Avoiding Mistake No. 1

There is an African Proverb that says: “Only those who do nothing, never make a mistake.” If you are a leader, you are going to make mistakes. I have shared 7 common mistakes I have seen leaders make. Click here if you haven’t already seen them. Making mistakes doesn’t make you an ineffective leader. What would make you ineffective, is repeating the mistakes because you don’t’ learn from them. In the next couple of weeks, I will begin a conversation on how we can avoid these mistakes to become an even better leader.

This week we focus on How to Avoid Mistake No. 1: We Stop Learning

When Busara is called in to provide leadership development to a company, it is more often to middle management and emerging leaders than to the Executive Team or Senior Leadership Team. I wonder if this is because the Senior Leadership Team are too busy or there is an assumption that because most of them have over 20 years professional experience, they don’t have anything else to learn about leadership? A wise leader I know once said. “Leadership is a journey; A learning Journey. When you stop learning, you stop being be useful as a leader.” The error we make is to think that when we have worked long enough and progressed to the top we have nothing else to learn.

The other error we make is to think that learning is something that happens primarily in the classroom. The reality is that true learning happens at the feet of life. The best learning happens in the ashes of failure. It is an approach to life, rather a box to tick to gain a certificate.

One leader I know, who took learning seriously, did this by adopting a spirit of curiosity about everything: himself, his team and the way his company worked. This made him a better leader and it kept him from a space of blame even when others behaved in ways contrary to his expectations.

Another leader I met was great at learning because she was always open to new ways of doing things. In the face of my own inflexibility and rigidity, I admired the ways she was ready to change her mind and look at things from a different perspective.

What you need to learn will vary but there are few common spheres of learning no matter what. The first is learning about yourself. Self-awareness, self-knowledge are required competencies to be an effective leader. The second is learning how to better influence, motivate and get the best out of your team. I have noticed that the best leaders don’t waste time complaining about difficult team members but rather they learn how to better influence these people. Third, in a rapidly changing world, there is a need to learn how to navigate oncoming tends and thrive in uncertainty.

Finally, there are times when the most important learning we can do is to unlearn. I have had to let go of many beliefs that I picked up along the years that were not helpful. I have also had to unlearn habits that were keeping me from growing. So to learn new things, I have ultimately had to unlearn and let go of certain things.

There is so much more to say but let me end with a few questions for your reflection. Take your time to think about the questions; don’t rush to answer them from your head. Rather, savour the questions and invite your heart and higher self to reveal the answer and the leadership lesson within.

Questions:

• In what area of your life have you stopped learning?
• What gets in the way of your learning?
• What practice do you adopt to support learning about yourself?
• What would you need to learn to better influence and motivate your team?
• What would you need to learn to better navigate this rapidly changing world?

As always, I would love to hear what you think and what your experience has been with learning. Please share your questions and thoughts below.