b'PEOPLE-POWERED LEADERSHIPI Thought COVID was Over.Then I Looked Around MeRECOGNIZING WHEN OTHERSare struggling to develop self-awareness, to recognize their strengths and showing them that youre in the battle right along- and weaknesses?side themis key to being an effective leader. Thats what led us to recently launch our personal As I reflect on the past few years, Ive come togrowth plans(PGPs). These plans arent just about realize just how crucial self-awareness is to effectiveimproving job performance; theyre about helping our leadership. Its not something I figured out early on.employees grow in every aspect of their lives. I believe Far from it. In fact, its taken me a lot of time and a fairthat success leads to happiness, and a happy team is share of mistakes to understand that being a leaderworth its weight in gold. In my mind, a successful team isnt about being bulletproof. Its about being real. and a happy team are almost interchangeable. I dont BY SHAWN BROOKIn the early days of my career, I thought I had to beknow any unsuccessful teams that are genuinely happy President of Seedinvincible, that everyone around me needed to see me those two things just dont coexist.World Group. as a rock unshakable and flawless. The truth is, noneWhen I laid out my PGP, I didnt just focus on pro-of us are bulletproof, and pretending to be only sets usfessional goals. I also mapped out a path for myself as up for failure. The people around us can see througha husband, father, brother, son, friend, and community that faade, and it does more harm than good.member. These are roles I wear with pride, but I real-What Ive learned is that by sharing my strengthsized I wasnt always proactive enough in thinking about and weaknesses openly, Ive built stronger relationshipshow I could improve on them. with my team. They step up, they help out, and theyreIts not always easy to face the fact that youre falling willing to fight alongside me because they see Im inshort in some areas, but the only way to fix it is to make the trenches with them. Its this transparency that cre- a change. Theres an old saying: the best time to plant ates a space where everyone feels safe to do the same. a tree was 20 years ago, but the second-best time is Its not just about allowing people to fail; its abouttoday. We cant go back and fix what wasnt addressed helping them understand that failure is a necessaryin the past, but we can start working on it now.part of success. If were not failing, were not push- Self-awareness requires time for reflectiontime ing ourselves hard enough. And when the person atwithout distractions. For me, that often comes during the wheelthe leadermesses up, its a powerfuldriving time or on a plane. Its in those quiet moments reminder that failure is not the endits a step on thethat I can really think about where Im at, where Im path to growth. falling short, and what I need to do to improve. Its not I wish I could say I figured this out when I was in myabout being perfect; its about being better than I was 20s, but I didnt. What brought it to the forefront nowyesterday.is seeing many of my team members, and others in theNow, I challenge you to think about why these out-industry, still struggling to shake off the COVID funk. Icomes matter to you. We all have room to grow, and went through it tooI had to pull myself out, regainby being open about our own journeys, we can help my groove, and find my mojo again.those around us grow, too.Someone once told me that those who can pullAt the end of the day, leadership isnt about being themselves up by their bootstraps have a responsibil- invincible. Its about being human, being real, and ity to help others do the same. That advice stuck withbeing willing to grow alongside your team. Thats me, and it got me thinking: how do you get someonewhere true strength lies.SW18/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2024'