My oldest daughter has lived over 35 million minutes in her eight and a half years of life. She’s grown from 7 pounds to 60 and stands about four feet tall. She is independent in many ways, especially compared to the infant we brought home from the hospital.

She has a lot more growing up to do, and I feel so privileged to walk through life with her and watch her grow.

Even though I know she has many more minutes to live in my care, I still feel an urgency to make the most of our time together. These first 8 years have gone so quickly.

Leaders who want to invest time in developing people need to remember that developing people takes time: Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades.

The greater the investment of time, the greater the impact.

Developing people — like raising children — doesn’t happen overnight or instantaneously. There are no short cuts or accelerants, no quick fixes.

The way to have a great impact is to invest time in relationships.

Parents know this instinctively: raising kids is an everyday commitment, with steps forward and steps back. A parent’s commitment to developing children is long-term, lifelong. And the impact of parents on the lives of their children is inestimable.

Leaders who want to have a great impact can apply the principles of parenthood to their employees, colleagues, or followers.

  1. To have a great impact, make a great investment of your time and commitment.
  2. Growth comes from relationships. The closer the relationship, the greater the impact.
  3. In developing people, there will be setbacks along with advancement.
  4. Developing others is a privilege and honor. Enjoy it!
  5. Make the most of the time you have.

Join the conversation!

Which of these principles of parenthood resonates most with you? What other principles of parenthood can you apply to leading and developing others?

This was originally posted at Mountain State University LeaderTalk and is re-posted with permission.