What is Your Leadership Learning Approach?
By: Randy Wolken, President & CEO

 Today’s competitive business climate requires that we never stop learning – both as an individual and as an organization.  Each day new competitors and old rivals are using technology and new learning to gain a competitive edge.  As a leader, we are called to ensure our teams and organizations are also learning and growing.  So, what is your leadership learning approach?

Leaders set the pace for change and success in an organization.  In order to do so, the leader must identify how they best learn and then adopt these learnings.  Being intentional about discovering how you best learn and then making time to invest in new learning and skills is critical.  Just as vital, is for you to talk about how you are learning and asking your team members how they are learning and what they are learning.  Successful change is a process that we must commit to and we do so when we openly talk about it and encourage it.

I am a visual learner.  I love to read and it is my primary mode of learning that I can do each day.  I also listen to learning materials when I drive or do work at home.  As a leader, I know it is my job to be intentional about keeping up-to-date and being aware of what is transpiring in industry.  What is your preferred learning approach?  Have you made a commitment to “never stop learning” and to do it routinely, if not daily?  It is important to know how you learn and to commit to doing it.

Just as important, it is critical that your team knows you are learning constantly and are open to what they are learning and contributing. Do you share what you are learning with your team? Do you ask them how they learn?  Do you ask them what they are learning?  Do you offer to help them to learn and change?

Today, Senior Leaders are Chief Learning Officers.  In a fast paced world, we all must learn today and implement our learnings tomorrow. Continuous improvement and big leaps in change are now the norm and not the exception.  And, it all starts with being a learning leader.  By setting the learning pace, we open the door to our teams and organizations winning the learning battle which sets the stage for long-term sustainable growth.