By Chally Kacelnik
It takes a big person to change their mind and be open to learning something new. When you’ve been doing something for a long time – like leadership or management – it can seem like you have all the experience you need to meet any challenge. It’s the people who are always seeking out new knowledge and skills, however, who can bring real understanding and innovative capacity back to their work. Sometimes it’s difficult to carve out the time to learn, but it’s essential to do so.
Here’s what several recent participants from our programs have experienced in this regard. These participants come from several sectors, among them health, local government, and transport and logistics.
Referring to the systems and processes in a very open way with team members helps me to move past a belief that I have done all this before and just know how to do it. I can explain now how to do it and encourage others to learn
It’s changed the whole way I would look at work
Upon reflection the Diploma process as a whole has been an intense but extremely rewarding experience. To be honest at the beginning I didn’t think I would get much out of it but in reality, what I have learnt and the tools and skills I now possess have changed my entire management style. I’m now passing on my newly acquired skills and tools onto my team and I can already see they are benefiting from it as well. The future is looking bright
I originally wanted to do this course next year as I am flat out and have a new team, new people who are not up to speed, a larger workload than normal and the business unit has introduced new systems of work that are directly impacting my team. My leader acknowledged this but insisted that I do the course now because the skills I learn, I will need and use straight away. He was right
A commitment to lifelong learning is an exercise in taking a step back, and it’s also extraordinarily rewarding. Being able to exchange ideas with others and maintain curiosity about what you don’t know are promising markers in a leader – just like an investment in people’s personal development is a good sign in an organisation. As another recent participant has said, this ‘was a positive experience for me as I know that my manager also can see potential and wants to help me achieve my future goals’.
Learning is a gift, and it’s one we enjoy facilitating for our participants and their organisations. See our leadership practice page for more information on what we offer.
At LKS Quaero, we facilitate practical, engaging leadership programs. For more information, visit us at lksquaero.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
