The second strategy for becoming a leader for life from Great Leaders GROW is Reach Out to Others. On the surface this may seem counter intuitive. However, we believe one of the best ways to stimulate personal growth is to share what you’re learning with others. This does a few things for you and me as leaders…
Once we’ve embraced this “sharing mindset,” we are more aware of the things we’re actually learning.
It also creates for us the challenge of internalizing what we’re learning sufficiently to communicate it well. We must “own the material” ourselves before we can share it well.
We are more attentive when it comes to identifying “teachable moments,” formally or informally.
When we share what we’re learning, we are modeling self-leadership and personal growth. It gives us credibility to challenge others to grow.
With these benefits in mind, the question of “How do I do this?” may come to mind. Here are a few ideas…
- You may want to create summary documents from conferences you attend and share them with your staff.
- You may decide to host a “Lunch and Learn” session after a significant learning event.
- Perhaps you should begin a mentoring program for emerging leaders in your organization. They may set the agenda, but you could deliver the content.
- Maybe, you volunteer to teach in your corporate university.
- You may decide to start using social media to share what you’re learning.
- Ken Blanchard does a daily voicemail to his staff. Each day begins with Ken creating a teachable moment for his team. He may share something to reinforce the values of the company, some thought for the day, or an idea to strengthen the culture. He is reaching out to his entire team DAILY.
- And finally, don’t miss the teachable moments in a meeting or a one on one conversation. Countless times over the years, I’ve watched leaders step up to a white board and say, “Here’s how I think about that…” When they do this, I always want to be ready to take good notes. I love it when my leaders Reach Out to help me learn, and I suspect your people will love it when you do the same.
Think about something significant you’ve learned in the last 30 days – how can you share it with people within your organization?