Taking the First Step and Next Step

Being open to new things is an attractive quality. When we see “openness” in others, we admire it – we praise them for bravery, living in the present being risk takers. For taking the first step.

Inherent in that point of view is the tiny voice of judgment – that we, in comparison, are not open. That we say we're going to do new things but we never do. And we go through all of that alone. Which, it turns out, is as prevalent as it is foolish.

Part of the power of Crain's Academy is you've taken a first step, together. Each one of you moved closer to your purpose, as a leader, in life, and in your community. So many of you have shared that your experience helped you to flex, bend and shift in the name of getting into alignment, finding fulfillment, gaining confidence, and a heightened enjoyment in work and in life.

In positions of leadership we're also in a position to “pay it forward.” As you take your second and third steps, we know many of you are helping others within your organization take their first. Author and Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen writes in How Will You Measure Your Life?:

“If you want to help other people, be a manager. If done well, management is among the most noble of professions. You are in a position where you have eight or ten hours every day from every person who works for you. You have the opportunity to frame each person's work so that, at the end of every day, your employees will go home feeling like they are living a life filled with motivation.”

Crain's Academy can be a powerful avenue to offer access to that meaningful risk-taking. . . in community.

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