Leader, Develop Thyself

If wordpress is correct, this is my 200th post on this blog. My hope is that somewhere along the way there has been some value in it for those who read here, I know there has been value for me in the process of writing.Today, a glimpse behind the curtain.As Catalyst has grown over the last 3.5 years we have come to know vastly more nonprofits that are doing good work and could benefit from some additional attention to developing leadership. There is no shortage of opportunity for us to pursue our Why.Early on our greatest challenges were defining what we want to be about and finding organizations to work with; now things are quite different. Our budget used to allow us to give much larger grants to the few groups we supported, now that same budget is stretched across many more organizations, resulting in smaller average grants.We've also gotten a reputation for providing a certain level of insight and valuable information to leaders through both informal conversations and some official consulting. Our scholarship to Halton students has become a week long intensive crosscultural experience through Hero Holiday.All this has meant that I have had to become a better leader myself. Not only to have credibility when encouraging other leaders to develop themselves, but also just because the demands of the role are escalating.As part of my commitment to the Arrow Executive Leadership Program I'm in the process of developing a focused plan to improve as a leader over the next year. The intensive assessment process gives me some key insights to work from, and my current situations at work and home give me a context I need to treat realistically. I'm fairly certain I know what the major theme of my plan will be, but the details will need some more attention to clarify. I'm looking forward to it.Making an effort to develop myself is nothing new to me. In fact one of the challenges of this plan is how it will interact with some of the other things I'm already doing. But the focus and high level of accountability will be powerful.What are you doing to develop yourself?