How you show up at one place is how you show up everywhere. Being aware of our energy levels, moods, tolerances, prejudices, favoritisms and mannerisms are all components of Personal Mastery.
Personal Mastery also means shattering our limiting beliefs and old habits— much like my friend shattered the pot of her lemon tree.
Limiting Beliefs in the Workplace.
Here are some examples of limiting beliefs that could be holding you back from personal mastery in your business:
“Not firing someone because you don’t want to hurt their feelings or force bad times on them even though you are risking your own future and financial stability.”
“Not launching your proprietary product because it is not yet perfect and you are afraid of what others might think (ego).”
“Allowing your team to do whatever they want even if it doesn’t meet the standards you have set for your business. You don’t like conflict, perhaps because you experienced parental fighting as a small child.”
Moving Forward with Personal Mastery
What system do you have to monitor your limiting beliefs?
How do you check if you’ve outgrown your pot?
Maybe you write yourself notes or set weekly goals. Perhaps you have weekly meetings with a business coach or trusted advisor.
What do you need to do to make sure you are growing as a leader?
Once you start working on Personal Mastery, you’ll be surprised at how many times you’ll need to upgrade to a bigger pot.
Without any limiting beliefs, your growth opportunities are endless– opening a second location, hiring a bigger team, tripling your revenue– whatever your business goal is, it all starts with you.
You can infuse Personal Mastery into your leadership style to achieve your wildest business dreams!
Until next time, enjoy your Entrepreneurial Journey!
