Ask anyone to give you a list of skills that describe a highly effective leader and I’m guessing they’ll give you a pretty extensive list.  (Go ahead, make a quick mental list right now.) 

Since I’ve done this many times in groups I am accustomed to what I will hear or read.  These lists typically include: Leaders must have vision, they must be compassionate, they must be good communicators, they must build relationships, they must work well in teams, they must be powerful persuaders”and many other similar sentiments. All are excellent observations.

Rarely though do I find someone listing the most basic, underlying skill of all. 

Learning. 

Highly effective, remarkable leaders must be continuous, lifelong learners.

There are at least four reasons why I believe this is true:  the complexity of leadership, the nature of change, the role of leaders to model for others and the overall source of leadership.  Let me explain.

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When Rosa asked me to contribute to this month’s theme of Life Long learning, I was thrilled, because I have much to say about this topic.

After a few days of pondering (and perhaps a bit of procrastination, wanting to say just the right thing), I’ve decided to post an article that I wrote for a recent issue of my Unleash Your Potential newsletter.

I’ll post some "original" thoughts before the end of the month, but for now, I hope this adds value and vigor to the conversation…

Being a Continuous Learner

When people ask me what business I’m in, I often say, “I’m in the learning business.”  It sounds intriguing, and it is certainly true.  But, truth be told, we are all in the learning business.

Why?

Because as human, we are learning machines.  We are most alive and functioning closest to our potential when we are learning, adapting, adjusting, and finding new ways, approaches and techniques to improve our lives (or the lives of others) in some way.

I believe in the above statements.  They are as true as any other statement I could write here.  But rather than talking about the philosophy of humankind, let me get much more pragmatic. 

Change and Learning

Change is all around us in our lives.  Some say the rate of change is increasing, but whether that is true or not, the fact is that our business lives are all about change.  Products change, Customers change, process and policies change.  We are put on a new team, we are entering new markets, and we have set new goals.  In all parts of our daily professional lives change surrounds us.

In order for us to cope with that change, we need to be willing and able to change.  And learning is a key component in developing that ability.

So when I talk about continuous learning or life long learning, I’m not suggesting everyone needs to take a course at their local college, or go back to school for a new degree.  Continuous learning is an attitude and a set of behaviors that allow us to succeed in our ever-changing environment, and is the best lever we have to turn who we are today into who we want to be tomorrow.  Change requires learning and conversely, there is no learning without change.

So if life long learning doesn’t necessarily mean the “professional college student” and doesn’t require us to be the person who was always asking questions in every class we ever attended, what are the behaviors that make up a true continuous or life long learner?

I’m glad you asked.

The Behaviors

There are some common threads among those who actively are learning and growing as professionals (and humans).  Life-long, continuous learners:

”¢ Have a beginner’s mindset.  If you approach anything with the mindset of an expert, you will learn nothing.  With the expert’s mind, you are looking for confirmation and validation of what you already know.  A beginner on the other hand, looks constantly for one new tidbit, one or more ways to expand on their current expertise.  In other words, expert or not, they don’t think that way, because they know that only with a open, beginners mind, can they benefit from the learning opportunity.
”¢ Make connections.  Peter Drucker, the famous and influential management thinker wrote, “To make knowledge productive we will have to learn to see both forest and tree. We will have to learn to connect.”  Continuous learners do that.  They continue to think about what they have learned in one part of their life and how it relates to and connects with challenges, problems, opportunities and situations that occur in other parts of their life.
”¢ Are flexible and adaptable.  Learning requires change, so continuous learners realize that they must be willing to adapt and change if they want to grow.
”¢ Are always learning something.  Life long learners learn new things “just because.”  They’ve always wanted to play guitar, so they take lessons.  They want to ride a unicycle, so they try it.  They learn how to quilt.  They learn a new language. These people don’t invest the time required just so they can play “Love Me Tender” or say “good morning” in Chinese.  They also do it because they realize that our brains are like muscles.  The more we exercise them the stronger they will be. 
”¢ Are continuously curious.  One of the most powerful learning questions we use is “Why?”  Why is the question of the curious.  Life long learners remain curious about people, places, important and mundane things as well.  By cultivating their curiosity they are adding to their knowledge and perspective, while exercising an important part of our learning brain at the same time.
”¢ Learn in multiple ways.  In school we learned in a relatively limited number of ways, which unfortunately leaves some people with a limited view of learning.  Continuous learns know that they can learn by reading, by listening, by trying, through others, with a mentor, etc. (etc.!) 
”¢ Teach others.  Something magical happens when you teach someone something ”“ you suddenly understand it better yourself.  Life long learners teach others not just to help the other person (or to show them how much they know) but because they know it helps them deepen their own mastery of their own learning.

How to Use This List

Now that you have read this far I hope you are convinced of how valuable it can be to be a more active learner.  You have also read a list of characteristics.  Now that you have read that list of characteristics, I’d like you t read it again.  As you read it ask yourself these questions:

Ӣ How well do I stack up against these behaviors?
Ӣ Which ones would I like to get better at?
Ӣ Who do I know that is exceptionally good at each of these characteristics?
Ӣ How can I learn these traits and habits from those I know who are better at them than I?

Your answers to these four questions (and the action that you take) will put you on the road to being a more active, continuous learner.

Enjoy your journey.

Postcript by Rosa: You can always find Kevin Eikenberry, our Guest Author today, within the right-column listing of our Ho’ohana Online Community, Kevin writes Kevin’s Blog. His ho’ohana is learning, with thoughts and ideas shared to help organizations, teams and individuals transform their potential into results.