Pain is something we try to avoid as much as possible unless you are a masochist, champion or millionaire in the making.

To have more requires becoming more and becoming more requires growth. Talk to any serious athlete or body builder. They will tell you that most of their workout is just going through the motions. Yes, it keeps them in shape and playing at the same level but it’s the last curl, push-up or set of exercises that creates the results. The same holds true for your business.

You can tell a champion in any industry or walk of life. They have no interest in maintaining the status quo. When they set their goals it is always for more than they produced the year before. They understand that if you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards. And for a champion that is unacceptable.

To move forward requires doing more than you are doing right now. You are going to have to endure some kind of pain to grow bigger than you are. That is why it is called growing pains.

The pain could come from making five more calls when you would rather go for a drink with your co-workers. It could come in the form of taking leadership or sales training on a weekend instead of a game of golf. It might show up as missing "Desperate Whatevers" or the latest reality show. In order for creating room for more success you have to let something go. As Jim Rohn says, "You must suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret." Discipline stings a lot less and the pain softens when the rewards come in.

Take a look at your business or career. To move to the next level, where do you need to grow? Make a list of activities or actions you will need to increase, decrease and commit to doing whatever it takes. Remember, no pain – no gain – no profits. So get growing.

I was just spending a few minutes at the Chicago White Sox web site, absorbing some of the techniques being used by pitching coach, Don Cooper.

He was jumping on his staff for exhibiting too much of a laid back quality. Instead, he wants them to aggressively challenge hitters.

The article got me to thinking about the coaches I had in baseball. Some were laid back, others were micro-managers. I was trying to recall who I did better with.

I’d say it was the hands-off leaders that got my best performances.

My mind shifted to this business question: Why don’t we spend more time and invest more effort in interviewing past managers of our candidates? Don’t their styles also have a lot to do with the overall success of their “players?”

If I’m a salesperson, for instance, and it’s your job to recruit me, wouldn’t it be useful to know that my last manager elicited my best achievements by utterly leaving me alone and staying out of my way?

What if you’re next in line to become my manager and you believe there is only one way to sell, that it’s “Your way, or the highway?” You want everyone on your team to follow a set presentation and not to deviate.

But I’m your candidate and I’m not used to having someone like you breathing down my neck, or even monitoring my techniques at all. Won’t there be an inevitable clash down the road?

Perhaps we should not only check employment references in a standard way but also it would make sense to probe a little about the management philosophy and styles that were in place at the last locale.

Manager to manager, we might be able to learn valuable information that would enable us to hire with more intelligence and confidence.