Why I want to be a slow learner

Can you really fly it?

"I'm a fast learner".  We've all said it.  We've all heard it.  And I'd like to ask you to reconsider it. Why? Because I'm concerned about the value we attach to speed and how that value may be affecting the way we think and act.

We’re obsessed with speed.  Faster computers, faster communications, faster cars, faster trains, faster planes, faster services, faster products, faster relationships, faster cures, faster births, faster deaths. Do you feel anxious?  I do.

The problem with living in a speed society is that we become blinded by the false equation that faster always equals better. It doesn't. Speed and advancement are more often than not, mutually exclusive. I'm all for making things faster if we practice selectively.  Internet bandwidth can get faster. Police response times can get faster. The approval of homeless shelters can get faster. But some things just shouldn't.  Learning is one of them.

We have paid a price for being "fast learners". I can rattle off all the consequences, but for this post I'd like to focus on two: understanding and expectations. Both are consequences that aren’t worth paying for a little haste.

Understanding
The idea of “fast learning” is just that - fast. Not deep. Not wide. Fast. The kind of learning you lick through to get to the end, not worrying about the scenery or what's on the road behind you. That's fine if all you want to do is get to point B, but having that attitude means you won't really understand the journey you've just taken. Understanding the journey is what learning is all about.  Experimenting, trying out theories, going off the map for the hell of it, questioning the status quo, finding your own way. You can't do this at speed.  You need time and commitment.

When we do things at speed, we think we know things before we actually do. We get all caught up in our own vanity. Of course we get it right away . . . right? We're smart, we're fast, why wouldn't we? The truth is we take short-cuts because we have no time.  We choose only to see what we want to see to get by, not to understand.

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before."
- Kurt Vonnegut

"Some people will never learn anything, for this reason, because they understand everything too soon."
- Alexander Pope

"Much learning does not teach understanding."
- Heraclitus

Expectations
We have set ourselves enormously unrealistic expectations through fast learning. When we see success, we start to believe in the fantasy that we can master everything posthaste. People around us start to believe it too - our friends, our employers, our governments.

The issue isn't so much that we believe in the myth, but the consequences that lie within in this belief. It's so bitterly crushing to the ego when we think we ought to be able to fly a plane after reading a book on aeronautics, only to find out that we can't. We refuse to accept that it will take years - not hours - of theory and practice before we can even get off the ground. In doing so, we put a huge amount of unnecessary pressure on ourselves. And we all know too well the damage that this pressure can do - the chinks to our self esteem when we fail to achieve what we thought we ought to.

Beyond the pressure we put on ourselves, I also see the myth of fast learning affecting the way businesses behave towards their employees.  Businesses have developed such high expectations of their people - particularly when it comes to learning new skills - that employees are in a constant brain race to keep up. I don't think this is doing employees or businesses any favours.  

I'm not suggesting that organizations shouldn't have high expectations of their people, but they need to be tempered with reality. They also need to be accompanied with thorough training so that expectations can actually be met wholly, rather than in part.

Learn Slow
It took my son 10months to walk. 10 months of attempts and fails. 10 months of undivided attention, tutoring, and encouragement. When has an employer ever given you 10 months of their undivided attention to learn only one new skill? Strike that. Even a handful of new skills?

Of course there are some realities about business and of course I’m being idealistic, but surely there’s room for us to re-look our obsession with speed. If you’re a manager, ask yourself whether you really need your people to learn that fast. Ask yourself whether your people really, truly have the time to understand. If you don’t want a team of pretenders then don’t contribute to the farce.

If you’re a learner, ask yourself if you really, truly understand what you’ve learned. Could you realistically teach it – in detail – to someone else? Teaching is an amazing benchmark for understanding. If you can’t meet the benchmark, then talk to your manager and explain to them that you’re getting by but you’d like a little more time or instruction so you can make it to the that level. If they’re a good manager they’ll appreciate your honesty and do everything they can to help.

