Are you Fresh and Relevant Today or Relying on Old Mastery?

I had a great conversation with friends, this week, about what people do to stay fresh and relevant.

I’m a person who likes to do different things and to stretch myself. It serves me very well in the work that I do.

And, when I look at many great people I’ve met, over the years, some mastered their craft in their 20s and 30s, but stopped learning as they milked and leveraged what they knew through their 40s and into their 50s and 60s. Others also mastered a craft early, and then continued to learn many new things in their 40s, 50s and into their 70s and 80s.

It’s the difference between a one-hit wonder in the music industry and an artist who continues to learn, re-invent and evolve their craft.

With the exponential pace of growth, knowledge and innovation, the world is just not the same as it was just 10 years ago, in every domain of life. Even sports are played differently now. To stay fresh and relevant, you have to continue to learn and evolve.

The same goes for the companies we work with, where we see the difference between early mastery and recent mastery:

• Some already have with great momentum. So, we work to sharpen their strategy and strengthen their team so that their growth continues.
• For those that have hit a flat spot and are not as in sync with the market as they need to be, we often have to resurrect their strategy or reinvent the team. And, sometimes, we have to look at strategies or approaches they have been relying on for 10 or 15 years. In this case we look for ways to evolve the thinking and working to be more relevant in today’s world.

Now, not all the cases are like this. However, we do find that most companies that continue to grow and thrive are masterful at the things that matter most in their business. Or they do enough new things – but not too many – to stay fresh and relevant.

The Challenge

• Do you have enough recent mastery to keep your historical mastery relevant? Or are you too caught up in the past?
• How might you change to perform better and be more relevant today?

For a deeper dive on this topic, listen to this episode of The Growth Whisperers.

Lawrence & Co’s work focuses on sustainable and enhanced growth for you and your business. Our diverse and experienced group of advisors can help your leaders and executive teams stay competitive through the use of various learning tools including workshops, webinars, executive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achieving leaders to have it all – a great business and a rewarding life. Contact us for simple and impactful advice. No BS. No fluff.