I've been delighted by the response to Growing the Distance (on our web site you can read dozens of fascinating letters and comments on the book from readers). Like a good parent, an author probably shouldn't have favorites among his or her own books. But I especially enjoyed writing Growing the Distance because it so closely reflects my own values, aspirations, and continuous personal growth quest.

I again felt those deep attachments and excitement as I prepared this Personal Implementation Guide sprouting from Growing the Distance. The assessments and exercises found here are built around work I have been doing personally and/or within my workshops, coaching, and retreats over the last three decades. My key objective in designing the Personal Implementation Guide is to move from the inspiration of Growing the Distance to concrete action.

I designed this personal guide at the same time as the Practical Application Planner for management teams. That planner is built around the new companion book to Growing the Distance, The Leader's Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success (visit our web site for details). Both this guide and that planner represent the next evolution in my work. It's what I am now calling "Practical Leadership."

There are thousands of books on leadership and just as many theories, speakers, training programs, workshops, etc. My focus on Practical Leadership is to help readers, participants, or Clients move from knowing to doing. As represented in this Personal Implementation Guide, this means I provide an increasing number of assessments, application exercises, how-to "best practices," and action planning. The CLEMMER Group logo represents a book opening backwards and transforming into an arrow leading to rising performance.

Ways to Use This Guide

Most strong and centered leaders are reflective learners. They ensure they have enough R & R (reflection and renewal) time to keep themselves focused and balanced. The Personal Implementation Guide is designed to be a central part of your own R & R.

In the last chapter of Growing the Distance, on pages 171 – 173, I outline three basic questions that are key to answering the bigger question: "Am I growing the distance?" These basic questions are: Where do I want to go? Where am I now? and What do I need to change or improve to close the gap? The Personal Implementation Guide will provide a structure and process for you to more clearly answer those questions.

What Are Your Personal Development Objectives?

Start with page 1 and record either your overall personal development objectives or specifically your objectives for using the Personal Implementation Guide.

Here are a few different ways for ways for you to use this Personal Implementation Guide:

From the Broad to the Specific
This approach starts with the personal assessment of each of the Timeless Leadership Principles on page 7. Based on your "living this principle" ratings and "importance to improve" you can then rank order the principles from the one needing the most work done to the one needing the least immediate attention. You can then go through sections of the Personal Implementation Guide in that order.

Browsing and Grazing
You may jump around in reading Growing the Distance to those sections that have the most appeal or interest for you. You could approach the Personal Implementation Guide in the same way. Flip through it and mark the pages or sections that you'd like to come back to. Then go back through and work in those sections.

Some exercises are for team leaders, supervisors, managers, or executives who lead others at work. You could skip or adapt those if that's not your situation.

Benjamin Franklin's "Method for Progressing"
Benjamin Franklin identified thirteen "virtues" that he wanted to develop. Each week he worked on one of the virtues for a total of "four courses (cycles) in a year." Each night before bed Franklin reflected on and recorded his progress on that week's feature virtue.

You could use a similar approach. This could come from your personal development objectives or values if you've clarified them already. Or you could start at the centre of the Leadership Wheel with the Focus and Context section (pages 8 to 22). Once your vision, values, and purpose are clear, you can then move to those sections that strengthen the hub or your own leadership wheel. You can work at one value or vision component at a time like Benjamin Franklin.

Spousal/Life Partnering
When our two oldest kids, Chris and Jenn, were still pre-schoolers, my wife, Heather, and I were starting to drift apart into separate lives. That's when we began an annual process (around the first part of January) of visioning together. We're convinced that it's the key reason our marriage reversed that drift and strengthened considerably over the years. This has created a positive and loving family atmosphere that brings all five of us (Vanessa is our youngest) together – even through the turbulence of the teenage years (the babies didn't come with warning labels about this)!

As Heather and I work together within The CLEMMER Group and live together within the Clemmer clan, we have applied many of the exercises in the Personal Implementation Guide to keep us centered and connected. There are no magic panaceas here, but many of the exercises (especially joint reflection and visioning) have made a big difference in enriching our personal, family, and business lives.

You might want to go through the Personal Implementation Guide with your spouse/life partner or just pick out the most relevant sections to complete together.

From Start to Finish
You can start at page one of the Personal Implementation Guide and go through it page by page in the order it's laid out. Most of the Timeless Leadership Principles follow this process:

1. Assessment Exercise(s)
2. Application Exercise(s)
3. Review Personal Application Ideas
4. Choose 3 – 5 (or add your own) Ideas Most Useful Right Now
5. Action Planning

Use this Guide to Take Action

If after reading an inspiring book (such as I hope you found Growing the Distance to be) we feel better but don't act differently, it won't be long before the good feelings are gone and we're back into our same old ways. I hope the Personal Implementation Guide lives up to its title and helps you to take concrete action for your personal, career, and family success!