Going Through vs. Growing Through: The Leadership Mindset That Drives Real Change

Leadership is not only about managing our challenges; it’s about evolving through them. Too often, we hear phrases like "Let’s get through this" when faced with adversity, setbacks, or uncertainty. What I have seen over the years is that effective leaders don’t simply go through things - we grow through them.

The difference? Going through something implies endurance, survival, or simply making it to the other side. Growing through something means using the experience as the catalyst for improvement, transformation, and wisdom. Both are necessary, yet it’s really one that ensures we emerge stronger, wiser, and better prepared for future challenges.

The Reality of Going Through Something

Every leader will face difficult situations - market shifts, team conflicts, failed projects, personal hardships. In these moments, the default response might be to push through, grit our teeth, and wait for the storm to pass. There’s value in perseverance. We need resilience to endure. We need patience to withstand. We need discipline to keep going. The thing I want to get across is that if all we do is go through an experience without reflecting, adjusting, and learning, we risk repeating the same mistakes and missing opportunities for growth.

The Power of Growing Through Something

Growth requires intentionality. It demands that we extract lessons, refine our approach, and challenge our perspectives. Leaders who grow through experiences ask different questions:

• What is this challenge here to teach us?

• How can we use this difficulty to become better leaders, colleagues, and individuals?

• What changes can we implement so we don’t face the same issue in the future?

• How can we support others in learning from this experience as well?

How to Ensure We’re Really Growing Through Challenges

1. Reflect, Don’t Simply React
   Taking time to analyze what happened helps us understand what went well and what didn’t. Reflection prevents us from repeating history.

2. Extract the Lesson, Apply the Learning
   It’s not enough to acknowledge a mistake or challenge - we must actively implement changes that prevent it from recurring.

3. Seek Feedback from Others
   Growth is accelerated when we invite different perspectives. What did others see that we might have missed? How did they experience the challenge?

4. Mentor and Teach
   One of the best ways to solidify growth is to teach what we’ve learned. Sharing insights with our team helps everyone grow together.

5. Change the Narrative
   Instead of saying, "Let’s get through this," we can ask, "How can we grow through this?" This simple shift in language changes how we approach adversity.

Growth is the Goal

Leadership is not about avoiding challenges - it’s about using them. The most effective leaders are those of us who don’t only survive tough situations but use them as stepping stones to greater impact. The question is not if we will face difficulty, but how we will use it to evolve.

REMEMBER: The next time we find ourselves saying, "Let’s get through this," we can pause. Instead, we can ask: "How can we grow through this?" The answer to that question will shape the leaders we become.