Harvard Business Review |

There is an emerging model for business success: the Deliberately Developmental Organization.

From Harvard Business Review:

“These companies operate on the foundational assumptions that adults can grow; that not only is attention to the bottom line and the personal growth of all employees desirable, but the two are interdependent; that both profitability and individual development rely on structures that are built into every aspect of how the company operates; and that people grow through the proper combination of challenge and support, which includes recognizing and transcending their blind spots, limitations, and internal resistance to change.”

Personal development and professional performance are inseparable.

The article, “Making Business Personal” from the April 2014 edition highlights two remarkable companies that embrace this principle.

It’s time for more organizations to get on board…

Over my 25 plus years teaching martial arts and now nearly 10 years teaching Black Belt Mindset to business people, I’ve had countless people tell me that their practice of martial arts- or understanding of the philosophy, has opened new levels of performance and achievement.

Why?

It’s certainly not the kicking and punching. You can achieve the same results in any challenging, meaningful and worthwhile pursuit.

It’s the combination of “challenge and support” emphasized in the HBR piece. People grow in direct response to challenge. Abilities, skills, talents- confidence and competency grows in direct relationship to the challenges and opportunities available.

Those qualities grow exponentially with the right cultivation, development and nourishment!

People grow through the martial arts experience because it is challenging- and because they develop with the support and encouragement of the Sensei and their peers.

Supportive, nourishing leadership is essential to this process. You also need to develop a culture that encourages and supports development and rewards learning, growth and development at all levels.

The HBR article continues…

“Every job should be like a towrope, so that as you grab hold of the job, the very process of doing the work pulls you up the mountain.”

This means a culture where risk is encouraged- in the sense that you’re willing to expand your capabilities by embracing new challenges. The risk to the organization is that sometimes, despite their best efforts, people will fail…

…and some people will simply want to protect their reputations or their current standing.

That instinct toward self-protection, while natural, is counter-productive…if you’re trying to build an innovative, responsive and dynamic organization.

“To an extent that we ourselves are only beginning to appreciate, most people at work, even in high-performing organizations, divert considerable energy every day to a second job that no one has hired them to do: preserving their reputations, putting their best selves forward, and hiding their inadequacies from others and themselves…”

Pay close attention to this next statement:

“We believe this is the single biggest cause of wasted resources in nearly every company today.”

A Master is never finished- never satisfied. The process of Mastery demands:

Constant introspection
A willingness to be open to sincere and productive criticism
An enthusiasm for accepting new challenges and opportunities for growth
The courage to risk failures in pursuit of greater achievement

This mindset of Mastery is the key to creating a Deliberately Developmental Organization. You must cultivate this mindset for each individual, from leadership to the front lines, and collectively as part of your company culture.

Many years before Harvard Business Review studied the issue, Lao Tzu wrote:

Cultivate the inner self; Its Power becomes real.
Cultivate the community;  Its Power becomes greater.
Cultivate the organization; Its Power becomes prolific.