With technological advances occurring at the speed of light and disruption taking place in many industries, professionals are in roles that are likely to become obsolete. There are many actions that professional women can take to remain relevant. One such strategy is capacity building. The steps are outlined in Elevate by Robert Glazer.
Elevate: Push Beyond Your Limit by Robert Glazer is about how to understand and cultivate the elements that make us unique individuals. The four interconnected elements he refers to are our spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional lives. The four capacity building elements are separate, yet part of an integrated whole.
Robert Glazer wrote Elevate because he wants to share his capacity building framework. It helped him to make positive changes in his life, grow his business, as well as improve the lives of his staff and strangers.
He started a short newsletter, which was focused on motivating his employees to become a better version of themselves. The themes of the newsletter always focus on personal achievement and not business. Staff loved the Friday newsletter so much that they forwarded it to their family and friends. People in far reaching places benefited as much as the staff from the newsletter contents.
Elevate by Robert Glazer: Definition of Capacity Building
According to Robert Glazer:
Capacity building is understanding your spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional lives and developing them individually and simultaneously. It’s a method individuals seek, acquire, to develop the skills and abilities so they consistently perform at a higher level in pursuit of their innate potential. It's about doing more of the right things.
Understanding how these elements work together, helps individuals to attain personal and professional success. You become an elevated version of yourself. When you work on the four elements of capacity building you achieve sustainable success, since it’s a road map.
4 Elements of Capacity Building
- Spiritual capacity: Understanding who you are, what you want most out of life and the standards you want to live by every day. Do you know yourself? Have you taken the time to work on your personal constitution to determine what’s important to you and what you want to achieve in life? What are your core values?
- Intellectual capacity: How you improve your ability to think, learn, plan, and execute with discipline. How do you make your mind a fertile ground for new ideas? Do you take time for reflection every day? Do you make plans to achieve the things you want in life? And how well do you execute your plan?
- Physical capacity: Your health, well-being, and physical performance can give you energy. To achieve the things you want in life, do you make sure that you’re physically fit so you have the energy you need to work on what matters? How active are you? What foods do you put in your body? Do you get enough sleep?
- Emotional capacity: How you react to challenging situations, your emotional mindset, and the quality of your relationships decides how much you accomplish. When you face difficult situations at work and in life, how do you respond? How would you rate the quality of your personal and professional relationships?
Elevate by Robert Glazer: How to Grow the 4 Elements of Capacity Building
Spiritual Capacity Building
Simply put, spiritual capacity is about knowing thyself. You know what your core values are, have a focused purpose, and know exactly where you want to go in life. As I was reading this section of Elevate
by Robert Glazer, I was reminded of the book, The 3 Gaps
by Hyrum Smith. The three gaps the author refers to are Beliefs, Time, and Value. In the book, he gives you the template you need to create your personal constitution. Some of your core values will evolve or even change over time. You also discover your goals by going through this process.
Have you read?
The 3 Gaps by Hyrum Smith, Book Review
Core Values
These are the guiding principles that are important to you. They are tenets to live by and allow you to “draw your line in the sand.” When you participate in activities that align with your core values you feel energized. On the other hand, when you’re unclear about your core values you feel rudderless, like a drifter.
To figure out your core values takes time. I recommend you use the process in The 3 Gaps
. Besides the time it takes to reading the book, it takes about seven hours to craft your personal constitution. But think of it as an investment in yourself. Elevate complements The 3 Gaps
.
Core Purpose and Why
Your core purpose helps you to understand where you’re going. Your core values support your core purpose. Is there an event in your life that drives your purpose? A good place to start discovering your core purpose is to find your why. The book, Start with Why
by Simon Sinek is an excellent resource to help you.
Developing and growing your spiritual capacity aligns what you want, to your daily actions. This helps to focus you. The process of developing and growing your spiritual capacity is an ongoing one, as you evolve into who you want to, and might become.
Have you read?