Proclamation
I am hereby reclaiming the phrase “slow learner”.  It’s a great phrase and a positive description of how we should all aspire to be.  Forget fast.  Embrace slow.

Who are you? Who, who, who, who?

A good spot for some solitude

Firstly, let me apologise for not posting in the last few weeks.  Put it down to a clever, circumnavigating cold that sailed its way around the map of my family during the month of May.  It brought with it some nasty weather.

Anyway, I'm back on deck now and have plenty of ideas lined up and waiting to be written.  In the meantime, I'd like to share this article with you from The American Scholar:  http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/

It's an address given to military students at West Point and it has some fantastic insights about what a true leader is and how they behave (and how they don't).  I'd definitely encourage you to read it.

The address is in-line with much of my thinking on the topic of leadership, in that you must find yourself if you ever want to become an accomplished leader.  Whether you achieved a PHD or a D in every subject you ever took, as a leader you'll be measured not on the knowledge you possess but on your certainty of self.

What do you think?

Our Extraordinary Ability to Learn

Last week I was riding my bike home from my day job, waiting for storm clouds the size of Africa to drown me with giant sheets of water, when I had an epiphany.  Strange time to have an epiphany, I know, but that's what's charming about epiphanies isn't it?  The fact that they arrive at the most unexpected moments.

So I'm riding along and the clouds are getting three shades darker every second and all of a sudden my brain - which had been set to idle immediately after leaving work - slams itself into gear and produces a thought that hits me so hard it feels like The Incredible Hulk used Volume 19 of Encyclopedia Britannica to slap me across the face.  The thought tells me something like this "Do you realize how extraordinary, how remarkable the human ability to learn is?  This is your privilege and your gift.  Take advantage of this gift each moment of your life.  Find the time to reflect on what you have learned frequently.  Apply what you have learned frequently.  And never stop doing it.".  

Why is learning so important?
I may be stating the painfully obvious, but it's crucial that as a leader you are constantly learning, reflecting on that learning and applying it.  Despite how basic this thinking is, it amazes me how often leaders don't follow the rule.  So many take the attitude of "I've learned what I needed to get to this position, so why do I need to know anything more?".  In fact, it's because you've made it to a leadership position that you need to learn more.

Leadership is a tough job.  Whether it's personal leadership or leadership of others it demands an enormous amount of problem solving, future forecasting and educating. If you're serious about leadership you'll spend a lot of time doing these things.  And you can't do any of them without knowledge.  And you can't have knowledge without learning.  Simple, isn't it?           

The greatest leaders are constantly learning - they actively learn by seeking out mentors, reading texts both inside and outside their field, attending seminars and courses, etc, but they also learn through observation - they watch their team, they watch how other leaders lead, they notice subtle changes in people's behaviour, they pay attention to how an audience responds, and so on.  Great leaders cultivate learning experiences at every turn because they know it makes them a better leader.  They make learning their raison d'etre.

Get perspective
Whether you call it "taking stock" or "reflection" or "vision" or whatever, getting perspective is one of the ways I use to collect my learning, explore it and decide how to use it.  Each day, I try to find time to recount the events of the past 12 or so hours, consider observations, interpret thoughts and decipher what I've learned.  More importantly, I figure out how I might use that knowledge in the future.  I create my own knowledge action plan.  Sometimes I test that action plan by visualizing situations where it might come in handy or reworking past events that didn't go the way I wanted them to.  I find this incredibly satisfying, if not uplifting, because I know if I ever encountered those situations again, I'd handle them a whole lot better.

The idea of perspective has a very strong relationship to the practice of mindfulness, which I discussed in my post "Becoming Mindful" - if you haven't read it already then it might be a good starting point.  I believe you need to be mindful person to get perspective.  It's pretty hard to "step away from it all" when you aren't self aware.  Meditation can be a fantastic way to clear your mind, preparing it for some of the deep thinking you'll need to do on what you've learned.  What I love about meditation is that it's an active process that actually teaches you how to learn.  Think about it, has anyone actually taught you how to learn?  It sounds ridiculous, I know, but we can all learn to learn more effectively. 

