Most people I know have no problems with producing results, fulfilling KPIs, chalking up the numbers, and so on. Production is no big deal. You do what you’re supposed to do, maybe make some small, incremental improvements, do your due diligence, and….. voila! … the day is done. Even if some innovative new thing comes your way and messes things up a little, no worries, you learn about it, adopt it, adapt to it, and life goes on. Yes, indeed, most people have no worries at all with production. It’s simple, straightforward and it’s easy to get great results!

Not so, it seems, with reproduction. I’m not talking about making clones of yourself. I’m talking about living in a state where you reproduce values and mindsets in people around you. That doesn’t mean they’ll look or behave exactly as you do, far from it! Just as all snowflakes have six sides and yet there have never been any two snowflakes alike ever since the first one fell to the earth squintillions of snowflakes ago, no two humans will ever be exactly alike, not even identical twins. No, with reproduction, there is variety. The material for coding the information for growth, characteristics, etc, may be the same, as in the building blocks of DNA, (A-T, C-G), but the information is of far greater variety than we can imagine. No, when I talk about reproducing yourself in others, I am saying that you inspire others towards cherishing the same ennobling values as you do, and they will express those values in their own unique ways.

But wait. How many of us are actively reproducing? Do our inspirational reproduction patterns reflect biological ones? If so, then a change in mindset is surely needed. We don’t need to “adopt” or “scout” for the “talents” we desire – they’re growing right in our own backyards, if we would but nurture them. There is a lot of “birth control” in society. Is our failure to reproduce leadership and talent a reflection of that lifestyle? Or are leaders afraid that their proteges would rise above them or replace them? Or is it that nurturing, developing, and inspiring people is seen as such hard work that leaders avoid doing  that?

What about you? When was the last time somebody told you that they felt great just being around you? That they felt inspired? That they felt moved to becoming better than they were at that moment? If so, you were reproducing yourself. So, keep up with your production, and make sure that you’re reproducing yourself, too!