Why thinking that you know it all is a sure sign of troubles to come
One thing that I have learned in life is that you can never stop learning. When you finish college, advanced degrees beckon. When you finish an advanced degree, there are books and articles covering all the things they didn’t teach you during your academic courses.
John F. Kennedy said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” What this means for me is that leaders understand the value of continuous learning. They have never learned enough.
If recent events have shown anything, they have revealed the vital importance of staying abreast of changing events. Lessons can come from anywhere. We’ve all learned things in our lives that came from unexpected sources. When you think you know it all, and relax your attention, you are most vulnerable to being overtaken by the unexpected—just as many of our financial institutions were as the problems in credit and consumption ballooned into a crisis.
What learning takes
Learning is never just about reading books, taking classes or attending seminars. It’s a combination of all of these, plus surrounding yourself with bright people who trust you enough to offer differing perspectives on key topics—be they professional or personal. Listening is an act of trust, which is why dictators rarely manage to do it. You can’t learn if everyone around you is so frightened that they agree with your slightest whim. Dissent, so long as it is constructive, is often the best way to reach a true understanding of the world.
Leaders—or at least the best of them—both know what they know and, more importantly, they know what they don’t know. Surrounding themselves with people who know what they don’t know is critical for success. Continuous learning is an essential part of their approach to leadership. Complacency and ignorance are seen for the handicaps they are.
In my role, I have had the great good fortune to work with some people for many years; individuals who, like me, realize that we need to continue learning from each other and push one another to higher levels. They have afforded me the opportunity to learn from them every day; and as new people have joined our team, they have brought new perspectives, new experiences and new networks. The team that learns continuously is well set on the path to achieving higher levels of performance.
Keep an open mind
Always keep in mind that learning can come from all sides and all directions. Don’t presume that, if someone has a position lower on the totem pole, they have nothing valuable to offer you. It can be just the opposite. These people are closer to the customers and the details of your business. I believe wholeheartedly that there is a lesson in every individual. It is ours for the taking, so long as we trust others enough to suspend our knee-jerk judgments, biases and prejudices and go into each interaction with a mind open to hearing and learning something new that could be to our benefit.
Whether you have a degree from a world-class college, an advanced degree from a leading university, or a hard fought-for ‘degree in life’ from good old experience, don’t rest on your laurels. Wake up each morning and ask yourself, “What am I going to learn today?”
Trust me when I say that lessons are available in all shapes and sizes. They’re just waiting for someone to grab a hold of them and use them. As Carol Hymowitz noted, in a piece from 2006 posted on CareerJournal.com, “what counts most, CEOs say, is a person’s capacity to seize opportunities.” So, my advice is carpe opportunitas!
Technorati Tags: life-long learning, learning, listening, seizing opportunity, knowing what you don’t know, building your future
December 16th, 2008 at 7:12 am
“The very best leaders are learners.” – Ken Blanchard
While I am still in the ‘book-learning’ stage, I actively seek knowledge elsewhere. I also keep a ‘composition book’ by my side so that if there is something that I should remember (something read, heard, seen, experienced) I write it down so not to forget! I have come to call it “My Personal Development book.”
It appears that many of the “leadership” books that I have read and listened to on CD have a recurring theme – leaders are learners!
December 16th, 2008 at 9:56 am
CK,
Thanks as always for your comments. I like the idea of your Personal Development book. I guess we all use what works best for us. I use a combination of non-technical and technical tools to capture my thoughts or items that I want to remember. I wholeheartedly believe what Ken Blanchard says and I am always trying to learn no matter where I am or what the situation is. If you’re open to learning something, you will!
December 17th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Nina: Fantastic post!!! It’s critical for leaders to “institutionalize curiosity,” challenging everyone to learn constantly—and to apply those learnings to improving the business.
It’s critical to look at non-traditional sources. Too many people confine their learning to their own function and their own industry. My experience is doing this cheats the individual and the organization. There is so much that can be learned and adapted by looking outside our “function,” or “industry.”
Adding to your them of “waking up….,” I consider “A day is wasted unless we learn something new!”
Thanks for the great post! Regards, Dave
December 17th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hi Dave,
Thanks for your comments. “Institutionalizing curiosity” is a great way to think about it. Great phrase! And you are SO right that leaders must do this within their organizations. As I noted, learning can come from any direction be it traditional or as you state, non-traditional. I find that looking for “best practices” outside of one’s own function or industry often results in an infusion of new thinking and innovative paradigms. So, thanks for teaching me about “Partners in Excellence” today!!
December 17th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
A great post on a favorite topic of mine.
The civilizations of ancient times emphasized learning and knowledge. Ironically they forgot to practise it and could not sustain themselves. A learning attitude is a critical need of this so-called knowledge century, where every human needs to have the ability to cope with a continuously accelerating pace of change (Toffler’s Future Shock).
Schools and institutions of higher education need to redesign their approach in order to help students in “learning how to learn”. Effective learning involves asking pertinent questions at the right time more than knowing many answers.
Once I adopt a learner’s frame of mind, opportunities to learn abound everywhere, literally.
An unconventional source of wisdom for daily learners: taxi drivers in big cities anywhere in the world be it Bombay, London or New York! Most of them are willing to talk, always entertaining and often enlightening enough for the fare one pays (the ride is free)!
December 18th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Hey RG,
As you note, in this knowledge economy where we value human capital so very highly, a learning attitude is a MUST. With the pace of change accelerating everyday, it is not possible to stay current with all that is going on regardless of one’s attitude about learning. But for certain, without an eagerness to continuously learn, one will be far behind the times in very short order!
The notion of educating students on “how to learn” is a very good concept and one which I hope schools and businesses alike do in fact help with. As I’ve noted, learning can come from virtually any direction and we must simply understand how to obtain the learning in order to benefit the most.
And, oh I surely have had some great conversations with taxi drivers, people next to me on a plane, hair stylists and the like! I try never to pass up opportunities like that to learn something new.
December 20th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Hi Nina: Dead on with your comments and others, but I do have one caveat that has been a good warning sign for me. I find that while I need to continue learning, authors need to change and grow too! I’ve been in Operations for 31 years and I’m bored to tears with most business/leadership books today.I learned early on to alway be reading about 4 books at a time. I have one for business, one for science-culture- technical, one for the philosophical,and one for pleasure. This well rounded approach keeps me open minded and curious. By the time I hit a point where I’m bored with a genre of books, I explore deeper in another area and when come back to the genre I’m bored with, it’s starting to change. So I do think you can have learned enough (for the moment) when ALL of the authors are beating the same drum.
Thanx
Chuck
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:21 am
Hi Chuck,
Thanks for your comments and the caveat…which for the record, I concur with! Authors do need to progress the thinking so as not to let ideas or concepts get stale. Your approach to reading multiple books simultaneously in each of the stated areas is tremendous, if not bold! It is indeed well-rounded but unfortunately, I could not maintain that pace for very long, despite believing it to be an excellent way to stay abreast of as many things as possible.