Is Your Team Growing - Or Just Getting Better at Standing Still?
A Guide to Developing Leadership Skills
Not every performance issue comes from a lack of skill.
Sometimes, it’s something harder to spot: quiet stagnation.
Your team might still be hitting goals, but are they evolving?
Or just getting better at operating inside their comfort zones?
At Mustardseed, we’ve observed a hidden pattern in careers that affects long-term impact and engagement. One that most teams don’t talk about until it’s already costing them momentum, making developing leadership skills more critical than ever.
We call it: the three phases of a career.
Phase 1: The Learning Phase
This is where everything begins. It’s new. It’s challenging. You’re absorbing skills, expanding your thinking, solving new problems.
The emotional signature? Excitement.
In this phase, your value is visible. You contribute meaningfully, and the organization needs you as much, if not more, than you need it.
You feel energized, valued, and alive.
But here’s the catch: most people don’t realize when they begin to leave this phase.
Phase 2: The Plateau Phase
This is the trickiest stage because you’re still performing.
You’re competent. You’re delivering. But deep down, something feels off.
The emotional signature? Agony.
You’re no longer learning at the same pace. Growth feels incremental, not exponential. The excitement of solving new problems has faded. Work becomes about output, not evolution.
Most people misread this phase. They assume, “I’ve mastered it.” But in reality, mastery without new learning often signals a slow stall.
And here’s where risk increases.
You might believe your experience secures your relevance, but your edge is already beginning to dull.
Phase 3: The Danger Zone
Now the ground has shifted.
You’re still working hard, but mostly drawing on past strengths. Your thinking hasn’t evolved. Your tools haven’t upgraded. Your mindset hasn’t shifted.
The emotional signature? Exhaustion.
You need the organization more than it needs you. You’re no longer adding new value, you’re extracting comfort.
This is where careers fade quietly. Not with a pink slip, but with irrelevance.
So, What Keeps You in Phase 1?
One word: Learning.
Jeff Bezos famously emphasized the Day 1 mindset, always operating with urgency, curiosity, and adaptability. At Mustardseed, we believe the same principle applies to leadership.
“The real career risk isn’t getting fired. It’s becoming obsolete without even realising it.”
And that obsolescence happens not from laziness, but from plateauing. From the slow erosion of growth. From staying busy without evolving.
The Inner Shift That Sustains Outer Relevance
We often hear organizations say:
- Our people have potential, but they seem stuck.
- We’ve done trainings, but the mindset hasn’t changed.
- They’re technically strong, but not growing.
The issue isn’t knowledge. It’s learning agility. And that’s where developing leadership skills becomes a game-changer.
The best leaders we’ve worked with aren’t the smartest, they’re the most evolving. They put themselves in stretch zones. They welcome discomfort. They seek feedback, ask hard questions, and choose reflection over routine.
Stat to consider: According to LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report, 89% of L&D professionals agree that proactively building employee skills is critical for navigating the evolving future of work. Source
The gap isn’t just in resources. It’s in habit and mindset.
What This Means for Organizations
If you’re leading a team or designing your next offsite, don’t just ask:
- What skills do we need?
Ask:
- Where is each team member in their career phase?
- Are we helping them stay in Phase 1?
And most importantly:
- Are we creating an environment where curiosity and learning are rewarded, not just output?
At Mustardseed, we design and learning experiences that interrupt the plateau, reignite curiosity, and push professionals out of stagnation with respect, challenge, and design.
Because real growth doesn’t come from information.
It comes from reactivation.
Conclusion : Stay Curious, Stay Relevant
Whether you’re an emerging manager or a seasoned leader—your relevance depends on your willingness to keep learning.
So ask yourself (and your team):
- Are you still learning?
- Or just functioning?
🔗 Want to design an offsite or explore leadership development programs that keep your team in Phase 1? and focus on developing leadership skills? Connect with our experts to explore how.
