I was having a discussion with a friend about an article I wrote about a few weeks back about How the Goal of Mastery is Self-Defeating.
When I wrote that article, there was a trend that I was noticing in the work that I do, that I often see.
For the way I approach my work, I try to find what Leaders are missing that can contribute to their Success.
Then I will seek out the best Experts I can find in an Industry and try to learn from them.
Usually, I try to see if they have a certification program and try to learn as directly as I can from those Experts.
But there is a trend that I often see as I do this.
I follow that Expert for a time.
Then I will walk alongside that Expert for a time as I begin to understand it more fully.
However, in many cases, I begin to walk to walk ahead of that Expert, and when I look back, they are no longer moving.
Where did they go?
It doesn't happen with every Expert, but it happens frequently.
This is one of the things that makes me most sad in the work that I do.
How many Experts simply Stop Growing.
It isn't even that their Success has Diminished, for some of them, their Success in their Endeavors has actually Increased.
But there are other, more important, things that have vanished.
When did they Stop Asking Questions?
Where did the Glow in Their Eye Go?
What happened to the Warmth they used to have in their Work?
When I used to see them, it was like seeing a Beautiful Tree, Growing on its way to New Heights.
But now, when I look at them, it is more like a Withering Tree, Leafless in the Wrong Season and Decaying before its Time.
Why did they Allow Themselves to Die while still Alive?
Watching People, Projects, and Businesses that have So Much Potential, only to see them stop, like Stagnant Water.
When Water becomes Stagnant, it begins to become a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi that can make people sick.
But when it happens to Experts, it Infects the Brain, making their Projects and Businesses unhelpful to others.
The Experts begin to rely on things like past testimonials instead of helping others Further.
Over time, everything the Expert has Dries Up or is so Toxic that people Avoid it like the Plague.
Sometimes this Process is Slow, but you can see the Signs of What is Coming.
The Experts and their Teams Change, Sometimes Without Words to Express "How".
The Devoted Followers begin the Openly Question and Do Not Get Answers They Desperately Need.
The Longest Followers start Disappearing, Still doing Incredible Things, Just Outside of the Community.
The Goals are Lofty and Sound Beautiful, but the Actions Do Not Align.
The Programs are Rehashed, but they Feel Like a Sequel No One Wanted and Accomplish Less.
Even "Forward Progress" begins to Feel like Movement in the Wrong Direction.
They Start to Lose Everything that Brought Success.
Perhaps what makes me most Sad is that I "Believed" they would get Further and Accomplish More Good.
It isn't the Disappointment, which also exists, as much as it is the Loss of Potential.
Seeing that Potential Dissipate and Disappear is what is most Sad.
It is like being in a Desert, knowing that an Oasis there could Save so many Lives, but it ends up being a Mirage.
People will go to it, but when they discover it is a Mirage, they leave Disappointed and Worse for Wear, Struggling to Find What they Seek.
They say that there are Fates Worse than Death.
I have Seen so many Dead People Walking to Know It is True.