Give it a try, you'll see.

Take action
In my view, if you learn without ever applying that learning it's like Michael Jordan spending his whole life on the practice court.  When you acquire knowledge you have an obligation to yourself and to others to get in the game. 

When MJ went out on a Wednesday and shot hundreds of free throws, made hundreds of passes and ran through countless plays he didn't just sit on the bench for the rest of the week, he went out and put everything he'd learned into action.  Every one of his six NBA Championships were as a result of knowledge applied, not just knowledge gained. 

So when you do get some perspective on what you've learned today, don't forget to figure out how to use that learning.  Think about what you might do differently tomorrow or next week or next time, but make it concrete and make a commitment to it.  You can take informal mental notes or, if you like, keep a knowledge diary - either serve as a way to compile your learning and plan how to use it.

Let's review

• The ability to learn.  An incredible gift that we all have.  Crucial if you want to be a successful leader.
• Get perspective.  Try to recount and formalize what you've learned every day.
• Take action.  Put your knowledge to work by planning how to use it.

What's the result?
For me, knowledge with a plan works like this: the next time I'm riding my bike home from work and The Incredible Hulk steps out in front of me with all 32 volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica tucked under his Sequoia sized arms I'll know exactly what to do: shout "Hey look, there's Iron Man!!".

Get my posts sent to your in-box

To help keep you up to date on all my latest posts, I've added the "Subscribe via email" feature. 

What does it do?
Sends an HTML or plain text message of each new Forward on Leadership post to your email in-box

How do I sign up?
Just type your email address into the form on the right and in a couple of short steps you'll be done.

What's the benefit?
You'll won't need to regularly check the blog for new content - the content will come to you.  And you'll never miss a post.  Done deal!

Becoming Mindful

My view of the sky post-meditation

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a practice that all leaders should seriously consider learning.  For readers who haven't been exposed to mindfulness before or don't have a clear understanding of it, mindfulness in its most basic sense is awareness - awareness of your surroundings and awareness of your thoughts and feelings, both emotional and physical.  It's about being conscious; about being switched-on; about not judging yourself and instead seeking to understand.

The practice of mindfulness has its roots in Buddhism, but before you start thinking you're going to have to shave your head and wear a colourful monastic robe to "do this mindful thing" let me assure you that you don't.  Buddhism is a religion, mindfulness is not.  You can be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Atheist and practice mindfulness.  It doesn't care what your beliefs are.  It's also not some pseudo-science or cult.  Its been practiced for centuries and continues to be widely used in the fields of psychology and psychiatry today.  

How can mindfulness help me be a better leader?
As a leader you want to always be on top of your game, right? You want to be in-tune with yourself, right?  You want to be an open person that's also a good listener?  You want to have poise and calmness in tough situations?  You want to have energy and  longevity?  You want to be able to analyse and interpret information quickly and accurately?  Mindfulness can help you achieve all this and much more.  Remember, mindfulness is all about awareness and awareness can lead you down so many positive pathways to developing as a leader.

I've personally found that mindfulness has not only made me a better leader, but it has also made me a better person.  Those who know me, know that I have plenty of good qualities, but historically patience hasn't been one of them - call it collateral damage from a career in marketing communications.  That changed when I started practicing yoga and mindful meditation.  Now I can wait in supermarket lines without thinking to myself "C'mon! c'mon! what's the hold up!" and I'm able to take my mind to more interesting, more meaningful, places when I'm stuck in a traffic jam.  Now I use time, I don't let it use me.  In a work environment I'm also much more able to focus on the macro issues rather than the micro ones and I get over hurdles far better than I did early in my career.  I'm a better listener, a better speaker and a better leader.       

