Many who have a personal growth mindset are always ready for the next great book, anxious to hear the upcoming podcast, available to attend the new conference and consistently looking for ways to grow.
An often overlooked ‘best practice’ for growth is through serving opportunities. Seriously.
Serving ~ when we aren't leading ~ allows us to:
cultivate our servant's heart
helps us see things from a different perspective
strengthens our leadership
reminds us what volunteers need
models for others how & why to serve
Serving without being the one in charge and putting yourself in the position to NOT lead the thing is critical to our personal faith journey, to our leadership growth and to leading others.  Many of us are naturally wired to lead/be in charge so it can be a challenge to find such opportunities.  I promise they exist because I am committed to finding them and have involved myself in various ones over the years.
I specifically look for situations where I can truly be the volunteer, be the one who asks the questions, be the one who doesn’t know the answers or have the plan or have the lists.  On one level, there is a very personal motivation to give of myself.  There is also such a huge potential to learn as a volunteer how to better equip and communicate with volunteers.
Here are just a few examples from my personal experience:
Mission Trips.
Conferences.
Disaster Relief Call-Outs.
Local Food Pantries.
Town-Sponsored Events.
Elementary School Reading Programs & Events.
What else would you add to this list? What other opportunities have you found to serve but not lead?