A moment for the leader you've become
There's a widely cited study out of the Karolinska Institute that found the average age of a cell in the human body is somewhere between 7 and 10 years. This is to say that:
- Your skin replaces itself in weeks.
- Your skeleton takes about a decade.
- Some cells stick around for life, but most of who you are, physically, is not the same person you were 7 years ago.
I say this often, but with this in mind, wouldn't it be naive to think our working styles wouldn't follow the same pattern?
The way you run a meeting now is different from the way it was in 2019. The way you deliver hard feedback has evolved. The way you read a room looks different. The instincts you trust have sharpened. The ones you've learned to override have experiences showing up as data stacked behind them. All of it has shifted. Some of it quickly, some of it so slowly you didn't notice until someone pointed it out.
Think about it, you've absorbed a lot in that time! Sorry to dig up old bones, but you've led through: a pandemic, a talent market that flipped twice, new tools, new expectations and a pace of change that hasn't really let up.
And through all of it, you kept leading. That deserves a minute!
Most leaders I work with (which means many of you reading this, and you know who you are...) don't stop long enough to recognize how much they've actually grown. They're too busy responding to the next thing to take stock of what they've already built.
Despite coming to the same environment consistently and engaging with the same team, a lot of that growth happened individually.
Your instincts sharpened on your own, your judgment matured through your own experience and the patterns you rely on were built in your own context, through your own set of pressures and feedback loops.
Which means every person on your team went through the same thing... just... differently.
They've all evolved. They've all gotten sharper. And they've all built slightly different versions of your working relationship based on what the last 7 years have asked of them.
That's not a problem until you need them to move together. Many teams assume they already know the patterns, the flow of work and the communication channels. "We've worked together for years. We know how each other operates."
This is true, I've seen so many strong foundations. What I also see is that there's always one or two patterns that flag how you operated as a team. Past tense.
One person learned to protect their energy fiercely because the last time they didn't, they burned out and took the team with them. Another learned to say yes to everything because that's what got them promoted. One gives feedback directly and quickly. Another holds it until they've thought it through three times. Both styles work. Both were earned. And both will show up very differently when the same situation hits the group at once.
So how do you actually see it?
Our S.P.A.R.K. Assessment was designed to surface how these patterns have developed individually and collectively. It looks at five dimensions:
- How you manage your resources and energy
- How you respond to feedback and tolerate risk
- What drives your standard of excellence
- How you collaborate
- And how you communicate.
The results show you where you sit on a scale across each one. More builder or more maintainer. More flexible or more definite. You always have a dominant trait, but the strengths are dynamic, not fixed... just like you.
We've had individual leaders take this to learn more about themselves, their home life and full teams review their results side by side.
Here's what people have said:
"I've learned more about myself with this than I did with the assessment our team ran last month."
"I work best when expectations are clear and having this conversation is the first step to understanding each other."
"As someone relatively new to the team, it helped me know and understand my team more."
"I love the concrete steps provided for concepts that can feel vague. It's so helpful as a leader."
"I've noticed people using the language and being more mindful when they're delegating work or motivating their teams."
That last one matters most to me. When people start using the language in their day-to-day, when it changes how they delegate, how they give feedback, how they read the room before they speak, that's when you know it's not sitting in a drawer.
Over the last decade of the S.P.A.R.K. Assessment being in circulation, we haven't seen someone do a complete 180. That's not what happens. People move toward a more balanced state. They learn to work in different capacities. They protect their energy better. They soften where they used to be rigid. They get more direct where they used to avoid.
The movement is real. It's just not dramatic. It's the kind of shift that changes how you show up without anyone being able to pinpoint exactly what changed.
There's a difference between a team of strong individuals and a strong team. The first is a collection of people who are each good at what they do. The second is a group that knows how their styles reinforce each other and where they create friction no one talks about.
Most teams are the first and they assume they're the second.
One leader put it simply after going through it: "Would love our staff to take this to identify the best management style for each person."
That's usually where it leads.
Try it out for yourself first. See what it tells you about who you've become at this stage. And if you want to see your team's data side by side, book a time to chat here because that's where it gets really interesting!
You’re not the same people you were 7 years ago, and the way you work together shouldn't be based on assumptions that are.
Until next week,
Kendra
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