Above all else, what I've learned from mindfulness is to be non-judgmental.  What the practice teaches you is that although you may enhance self-awareness (and in turn this may lead to self-improvement), you do not need to judge your emotions and actions.  The goal is simply to observe.  It's a beautiful thing to learn to accept who you are . . . warts and all.  And it's incredible how this acceptance can make you a better you.

What can I do to become mindful?
The good news is there's lots you can do become a mindful person and there's plenty of literature around to help.

For those who think they might like a bit more physical activity in their quest for mindfulness, yoga is a great start.  I practice Ashtanga Yoga which is my way of combining fitness with mind/body awareness, but any form of yoga will do the trick.

As far as reading material is concerned I can highly recommend the author Jon Kabat-Zinn who is one of the modern day gurus of mindfulness and established the Stress Reduction Clinic (now the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine) at UMASS Medical School.  He's got a great down-to-earth style that isn't ever highbrow or finger-in-mouth new age.  He just tells it like it is.  If you can track down his audio book Mindfulness for Beginners you'll be in good hands.  But the hard work will have only just begun.  You didn't think this would be easy did you?

Mindfulness is a lifelong practice that requires action.  It's something you need to do, not just read about.  It's something you need to make time for if you want to be a better leader and a better person.  So do the reading, then do the doing and do it often. 

What is Leadership?

Firstly, thanks to @Tea Man (I've added the @ symbol because all the kids on Twitter are doing it these days) for posting the very first comments on my blog and for choosing to follow me.  For those who haven't read his comments (under 'Born Leaders'), it's worth it.  Please keep them coming.  If there's anyone else reading my blog then I'd love to hear your thoughts too - it helps take me to undiscovered, unconsidered, places.

@Tea Man raised some important questions that warrant further exploration - one sentence in particular got me pondering.  Here's what @Tea Man said "I think many struggle as leaders, or never step into leadership, not because they're not 'born leaders' but because the very definition of leadership is confusing at times.".  What struck me here is that both @Tea Man and I (and a few million others presumably) have grown up thinking about leaders and leadership as if we are looking through a dense fog at something we think we're familiar with but can't quite make out.  We've probably seen good and bad examples of leadership and have a kinda sorta idea of what it means in our heads, but not many of us have ever been presented with a clear definition.  Herein lies the problem: if we don't really know what a leader is or does, then how do we become one?  So let's try to define it.

Here's what the Oxford Dictionary says:

"A person or thing that leads."

Wow.  Wow.  Detective Holmes, pack up your crack pipe and deerstalker hat because this case is closed BABY!  Alright, so the Oxforddictionarymachine didn't spit out a very comprehensive definition, so let's look at some others:

"The only definition of leadership is someone who has followers" - Peter Drucker

"Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it." – Warren Bennis

"Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less." - John C. Maxwell

Now I'm not so naive or egotistical to even pretend I'm in the same league as these guys.  Not even in the same universe.  But I do see something missing in their definitions.  And that's "heart".  These definitions are based on well researched theory, but all of them lack heart.  They've missed the real power of leadership and that's the emotional level it works on.  So with that in mind I'd like to propose the following definition:

A leader is someone who consciously applies an ability to bring out the best in themselves and others around them.

It's a draft, but there are some key elements at work here.  To steal shamelessly from the greatest recording artist of our time - MC Hammer - let's "break it down":

• The idea of "consciously applies" is important because it indicates that a person must have the will to use their skills.  That rhymes by the way.  I don't think a person can accidentally be a leader, they have to be active about it - they have to be conscious.
• "ability" is important because leadership is, after all, a skill or set of skills.  You need to possess these to be a leader.
• Here's where I think the good stuff is: "the best in themselves and others around them".  This is the emotion - the heart - that I feel is missing from some of the other definitions.  Furthermore it addresses the requirement to be a leader of yourself as well as others.  I like the language "the best" because I believe a good leader can help make themselves and others better people, achieve great heights and do things they never thought possible.  I'm not talking about following someone to those heights, I'm talking about someone that helps you get to those heights on your own two feet.

