Leaders are Learners

Yesterday, I talked about how leaders are listeners. So what do you do with all the stuff that you glean from all of that listening. Hopefully you learn something from it. I have always heard it said that teachers make the best students. In fact, if you have ever taught anything, you know that you learn more than those you are teaching. We can never reach the point as leaders that we stop learning. The information base is doubling at an alarming rate these days. It's not lack of information that we suffer from, that's for sure. I think that as leaders we need to invest our time in the right information. There are things that we need to learn to make us stronger in our strength areas. Any athlete or body builder will tell you that you lose muscle tone and mass quicker than you build it. Many time we neglect our strengths for the simple reason that they are our strengths. It is important to take time to further develop you strengths. It is also important to take time to develop your growth areas. Some people will call these weaknesses, but calling them growth areas makes them into positive potentials as opposed to negatives. Where we err on the side of under developing our strengths, we tend to over correct to the side of our growth areas. Face it! You are not going to be strong in every area. As much as you'd like to, it is just not going to happen. That is not to say that you neglect your growth areas all together, but you must realize that growth areas will never become strengths. You are just not wired that way. And while you can grow and develop your growth areas, they will not become your dominant characteristics. All of the development is done through learning. So how do I learn? That's a great question. You need to find the way that you learn best. It may be through formal training, reading, seminars/webinars, or any other way of gaining information. An area of learning that has become popular recently is coaching. For the sake of this entry we will say that coaching and mentoring are the same thing even though there are some subtle differences. Coaching takes the teaching/instruction aspect of learning and marries is with modeling and performance in an instructive environment. It is usually one-on-one relationship with someone who has experience and wisdom in the area you are trying to learn. I think this is one of, if not the most effective way that we learn. Find the expert and learn from them. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes sacrifice. It takes investment, but the dividend is well worth it. Lead on!

Reading and Leadership

I've always heard it said that "Leaders are readers." I have found this to be very true. Some would say that "Readers are leaders." I have not always found this to be the case. Just because someone reads does not mean that they are designed for leadership. I am reading George Barna's Master Leaders. It is a great read and I recommend it to those in leadership or those who aspiring to be leaders. When I talk about leadership in this context, I am speaking of those who lead groups, organizations or movements. I make the assertion that everyone is a leader. At the very heart a leader is someone who has someone following them. We are all leading someone somewhere, whether it is consciously or not. For those leading groups, organizations and movements, it is vital that you read continuously. There is a wealth of resources out there to help you become a better leader (and honestly we can all become better in the area of leadership). It takes sacrifice to invest in yourself to become a better leader, but remember that as you invest in yourself, you are also investing in others. What you pour into yourself will ultimately be poured into those that you lead. We always for our team to put forth their very best, but is our team getting the very best out of us? Are we giving our very best? Are we the best that we can be? Regardless of the area in which you serve and lead, you must always be willing to shape your craft. You must constantly be learning. Learning is the movement that takes you to where you want to be. Learning is the river that we raft to reach the destination we desire to achieve. Learn. Read. Succeed. Lead.