Another session from this year’s AESC Americas Conference, Focusing on What Matters, that I found especially inspiring was entitled “Beyond Professional Success: The Dynamic Path.” Based on the book, The Dynamic Path, by James Citrin, a senior director at Spencer Stuart, this session centered on the stages that leaders pass through in their path to excellence, and had a lot to offer to professionals thinking about where they are in their own life/career quest.
In developing his theory of the Dynamic Path, Citrin has spent hours interviewing accomplished experts from all walks of life. He has interviewed business gurus such as Steve Ca
se and Howard Schultz, political figures like Colin Powell and Bill Bradley, and countless sports figures such as Lance Armstrong, Mia Hamm, Billie Jean King, Magic Johnson, and Tiger Woods. What Citrin uncovered is that all share some common steps on the path to greatness. By way of example, Citrin shared what he learned from speaking to Bill Bradley.
Bradley is one of the few sports stars to rise in the world of politics. To achieve greatness as a basketball player, Bradley demonstrated the kind of drive that would help him succeed as a politician. He amassed 3,000 points during his high school basketball career, captained the US basketball team to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and graduated from Princeton and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University before joining the New York Knicks. What made him an outstanding player was old-fashioned hard work. As Citrin tells it, Bradley practiced his shots for 10 years until it became automatic. Ever day after regular practice was over, Bradley would invest an additional three hours practicing his shots from all over the court. The result was perfect performance and flawless execution because it became automatic.
Which led to a further discussion of the three primary steps Citrin identifies as the stops along the Dynamic Path:
- You become a superior team player, a champion, through personal excellence
- You become a leader who becomes dedicated to the achievement of individuals and the collective achievement of others, and
- You leave a legacy as a household name because of your accomplishments.
I have seen the same dynamic at work in the evolution of executive careers. I speak with NETSHARE members every day who are somewhere along their own Dynamic Path, either making their mark as part of a corporate team, mentoring others, or looking for a means to establish their own legacy. Some are building teams as they climb the corporate ladder, others are moving into senior positions where they can mentor others and demonstrate their leadership to their employers, and others are looking to move to the next level, considering non-profit or foundation work or other ways to leave a legacy behind them.
You can use the Dynamic Path to map your own personal growth. As you read the stories of the celebrities who have mapped their own path, and learn more about Citrin’s six steps to accelerate your own growth, you can map your progress to your own career and understand how we can all make a difference.
