Your leadership development will go through four stages of change, much like the seasons of the year. This means that leadership development is cyclical in nature, changing with the times. For instance, how many of us have experienced a “dead end road” when leading others? No matter how we attempt to lead others nothing seems to work. It’s like we’ve exhausted our old methods of leading others, and need to reinvent our leadership style to meet the emerging challenges in the workplace. The reason for this leadership makeover is you have ended a leadership cycle, and a new way of thinking and leading is now required. This is why leadership seminars, Webinars, summits and conferences draw thousands of hungry leaders seeking new ways to reinvent themselves and their leadership styles. Allow me to use the four season’s metaphor to make my point:

Autumn:

This season represents the beginning of the end of your leadership cycle. In this season you begin to notice the leadership paradigm you once embraced and practiced is all the sudden becoming obsolete. Therefore, it’s time to shed your old leadership practices through a process known as pruning or shedding. A good example of this season is found in John 15:2, where Jesus notes, “My Father cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” The process of pruning is often times a painful process because what we used to know and do, is no longer needed for the next season of our lives. It pains us to shedd what we know, but the upside to pruning is moving into a new place of spiritual and leadership growth and fruitfulness.

Winter:

This season of your leadership cycle represents a dormant time when nothing seems to grow. This feeling of nothingness thrusts you into a time of deep introspection where you begin to reassess and recalibrate your inner being. In this dormant cycle you what you are really doing is redefining your new leadership style. We may think nothing is happening during this season but you are simply setting yourself up for what’s going to bud in the near future; it’s just taking a little longer than what you expected to enter into a new life cycle. The waiting in this season actually allows you to stop, mediate and recreate yourself.

Spring:

This season represents emerging growth, new life and vitality. The things you learned in the previous season are now taking root, and budding; a whole new understanding of leadership is opening up to you. A world you never thought possible. You may be a little hesitant at first to show your true colors because others will think, “Wow, what’s going on with him (or her). I never seen this attribute in him before.” However, good change is always contagious, and others are drawn to your newness of being and doing. You are re-establishing the Law of Attraction once again in a new way.

Summer:

Summer is the peak season of your new leadership performance. Your fruit as a leader is now evident to others. You must be careful, however, not to over do it in this season because growth is happening fast, and you could make mistakes along the way. Just as fruit takes some time to ripen before it is harvested, you must take strides to produce in conjunction to your growth. In other words, don’t over step your bounds because you may seem too cocky to others. Just know, in this state, you have received a new identity, and that identity is desired by others around you. You are now walking in a new stride.

Which season describes you at the moment?