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Crafting God's Ultimate Design: You

A Look At the Discipline of Self-Development
Reggie McNeal | Outcomes, Nov/Dec 2006

In his book, Practicing Greatness, Dr. Reggie McNeal looks at seven disciplines of extraordinary spiritual leaders. One of those disciplines is self-development. He challenges us to rethink how we approach it.

Mark Twain once said of an acquaintance that had passed away: "He died at thirty; they buried him at sixty." How do you keep from dying "in place?" I believe it's through self-development. The key is to keep learning. Focus on your strengths and grow through your failures. 

Never Stop Learning

Seems easy enough, right? Yet, we're walking uphill on this issue, for a number of reasons. First, lifelong learning never ends. In our society, we go to school, we graduate, and we're done. But, as a lifelong learner, we never graduate. We have to have motivation and a strong internal guidance system to keep on the learning path.

The greatest challenge, however, to lifelong learning is unlearning. We frequently don't make room for new learning because we're chock full of other stuff. To combat that, we must practice what Peter F. Drucker called "systematic abandonment." Stop practicing irrelevant lessons and move forward. 

For instance, many Christian leaders are operating from the internal tape of the world they think exists, versus the world which really exists. Unlearning of the old world is a prerequisite to learning how to deal with the new one. The unlearning curve is as steep as, if not steeper than, the learning curve! 

All leaders who engage in lifelong learning evidence two characteristics:

• They're intentional about their learning. Their learning is not haphazard. While they may not have a destination in mind (such as a terminal degree), they know what they want to explore and they have a strategy to get there.
• Their journeys are designed to expose them to new ideas. Lack of curiosity kills learning. Lifelong learners seek new vistas, new conversations, new learning opportunities, and new learning networks.
• Focus on Your Strengths. From the very beginning, many of us have had our noses rubbed in places where we don't perform well. Our natural default position is trying to shore up talents or improve skills so we become well-rounded and good at many things.