It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking there is nothing left to learn about leading others, particularly if you have been adept and successful at it. Leadership – like life – is a journey; you never arrive at the destination, particularly when it has sped up to the pace you deal with every day.
In order to be agile enough to make the split-second decisions required of you, you must continually acquire knowledge – not just the “book smarts” kind, but the kinds that we don’t often think of as learning.
How do you keep up? Here are a few suggestions:
Read: It almost seems old-fashioned to suggest that you read these days, but it’s a great way to keep learning. Read what interests you. You can learn as much from a good novel as you can from the Wall Street Journal. Just read. Make it a habit, and it will keep you sharp.
Observe and Wonder: Put away the laptop or smart phone and just watch people in meetings, on the street, and in the hallway. Watch them at home and at the beach. What makes you curious about them? What do you find interesting about those around you?
Ask: If you are truly curious about someone, their motivation, or their life, ask them (be careful not to overstep boundaries with this one). Ask it with an inquisitive, not probing, tone. I remember asking someone I was fascinated with whom I’d just met, “What drives you?”. It was a great way to get to know her, and human nature, better.
Volunteer: Ladle soup at a homeless shelter. Help put up Christmas lights for a lonely neighbor who can’t do it themselves. Consider serving on a nonprofit board. Read to kids at a local school or library. Do something for free that is out of the box for you to really stretch yourself – and feel good about it too.
Take a class: You may have lots of choices for classes in the work arena. Look into the choices in your community too. Is there something you’ve always wanted to know more about? Check course listings in with your local adult education provider, university or junior college. How about learning to play an instrument, taking voice lessons or an art class?
Hire a coach: I couldn’t resist this suggestion because I believe in it as a great way to get to know yourself better and learn to be a more effective leader. Through assessments and fieldwork, you’ll learn a lot about you and how to lead even better than you do now.
Take care of you: Stress has been well documented to effect performance, including our ability to learn. I know, from the work I do that when my clients exercise, eat well, sleep enough, and take time for themselves and their families, that it can have a huge impact on their learning and their leadership.
Some of these suggestions may not seem to be related to how you lead. I respectfully disagree. Any learning that you intentionally participate in has the potential to profoundly affect your leadership. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’ve arrived – or it may not take long before you take your leave.
I like “Observe and Wonder”. It is my favourite hobby when I travel, particularly given I am getting on the flight at super early hours or late evening. People’s faces who are up early and getting on a plane are very different to those of people getting on a plane at the end of their day! My new one is looking at faces in the mall. So there is a lot to see if you just put your smart phone down and observe.
Thabo, thanks for your thoughts. I, too love to observe and wonder when I travel. There is a lot to see and learn from there.
The power of observation seems to be a lost art. Great leaders have learned that observation is the key to fine tuning their intuition and that being able to rely on that is beyond powerful. All in all these are great suggestions. I am not a fan of “hire a coach”. Not because doing so is bad, but because it should be replaced with get authentic feedback. A paid coach is just one of many valid ways to get authentic feedback.
Derek, I hadn’t really thought about how observation can fine tune intuition. Thanks for that – it gives me something to think about. Also, “hire a coach” may be a little self serving, but having hired a few myself I can certainly attest to their ability to help me “learn how to learn”. Feedback is only part of the formula, at least for me – without a coach, I was at a loss as to what to do with it. They helped me to be able to process the feedback I received as well as to create actions and hold me accountable to acheiving my goals. No small feat, I reckon.