Leaders are learners – time to go back to school?

As our children go back to their schools in England and Wales this week, is this a timely nudge for business owners and leaders to be reminded of their role to create an environment for learning? And this starts with being a role model.

If you want your business to be flexible enough to change and grow with turbulent market conditions, you’ll need to encourage an atmosphere in which learning is appreciated. The best way to do that is to lead by example…in other words, demonstrate to your employees that you are actually interested in learning yourself.

There are three secrets to being a good learner. You must:
1. be excited by new ideas. Managers who see innovation as just another threat that will diminish their power make a grave mistake. If you’re dedicated to your company’s growth and willing to work hard to achieve it, any change will only make your position stronger.
2. recognize your personal prejudices and admit them to others. Biases in business are often suffocating. They can make you blind to good ideas, and cause you to spend time and money on farfetched or risky concepts.
3. remain humble. Remember that even the most important business knowledge is, at best, temporary…and today’s best ideas sometimes won’t be effective tomorrow. By remaining modest about your accomplishments, you’ll build a foundation of support in your organization that’ll help you later.

Business does not get any easier. You and your team need to get better…