Small Business Today Magazine APR 2014 MONTGOMERY ROTH | Page 21

Anytime you start
learning and applying
new techniques, you will
have failures.  It’s like a
baby learning to walk. 
At first they keep falling
down but they don’t give
up, and eventually they
are walking on their own
without falling.  Learning
is just like that. 
Lesson Five:  Get Curious.  Use your resources.  Improving leadership skills requires
utilizing multiple resources.  In John’s case,
not only did I recommend articles, white
papers, classes, and books, but I also asked
him to do his own research and come up
with other resources.  This kept the accountability on him.  It was a habit I hoped
he would incorporate into his leadership
approach from now on.  Lifelong learning
never stops and successful leaders should
always stay on top of their game.
Lesson Six:  Fail Forward.  Anytime you start
learning and applying new techniques, you
will have failures.  It’s like a baby learning
to walk.  At first they keep falling down
but they don’t give up, and eventually they
are walking on their own without falling. 
Learning is just like that.  Once you start
applying a new technique, know that you
will get better using it in time.  Once you
hit that first bump in the road, analyze
what went wrong, pick yourself up, and
keep going.  No successful leader ever
made it without “failing forward”.  The key
is to learn from those failures.
Lesson Seven:  Check Back In.  To ensure you
are truly making progress, touch base with
the same group you did initially and ask
for their feedback again six months later. 
By doing all the above, you will have much
better results.  If you don’t, question your

job fit.  In John’s case, we saw positive results.  But if we hadn’t, we would have discussed whether he belonged in leadership. 
If you don’t like people, if you cannot treat
them with respect, if you are uncomfortable communicating with your team on a
regular basis…leadership may not be for
you.  Be courageous enough to recognize
that and strike out on a path more suited
to your strengths.
Lesson Eight:  And…You’ve Arrived…NOT!  Never
rest on your laurels.  The leadership journey is a continual one with no end.  Every
good leader understands we live in a constantly changing environment and the challenge is to stay on top of and incorporate
those changes when it makes sense. 
Lesson Nine:  Pay It Forward.  Now that [