Better Leaders are Happier Leaders —and Vice Versa
Bryant Group CEO Sally Bryant was chosen by Inc. 5000 as the monthly Spotlight Interview Guest to share insights on developing as a leader at any stage of one’s career.
Please enjoy the reprint of this Inc. interview below:
No matter how experienced you are or how big your business, you probably face a reoccurring frustration or challenge, explains Sally Bryant, CEO of Bryant Group, an executive search and leadership consulting firm debuting on the Inc. 5000 this year. Bryant believes identifying three frustrations and their causes are imperative to growing as a leader and often requires an outside perspective, introspection, and soft skills.
“Soft skills, which I call smart skills, are just as important as business skills, because you will run into the same challenge over and over if you don’t learn what’s going on in your thinking patterns,” she explains.
Working on yourself isn’t just good for business. Doing so will help you find more peace and joy at work, Bryant says.
Thank you, Sally, for helping kick off this month’s Growth Network theme, “Personal Growth as a Leader,” by sharing your advice for growing as a leader.
Inc: Why is it important that even highly successful people—Inc. 5000 CEOs and founders— focus on personal growth?
SB: From a business standpoint, I believe the only way to grow your company is to grow as a leader. If you do what you’ve always done and be who you’ve always been, you and your company will remain stagnant.
When I first became CEO, I did everything. Sales, service, new business lines, choosing and implementing software, managing finances, hiring, marketing – you name it; I did it. If I was still doing all of that, we would not have made the Inc 5000.
So, learning how to be a better leader, for one thing, helps you grow your company. The other thing is that your level of peace and joy increases as you learn to overcome daily frustrations and challenges.
Inc: How can leaders identify what they need to work on?
SB: Figure out your daily frustrations, which often come back to a thought process we’re having. Take the things that are frustrating you daily; this could be one thing or three, but don’t make it 20 things. Write them down, then find someone to help you overcome that challenge. It could be a coach. Professional athletes have coaches, why shouldn’t we?
Inc: How do you measure success as a leader and evaluate growth? What are benchmarks for success?
SB: The easy answer is to measure the growth of your company, but that’s not always the most accurate measure. Personally, I also consider my level of peace and joy in my work. I had to learn to hire people who are better than I am in particular areas and then let them do their job. This allowed me to work more on the business than in the business and find space to understand myself as a leader.
To evaluate progress, assessments are helpful. We like the Habit Finder assessment, Gallup CliftonStrengths®, and the DISC personality test. We use 360 assessments and a variety of team assessments as well, which are eye-opening.
Inc: How much time should executives be spending on personal development, and what resources should they consider?
SB: A lot of leaders are going to think I am crazy, but I invest 15 to 20 business days a year, and that does not include travel.
In terms of what to invest in, consider:
Conferences. It doesn’t matter if your company produces widgets or provides a service – we are all experiencing the same issues. Almost all issues come down to people, systems, or thought processes.
Executive mentor groups such as Vistage or Convene... One of the people I have learned the most from in my mentor group runs a company that makes catalytic heaters. I don’t even know what a catalytic heater is! But he and I have the same issues even though our companies are so different.
One-on-one coaching and/or leadership team coaching and development. This is different than a one-off workshop. This is working with a coach over time to access growth and make changes.
In terms of business skill resources, I love the book Traction by Gino Wickman and the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). But these are supplemental resources, not replacements for interacting with another human being.
This Q&A, made possible by Capital One Business, was edited for brevity and readability.
