Grow

By Patrick Egbunonu

I sit on the board of a renewable energy company in Kingston, Ontario. At one of the board meetings in 2009, I spoke about growth having sensed that the company was about to enter the next phase of their cycle –growth phase. During my speech, I described three types of mountains to provide an analogy for growth:

1. Mountains that we have to remove;
2. Mountains that we can go around/avoid; and
3. Mountains that we have to climb.

Some mountains are self-made, some are created by external factors while others have always been around. I've constantly encountered various mountains in life - some of which were removed or avoided, and some had to be climbed (and I am still climbing). The hardest mountain is the third one.

My focus on mountains was inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Mount Everest, as detailed in John Maxwell’s book, Talent is not enough. Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest along with Tibetan Tenzing Norgay. Prior to his success on Everest, Hillary had been part of another expedition, in which the team not only failed to reach the summit of Mount Everest but also lost one of its members. At a reception for the expedition members in London, Hilary addressed the audience on a platform that had a huge picture of Mount Everest behind it. Turning to face the image of the mountain, Hillary exclaimed, “Mount Everest, you have defeated us, but I will return, and I will defeat you, because you cannot get any bigger, and I can.”

The only way to deal with several mountains is to do what Sir Edmund did - Grow. The most important step in the growth process is to assume responsibility for one’s growth -not waiting on a friend, the government, company, parents, society, but taking full responsibility for one’s growth.

Growth involves stretching, which brings me to another key step for growth –taking on more responsibilities. At your places of work, at school, at home, begin to ask for and take on more responsibilities. As you take on more responsibilities, you will be stretched and you will grow. Now, in seeking more responsibility, some wisdom must be applied in order not bite off more than you can chew.

Another important step in the growth process is to increase one’s knowledge base. The more knowledgeable you are, the better you are equipped to climb mountains. Most mountains in people’s lives are really a product of ignorance. Lets become more knowledgeable about your field, business, communications, relationships, financial matters, sales, interests and environment.