Mark Mears: The Power of Purposeful Growth

How can purposeful growth impact your leadership?

Bio:
Mark A. Mears is a #1 Best Selling author, keynote speaker, consultant, and visionary business leader. He has a significant track record of building stakeholder value, driving innovation, and profitable growth among world-class, high-profile brands such as PepsiCo/Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and The Cheesecake Factory among others.

Today, Mark is the Chief Growth Officer for LEAF Growth Ventures and has just released his new book titled, The Purposeful Growth Revolution: 4 Ways to Grow from Leader to Legacy Builder.

Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markamears/
Website: https://www.markamears.com/

Quotes:
“When we do things randomly, they don't stick. But if we do things intentionally over and over, it forms like wet cement. It hardens and it becomes a habit. In this case, a positive habit.”

“Leadership is like the seed of an organization and the root system. You must have a strong root system for any plant or tree to grow.”

Episode Highlights:
In this insightful conversation, Mark shares about purposeful growth and the importance of feeling loved in the workplace, breaking down the concept of love into an inspiring acronym. He shares his experiences, upbringing, and professional journey, imparting valuable wisdom on leadership, community, and the power of feedback. He also shares how being fired from a C-Suite job was a gift in disguise for him.

Childhood Incidents:
Growing up, Mark was an avid swimmer. He had a coach who helped him achieve excellence through hard workouts, and he became a lifeguard and swim coach in high school. Mark put his best foot forward and as a result, became head guard responsible for managing the pool. That experience hones his love for leadership, service, and hospitality.

Influential Groups/Cultural Influence:
Mark sees culture as a set of norms and expectations that people establish amongst themselves as a natural course of interaction. He recalls growing up in the swim team. He was always with his teammates during practice; they carpooled to practice and had bus rides together. Church and college also influenced Mark, giving him a sense of belonging.

Mark has worked for and with many organizations, and his greatest desire has always been to leave the place better than he found it. His experience with various groups taught Mark how to leverage his God-given gifts, talents, abilities, intellect, and experiences to bring organizations to ever-higher levels of excellence.

Personality and Temperaments:
As a child, Mark was passionate and competitive. He was curious and had the resilience to overcome obstacles in his life, which is an enduring trait. Today, Mark has become softer on the competitiveness side and more forgiving of himself. He has learned how to take the best of his core characteristics, round off some rougher edges, and grow new ones.

Cultural Epiphanies:
In Mark’s last leadership position, someone called him a narcissist. It was difficult for Mark to understand where it came from, and he later realized that what he viewed as selflessness was seen as grand-standing by others.

What Brings out the Best in Mark?
Mark lights up like a Christmas tree when he helps align a team. Their increased unity allows them to accomplish more than they even thought possible.

Soapbox Moment:
Are you interested in purposeful growth? Mark invites you to visit his website for a self-assessment to experience the power of his acronym for LOVE: Listen, Observe, Value, and Empower.