The Devil Sells Truck Accessories
With The Devil Wears Prada 2 now in theaters, audiences are once again enjoying a world where ambition, status, image, and power overshadow humility, empathy, and genuine concern for others.
Of course, that story was never really about fashion. It could just as easily be called The Devil Sells Software or The Devil Replies to Emails All Day or even The Devil Sells Truck Accessories, (thus the AI-generated version of my profile pic for this post).
Every industry has its Mirandas because every industry is full of humans. It’s an example we’re all tempted to follow when our goals, image, authority, or insecurity consumes us and we begin treating others as tools rather than people. What’s striking is that, even in those moments, many of us would describe ourselves as deeply committed to personal growth.
But what is growth actually?
Personal growth is not simply losing weight, increasing income, upgrading your lifestyle, getting promoted, or consuming more content, (at 1.5x speed).
Real growth is not just ambition. It is maturity.
It’s becoming less childish. Learning to genuinely value other people rather than calculating what they can do for you. Understanding your own motivations, insecurities, and blind spots. Operating from authenticity, an honest view of yourself held alongside a real appreciation for the dignity and contributions of others.
Real growth means abandoning the immature games that we can all play: playing the victim to gain leverage, manipulating others to get what you want, using authority to shift responsibility downward, taking credit for success while avoiding accountability for failure.
Character development has always mattered more than career development.
One builds a better résumé. The other builds a better human being. And every industry could use more of those.
This is precisely why John Maxwell opens The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth not with strategy or productivity, but with a mirror. Before you can grow intentionally, you have to be willing to see yourself honestly. That takes more courage than any career goal.
The Maxwell Leadership Mastermind isn’t focused primarily on tactics, strategies, or career advancement. It’s focused on the deeper work of personal growth, leadership maturity, self-awareness, and perhaps most of all . . . becoming the kind of person others trust and want to follow.
If that resonates with you, send me a message. I want to hear from you.
Personal growth means more than expanding our minds and adding to our skills. It means increasing our capacity as human beings...it means maturing our souls.
- John C. Maxwell
NY Times Bestselling Author