Office furniture, computers, and technology depreciate by the day. Dilbert says "That computer is almost 78 hours old. Time to replace it."

Real estate, stock prices, and earnings are in constant flux. The current sub-prime market has had an impact on nearly every real estate holding. As we watch the enormous problems and struggles at Countrywide Mortgage, the largest mortgage company in America, we try to find safe ground in our businesses.

So where do you put your time, energy, and money? What is the safe bet? If you are in a leadership position, investing in your rising stars and investing in yourself are the smart ways to allocate assets.

Most types of education provide a return of six times the original investment. The educated and incented employee literally appreciates in value to an organization. He or she provides the increased horsepower to solve current issues and is the best guarantee for the future. Products become commodities and lose value in the marketplace, but smart and educated people will re-think and out-think a declining market position.

The first question is...are you spending too much time on the under-achievers who simply aren't motivated to get better? Who is responsible for their growth? While everyone deserves a chance and an even playing field to achieve, accountability goes both ways.

One of the things we find in our practice is that new hires, at all levels, often will not ask questions; therefore, there is an assumption that they know more than they do. The pressure to keep up a facade masks the gaps. Pride gets in the way, and they do not become subject matter experts on anything. They languish, often get antagonistic, and do not become the rising stars that they could be. Instead they become problem employees.

Disengaged or actively disengaged employees do not offer much of a future to an organization. So set expectations early and continuously provide the tools for growth and expertise for everyone from hourly to senior level. Re-claim your disengaged people with the excitement and renewal of relevant training and development, and watch the value they add. If they still do not step up, invest in those who will.

	Technology is often the differentiation advantage- but only for a time. People are the ultimate differentiators.
	— Jaynie L. Smith, Author of Creating Competitive Advantage

The second question is... are you taking your best people for granted? This is especially dangerous when they are not complainers. Often the leaders in a company just talk and do not ask for feedback. One of our most successful CEOs seeks feedback from her best people with two questions...What two things am I doing wrong? What two things am I doing right? Rather than staying in an ivory tower of being less than informed about the reality of the business, she gets feedback regularly from everyone who reports to her. She will ask these two questions at staff meetings, during one-on-ones, and on the airplane. She will also solicit feedback from hourly employees who are "touching the elephant" at a different place.

Heavily engaged, high bandwidth people know what their leaders are doing right and where improvement is needed. Listening to your people has a two fold benefit: they know they are not being taken for granted, and you get the benefit of their point of view. We only get two eyes to look at this world. Great leaders want more than their own pair of eyes to see and understand the world of business.

The third question... has to do with your future. What are you doing to increase your skills, leverage your strengths, and add value to the company? Some of that will be answered when you create a culture rich with feedback. The other part that needs to be answered is how to get informed on what is relevant and meaningful to your growth.

Great leaders stay informed in a number of ways...focus groups, pod casts, letting others on the team take the lead while they sit back and observe, joining high-level professional groups, committing to be a subject matter expert then seeking the right counsel to do so. Leadership growth is accelerated with intention. The mere passage of time will not accelerate learning. We get better through experiences and figuring out what lessons can be learned.

	The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or different answers.
	— M. Scott Peck, Author

Consider the following seven recommendations in your personal growth plan:

1. Research the best professional group in your industry and join it. If there is value, seek a leadership position there.
2. There are diamonds in your backyard. Look around your world and seek information from younger people, older people, spouses, partners, friends, family, and colleagues from different industries who will have a different point of view.
3. When you travel for business, stay an extra day and discover that town or city. Travel can open new worlds and points of view.
4. Look for opportunities within your company to lead or participate in cross-functional teams, task forces, or new projects.
5. Finish your degree or commit to an advanced degree. Formal education has been valued and honored in every civilization and in every country of the world. It mattered in 500 BC, and it matters today.
6. Volunteer. Give both time and money. Ask anyone who regularly volunteers what their ROI is from giving.
7. If coaching is available, either internally or externally, sign up. Assess your skills, know your weaknesses, and fully understand where you will make your mark. Every professional athlete, every Olympic athlete, and every little leaguer has a coach.

The future has a way of arriving unannounced. There is no security or safe harbor in what is no longer meaningful or relevant. Genuine security resides in growth, self-discipline, and moving forward.

Leaders grow companies by continuing to grow themselves. Your example of growth will be more inspiring than any speech you deliver. It takes courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure world you work in, evaluate new ideas, maximize your rising stars, and deliver the future.

Bixler Consulting Group provides leadership consulting for mid to senior level executives in executive coaching, team building, and image development. Founded in 1980, Bixler Consulting Group works nationally with over 1,500 corporations and businesses.

For more information on our workshops, seminars, and executive coaching please visit our website at www.bixlerconsulting.com or send your inquiry to info@bixlerconsulting.com.

To contact Susan Bixler, President & CEO: sbixler@bixlerconsulting.com