I want the executives and managers around me to think for themselves. Without deliberate leadership development and fresh thinking from leaders at every level, we fall back on yesterday’s solutions.
That belief was forged during my time in the Marine Corps. There, leadership development is a way of life. From boot camp on, the Corps intertwines leadership and self-development into daily routines.
That’s the culture I’m building. I’m constantly looking for the teachable moments that broaden horizons. Growth leads to retention. It’s a culture that makes people excited to stay and see how far they can go.
Why Employees Stay with a Company when they see Clear Growth Paths
When I see turnover, I look for people issues, especially at the leader interface. Do people feel seen? Are they getting specific and actionable feedback? Are they being stretched in ways that energize them?
Growth can light up an entire team. When employees see what’s next and believe they can get there, the energy is contagious.
Growth pathways also stitch an organization together. Developing leaders who can build strong lateral relationships ties the business together and creates a shared sense of direction. Your individual contributors matter, but your company will rise or fall based on whether your teams are moving in the same direction. That shared sense of purpose and community makes people stick around.
How Self-Regulated Employees own their Development
I encourage my people to grow through an approach I call the “Self-Regulated Individual Contributor model.” The emphasis is on teaching aspiring leaders how to first lead themselves.
My people start by learning to build daily routines that help them show up with their best work. It’s less about micromanaging your calendar and more about gaining clarity on your goals and strengthening your discipline with your habits.
I encourage people to operate within their own framework and make that framework work for the company. Employees grow by finding their rhythms, their strengths and their constraints. If I can help someone continuously improve as an individual, they become a more effective contributor without needing a manager to constantly steer them.
We set a clear horizon and let people determine how to get there. Autonomy creates ownership. Ownership fuels growth. And growth births new leaders.
Self-regulation couples freedom with accountability. In other words, I don’t micromanage projects. I work with teams to define outcomes, agree on checkpoints and review what’s working and what isn’t. The point is to make development something you do for yourself, not something that’s done to you.
What Systems make Upskilling Stick Long-Term
If you’re unsure where to start, start with your own story. None of us got where we are without a series of leaders who invested in us. Servant leadership is about helping people at every level achieve their personal goals. I believe that mindset has the power to transform a company.
Practically, I like simple, repeatable systems that encourage learning in the flow of work. For example, I employ a framework called “Start, Stop, Continue” in our meetings. We regularly ask teams what to start doing, what to stop and what to continue. It’s structured enough to surface process improvements and new ideas, and open enough to reveal the ones who see across the system and speak with clarity and courage as developing leaders.
I’m always looking for teachable moments. Every week offers chances to widen someone’s aperture. Pull them into a customer call or a post-mortem. If you thread opportunities for growth into daily activity, you see skills compound.
Peer learning through shadowing and mentoring is another path to growth. I especially love it when I see impromptu, bite-sized teaching moments when someone who just learned something shares it with the next person.
In my view, a leader’s primary work is development and growth. Even above short-term results, my role is to find and develop leaders. When I do that well, results take care of themselves.
With that in mind, I’ve learned to celebrate progress, not perfection. I still measure, but I measure what matters. Are more internal candidates earning promotions? Are managers spending more 1:1 time on development than status? Are employees reporting that feedback is frequent, clear and actionable? Are new leaders emerging across the business? Those are pathway metrics.
Perks may make headlines, but people don’t stay for the ping-pong table. They stay because they’re becoming someone they’re proud of and because their leaders are committed to that journey.
If you want retention, stop chasing the perk-of-the-month. Build a culture where learning is woven into every day, and adopt a system where autonomy meets accountability. That’s a company people will choose to grow with.
Clark Lowe, President and CEO of O’Connor Company, is a seasoned leader with a background in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he developed his leadership philosophy based on integrity, adaptability and problem-solving. With an MBA in Finance and certifications in LEAN Six Sigma, Lowe specializes in driving business turnarounds through operational efficiency. His experience spans construction, business management and leading teams to success by fostering innovation, optimizing processes and encouraging continuous learning across all levels.
