He handed me two sticky notes, each with three words.

Describe the leader you were 12 months ago: “reactive, frozen, anxious.”

Describe the leader you are today: “proactive, calm, growing.”

It was a self-aware answer, one that took courage to write down, from a leader I've been coaching. The kind of answer that should have been one of those before-and-after weight-loss ads. He had closed the gap between who he was and who he was meant to be as a leader. And as someone who walked alongside him the whole way, I can tell you he wasn't blowing smoke. He had done the work, and it was inspiring to sit across from him at that table. 

Now there is no denying that good leaders are students of their craft. They desire to improve, so they read books, watch videos, queue up podcasts, use a coach, observe other leaders, or show up for newsletters like this one, and that instinct isn't wrong. Because to improve at anything requires insight first. So the leaders who take their development seriously have a mild obsession with studying the craft of leadership, by making consumption a habit.  

But the best leaders take their knowledge acquisition to the next level. They don't just study leadership; they have a bias for action. 

Think of it this way. Most professionals spend their downtime consuming entertainment. Then a smaller group of people spends time consuming educational content, which is a real step up. But the best leaders take it one step further. They act on what they learn. It looks like this:

Because action is what turns information into ownership. 

That's the gap that separates good from great, and it isn't about what or even how much you consume. It's about what you do with it.

What my coaching client did lines up exactly with that. He didn't just take insight from our sessions or from books he read. He closed the gap with one rule every leader should adopt: the 24-hour rule.

The 24-hour rule went like this. Anytime he was tempted to delay something he knew he should do as a leader, he committed to taking one small action within 24 hours. That difficult conversation had to happen before the clock expired. That decision had to be made by tomorrow. Notice, he never said it had to be the perfect action. Just something that turned into motion before his 24-hour clock ran out.

It didn't work every time because he is not a perfect human. But the 24-hour rule forced a new set of behaviors. One that prioritized action instead of procrastination. One that led him to write down that 12 months ago he was reactive and now is proactive. 

So the real question isn't whether you're learning enough. You probably already are.

It's whether anything you learned this week has left your head and become an action?

So here's the challenge for you today. What's something you know, deep down, you should act on that you've been putting off? Can you commit to the 24-hour rule and make progress before time runs out?

If you do, tell me about it. Just reply to this email so you have some accountability around what you know you should do to improve the odds you actually do it.

Something interesting will happen.  You will notice the action wasn’t as bad or as hard as you built it up in your mind. And the outcome of the action will inspire you to take more action.  And pretty soon, those small actions lead to massive growth and progress.

Use your gifts,

John Eades

Founder of LearnLoft | The Sales Infrastructure

P.S. Sorry for the delay with today's newsletter. I was in Houston teaching our new Lead the Room Presentation Skills Program, and the 6 AM flight back to Charlotte didn’t have internet!

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