Every leader wants to see growth—but not all growth is equal. Too often, leaders focus on adding followers, which creates steady, predictable progress. But the real power of leadership comes when you multiply growth—by developing other leaders.
This principle, drawn from John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and echoed in Linda Cureton’s leadership philosophy, is what separates good managers from transformational leaders. The choice is simple: lead followers for linear progress, or develop leaders for exponential impact.
Challenge 1: The Limitations of Linear Growth
Linear growth happens when leaders only focus on followers. You can grow—but only as fast as your own time and energy allow.
Why This Matters
For mid-career professionals who already feel stretched thin, leading more followers often means burning out. Your impact is capped at your personal capacity.
The Reframe
Shift the Goal: Stop measuring success by how many people follow you.
Leverage Multiplication: Focus instead on how many leaders you can build.
Think Scale: Leadership is about extending influence beyond your personal reach.
Pro Tip: Followers add. Leaders multiply.
Challenge 2: Building Exponential Growth Through Leaders
Exponential growth looks very different. It starts slowly—like a curve at the bottom of a graph—but accelerates quickly as leaders you’ve developed begin developing others.
Why This Matters
Exponential growth is sustainable. It ensures that your influence extends long after you’ve left the room—or even the organization.
The Reframe
Teach Leadership Skills, Not Just Tasks. Show others why decisions are made, not just what to do.
Empower Others to Lead. Give colleagues authority, not just assignments.
Create Multipliers. Build leaders who can develop others, not just manage followers.
Key Insight: When you invest in leaders, your legacy continues without you.
Challenge 3: The Law of Process—Growth Over Time
Another principle John Maxwell highlights is the Law of Process, which reminds us that leadership growth happens through small, consistent actions over time. Like compound interest, these daily deposits eventually yield exponential returns.
Why This Matters
Many mid-career professionals plateau because they expect growth to be dramatic and instant. In reality, it’s the consistency of showing up as a leader every day that compounds into lasting influence.
The Reframe
Start Small: Commit to daily leadership practices—listening, mentoring, and modeling behavior.
Be Patient: Trust that steady actions will multiply over time.
Focus on Compounding Influence: Even small improvements ripple outward, especially in complex organizations.
Lesson Learned: Leadership growth is a marathon, not a sprint.
Challenge 4: Leading in Complex Organizations
Cureton ties this principle to her research on leadership in complex organizations—those operating on the edge of chaos, far from equilibrium. In such environments, even small actions can have outsized effects, much like chaos theory describes.
Why This Matters
In chaotic, unpredictable environments, leaders can’t control every variable. But they can influence outcomes through intentional leadership behaviors.
The Reframe
Embrace Complexity: Don’t fight chaos—learn to lead through it.
Focus on Small Perturbations: Understand that even small acts of leadership can shift entire systems.
Prioritize Resilience: Equip leaders to adapt, not just follow plans.
Real Talk: In complex organizations, control is limited—but influence is limitless.
Challenge 5: Sustainable Influence Beyond Yourself
The true test of leadership is what happens when you’re gone. If your influence vanishes the moment you leave, you’ve led followers. If it continues to expand, you’ve developed leaders.
Why This Matters
Sustainable leadership isn’t about personal recognition—it’s about lasting impact. Leaders who multiply leaders extend their influence across generations of teams.
The Reframe
Model Emotional Intelligence: Teach leaders how to manage themselves and their teams with empathy.
Equip Others for Ownership: Step back so others can step up.
Think Legacy: Ask yourself, “Will my influence outlive my presence?”
Leadership Hack: True leadership is measured not by your presence, but by your absence.
Conclusion: From Linear to Exponential Leadership
The choice every leader faces is simple: Do you want to add growth, or multiply it? Leading followers produces linear progress. But developing leaders creates exponential impact that outlasts you and transforms organizations.
For professionals plateauing in mid-career roles, the key to breaking through isn’t working harder—it’s leading smarter. Invest in leaders, not just followers, and you’ll discover the true power of exponential growth.
This week, identify one colleague you can begin developing as a leader. Share not just tasks, but insight. Encourage them to lead others. Remember: your greatest legacy isn’t the followers you attract—it’s the leaders you leave behind.