The Best Leaders Are Non-Stop Learners

Do you actively seek new learning? Or are you too busy to learn?

Having a curious, nonstop learning mindset is a supercharged skill you need today and every day. Getting better at learning is a nonnegotiable skill. 

Learning how to learn is equally important. It starts with letting go of the mindset that “knowledge is power” and that you must show that you have all the answers. As you grow as a leader, you can’t — and won’t — have all the answers. To find the best answers, you need to collaborate with others to explore and learn. This not only helps you keep up with change, but it also helps you innovate and find solutions you didn’t know you needed. 

A leader’s job is to create a learning culture. Doing so will help you stay ahead in a world that spins at great speed. It will help your teams succeed. It will impact stakeholders around you. Like a ripple effect, it will travel from you to your teams to internal and external customers.

To stay ahead, remain successful and drive performance, acknowledge that learning is a crucial aspect of leadership. Learning is here to stay, and you need to constantly review your ability to “learn to learn.”

The ‘Busy Bug’ Epidemic 

A growing “busy bug epidemic” has taken over our lives. How often do you ask people how they are only to hear them bemoan about how they are so busy?

What are we so busy doing?

Life can feel like being on a metaphorical hamster wheel: We are constantly spinning and continually running. If we were to ask the hamster, “Where are you going?” it would answer, “Don’t know, got to go, I’m busy, I’m running. No time to learn — just got to go!”

We are human beings, not human doings. It’s not just about doing. Unless we are doing the right, relevant things that make a difference, then we shouldn’t be doing them.

There are plenty of reasons to be busy — there is so much to do, the pressure of work, home, family and friends, and the desire to get the right balance in our lives. It’s about the next job, next promotion, next meeting we must go to, next flight we must take and next thing we cannot miss.

We get into that wheel, and it feels like we can’t get off it. We feel like we must, ought or should do that long list of things. Sadly, we can miss many great moments in life when we are in that mode. We can miss opportunities for learning.

It’s time to get off that wheel. Stop and look at it from a distance, allowing yourself the time and space to think and reflect: Where am I going? Where have I been? Why am I doing this? What have I learned and what am I learning? How am I encouraging others to learn? 

The Learning Culture Checklist

Try this to create a learning culture:

• Decide what you want to achieve. If you, for example, want to create a culture of generosity, dare to share what you know and demonstrate that to colleagues. As they follow your lead, they will share more with you and others.
• Allow people to get it right and wrong, being fearless and daring to think differently. A learning mindset requires adapting to different styles. That doesn’t mean you are unaccountable and irresponsible — it means you are open to trying new things. Get into a “try and test” mindset — this drives growth and learning. You don’t need to have to have all the answers. Actively look for learning, apply it in situations, and recognize and act on lessons learned. Role model this learning mindset to others. 
• Remember that how we choose to look something is often how it becomes. The interpretation directs us; it is our choice. 
• Doing “it” yourself rather than allowing others to learn — because you think it is easier or quicker than explaining or helping them — takes away their opportunity to grow. Although that’s not the intent, learning culture is impacted. Letting others grow contributes to a learning culture.
• Give feedback along the way.

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