Leadership Learning, One Small Step at a Time

There is a reason this blog is called Leadership and Learning – it is because I believe these words belong together, and in fact, if you want to have effective leadership, can’t be separated. We call our business a Leadership Learning Consulting company. We train, coach, and consult with leaders around the world. And in my bestselling book, Remarkable Leadership, the first leadership competency I talk about is the Remarkable Leader is a Continual Learner.

In my view, you can’t be an effective leader unless you are willing to be a continual learner. The work is too complex and too important to assume we ever have it figured out completely. The best leaders know this and act accordingly.

And . . .

In the real world, leaders (you!) are busy and don’t always think there is time to attend training for themselves. You might even be a believer in staff training and you might even provide resources and opportunities for your team to get ongoing training.  Do you give yourself the same opportunities?

But . . .

I’m not even really talking about training. Notice the key word in the first paragraph and in the title of this article – it is learning, not training. Yes, training can be an important tool to help us learn, but we are talking about learning.

And all of us have time for learning.

There are hundreds of tools, approaches and opportunities for us to learn new things as leaders – and if you are serious as a leader, you must take advantage of them. To give you food for thought, here are a few challenging questions . . .

• When was the last time you reflected on your day, looking for the things you did well, and not so well; with the purpose being to learn how to improve?
• When was the last time you tried a new approach to a situation?
• When did you last ask someone for feedback on your leadership performance?
• How often do you find leadership lessons for yourself in what you read and watch?
• When did you last reach out to a mentor or peer for help, advice or counsel?

Your honest answers to those questions will give you a sense of how committed you are to being an ongoing, continual learning leader.

Now . . .

Let me give you a new tool in your arsenal.  We’ve put together a dynamic leadership program called The Remarkable Way.  Put simply, it’s the answer to the “What’s next?” question everyone asks themselves after attending a workshop or conference. Our hope is The Remarkable Way is a resource and a community that takes you to that next and truly remarkable level in your leadership career.

There’s a free video series going on now that will give you some of my best, most practical leadership tips and also help you understand more about The Remarkable Way. 

The best leaders are learners. Hopefully, this article has challenged you – and given you some specific ideas about how you can move towards your leadership potential one step at a time.