Balancing the inner and outer game is the need of the hour for the leaders of today and tomorrow in the new hybrid work culture.
The outer game is about what we do—business acumen, performance, results orientation, etc. This is accelerated by professional development focusing on knowledge and skills to improve business potential in a particular work environment.
The inner game is about who we are—human aspects, personality, openness to learning and growth, which is cultivated by personal development. Each person has their own internal resources, strengths, limitations and mental blockages that can get in the way due to our background, fear, insecurities, limiting beliefs, etc.
It’s no secret that the most effective and inspiring leaders invest in their personal growth, preparing them to think, act and behave as leaders in any situation. They have a gratifying life that is inclusive of but not dominated by their professional roles, enabling them to view leadership from the inside out.
What is true personal growth?
It is your understanding of the need to evolve on par with changing situations. It is the act of developing the quality of your thoughts, feelings and actions to enrich all experiences of life. In short, it is a conscious choice to learn and grow with self-awareness. It is a continuous cycle of reflection and improvement.
It’s often said that personal breakthroughs enable business breakthroughs. Because whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employee, the passion to grow personally will surely drive you to level up your professional game, keep the momentum going and make you accountable.
Investing in the inner game will get you energized and motivated to apply your new learnings in your outer game. This enhances your power to overcome difficulties and your ability to adapt to different situations at work. It brings benefits such as becoming more resilient, confident, flexible and open-minded, recognizing and accepting weaknesses, building better professional relationships, accepting and adopting the differences in others, recognizing your blind spots, managing your emotions, sensing and setting boundaries, fostering your own opinions, beliefs and self-care and much more.
Not everyone has personal development goals in mind, however. Deciding to grow as a person reflects your need for life-long growth and learning, motivating you to form new habits. This helps you stand out from the crowd because many of us tend to ignore this need.
Sources of personal growth include our mistakes, adversities, failures, choices and the painful experiences life sometimes imposes on us. A contemplative approach to suffering can turn difficult life experiences into opportunities for an incredible inner game, as these moments can have the biggest potential for your future personal and professional growth.
Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. When I eliminated the ways that will not work, I found the way that will work. My moments of failing became my greatest gift.” Rather than consider all mistakes terrible, get curious about your mistakes, reframe them as integral stepping stones toward success, focusing on prevention rather than just correction. This is how you evolve—searching your own internal resources for self-discovery.
Below are my insights on how to curate your internal landscape for mastering the inner game. The game here is about practicing emotional intelligence (EQ), pivoting a deeply wired inner mindset to a growth mindset and cultivating the way you think to be more strategic.
1. Emotional Intelligence
While it is true that cultivating your innate talents and abilities increases your capacity, EQ is something you can continually work on and progress throughout your life experiences. It is the ability to recognize, understand and manage your emotions and recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others. EQ can promote deep reflection of thoughts and inspire behavioral change. With EQ, leaders can also better understand and influence their teams.
2. Growth Mindset
Embrace a growth mindset that seeks continuous discovery for visible personal growth. The secret here is forming a habit of learning about who you are. When you’re learning something new, you tend to experience more joy, as learning prompts self-exploration. As a result, you’re able to bring your best self to the challenges and opportunities in your life, which drives your inner game.
3. Strategic Thinking
You’ve probably heard that a problem cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created it. Hence, strategic thinking is required to generate new insights that help you get out of the weeds and see the bigger picture. Think purposefully to translate growth into actionable strategies for deciding where and how you will win the game. This allows you to be one step ahead and, in turn, remain competitive and valuable as a leader.
Intentional personal development is a journey that multiplies your effectiveness and success, rather than just adding to it. That’s why it has become more vital in this increasingly complex world. To unlock and unleash one’s potential, you need procreative and future-focused effort, as well as intentional and traditional learning and development programs.