Start with Why by Simon Sineck, Book Review
Intellectual Capacity Building
Your intellectual capacity is about how you can improve your ability to think, learn, plan, and execute with discipline. Robert Glazer likens your intellectual capacity to a “personal processor/operating system” that you can upgrade. The more you grow your intellectual capacity the more you achieve in life while expending the same or less energy.
People with a growth mindset understand that you can expand your intellect and intelligence. When you have a growth mindset, you’ll do what it takes to improve your intellect. And you can do this by committing to lifelong learning. What do you need to do to expand your knowledge base in the areas that you have an interest in? Doing this helps you to elevate.
In the book, Glazer recommends you join a mastermind group to expand simultaneously your emotional and intellectual capacity. Some formalized mastermind programs can be pricey, so why not start your own. Napoleon Hill explains about the power of the mastermind in Think and Grow Rich
.
I’m a member of a 12-week Mastermind group that is one benefit of my Ellevate Network membership. I’ve participated in the mastermind group about five times so far. You can also find mentors and coaches to work with you. They’ll give you constructive feedback on areas to strengthen. To grow and learn, you need to know the areas in which you need improvement.
Take control of building your intellectual capacity by setting long- and short-term goals. This proactive approach allows you to accomplish a lot more than you normally would. One way to grow your intellect is to learn the key skills the World Economic Forum says you need to thrive from 2020 to 2022. The goals you want to achieve occurs when your spiritual and intellectual capacity intersect.
Outline a plan to achieve your goals and schedule the time you need to accomplish them. Make sure that you work on your goals every day.
Physical Capacity Building
This capacity is your ability to improve your health, well-being, and physical performance. You need your physical capacity to achieve all the things you want to accomplish in life. You physical capacity can either lead you to or away from your capacity building quest. What do you need to maintain physical wellness and well-being.
A good place to start is to get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise regularly. Also manage the stressors in your life. And make sure that you are exercising self-care – take care of you. Glazer says that competition is a part of achievement and elevating. I agree, but I believe that you should compete against yourself.
Try to be better today than you were yesterday. Raise your game by striving to become better. Take the necessary steps you need to. Physical accomplishments carry over to other areas of your life and builds confidence as well.
Emotional Capacity Building
Emotional capacity is your ability to manage that voice in your head, interact with others, and build quality relationships. When you face difficult situations at work and in life, how do you respond? Do you have a tendency to blow things out of proportion? Or does a cool head prevail? How would you rate the quality of your personal and professional relationships? How much time do you spend to nurture your relationships? The quality of your relationships can make or break you.
I’ve heard it said time-and-time again that you’re the sum total of the five people you hang out the most with. Another common adage is to
“Show me your company and I’ll tell you who you are.”
I love this quote from Elevate:
“Think about a race car. If your spiritual, physical, and intellectual capacities are the tools to design, build, and improve the car, your emotional capacity is your ability to actually drive it in the presence of other drivers and unintended obstacles.”
Do you challenge yourself to become better? Do you have limiting beliefs that hold you back? Think on these things.
Connection + Challenge = Real Change
That’s a profound formula. To achieve anything worthwhile means that you have to challenge yourself. And you cannot succeed alone, you need others in your corner. Resilience is a part of emotional capacity. You are resilient when you move beyond the edges of your comfort zone. That’s where the magic happens.
Other Thoughts on Capacity Building
Expect a lot from yourself. Don’t become a cog in a wheel. You can become much more than you think. Build your capacity in all four areas – spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional.
Elevate by Robert Glazer: 5 Big Ideas
- Grow your spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional capacity to improve your life.
- Build the four capacity building elements at the same time to achieve harmony in life.
- Develop your core values and purpose to achieve the right goals.
- Raise your expectations on whatever you think you can accomplish.
- Find the people who have your back and will give you the feedback you need to improve and grow.
Books Mentioned: Elevate, Robert Glazer
Next Steps
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Avil Beckford is the Founder of The Invisible Mentor and the Art of Learning Leadership Academy. Her podcast is called The One Problem. You can find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
This post contains affiliate links and The Invisible Mentor® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support! First published October 2019.