So there you have it.  That's my darnedest at defining what a leader is and does.  If you like it or hate it, I want to hear from you.  But you better bring your solutions with any criticism, because if you can't offer a solution then you're just adding to the problem . . . . and other cliches.

King of the World

Here's a really interesting article from the Harvard Business Review on how James Cameron takes on the mammoth task of leading his crew on films like Avatar:  http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/how_james_cameron_leads.html

It's not my style, but there's some great insights into someone who's obviously a master at his craft.  Being a huge film buff I also get a little overly excited about "behind the scenes" stories, so it was a good read for me.

Remember to be human

You've worked hard, you've proven yourself, you've made some astute decisions and you've had a little luck.  Finally you've been given the corner office.  Maybe even the corner office with an inspiring view of another corner office.  All of a sudden you're a big shot leader of men, women and kitchen mice.  So why the hell - when you moved into that corner office - did you take everything that makes you human and stick it in the cross cut paper shredder that's sitting beside your mahogany desk?  Regardless of the reason, it was a monumental mistake.  Now that you're in a position of leadership you need your humanity more than ever.

I've watched more than one person step into a senior role that gives them command over a number of people and its changed them for the worse.  When they were promoted it's like they thought "Lord knows how I made it here.  I can't let on that I'm scared.  I need to distance myself from the others.  I'm a Senior Senior Vice to the Vice Director Chairman now and I don't want to lose my position.  I have to be tough.  I have to make tough decisions.  I shouldn't show emotion anymore.  I can't get too close to the staff (notice how she's calling them 'staff' already) so no more "how was your weekend?" or "has your brother recovered from that spelunking accident yet?".

I'd like to put it out there that I believe that when you're in a leadership position it's ok to show emotion and it's crucial to stay connected with your staff.  I've read articles by management consultants saying that you need to end friendships if you're in a position that involves you managing them, but I don't believe in it.  You have to set boundaries and expectations, yes, but you don't have to put your friendship in your all too often used paper shredder.  I'd argue that it'll cause you more problems if you do.  Ever heard of the word "resentment"?  It's more powerful than Yoda's version of The Force.

When you've made it, you deserve it, but you got there being human (at least I hope you did).  So keep being human.  It's what will make you a great leader, not just a robot with a title.  Care about "your staff", keep knowing them, keep showing them who you are - your position won't be any more vulnerable.  People will respect that you haven't changed (that's assuming you weren't an asshole to begin with, in which case this entire post doesn't apply).  They'll want to work hard for you.  They'll be there when you need them. And you'll enjoy it a lot more.

So maybe give your paper shredder to someone you don't like and watch them mince their career instead of you mincing yours.  And even if you really have no idea what "spelunking" is, take the time to ask Jane how her brother is doing anyway.  She'll thank you for it.

Born Leaders

Being a freshly minted Dad gets you thinking about a lot of things, namely "why didn't I do this sooner?" or "will I ever get to sleep again?", but it also got me thinking about the statement "He's a born leader".  Are some people actually born with leadership skills and others not?  What happens if I wasn't?  Can I still learn to become one?  Will my children be leaders?  And the questions go on.

I can't answer them all (yet) but I do have some thoughts on the born leader idea.  It's pretty simple really:  you ain't born with leadership, your learn it and you earn it.  There's no other way.  That means everyone has the chance to be a leader.  Some are in more advantageous positions than others because of the environment they're brought up in, but when a child takes its first breath of air it starts life in the same place as every other child - a blank canvas.  Yeah, yeah, I hear you saying things like "what about genetics?" or "did the Mum eat the right things when she was pregnant" or "Did the parents play a lot of Vivaldi when the baby was in utero?".  I've no doubt these have an impact (well, maybe not the music) on what kind of child comes out from its 9 month hiding place but what I'm saying is that almost no matter what, ANYONE CAN BE A LEADER.  So I say "Booooooo!" to the term "Born Leader".  We can all be leaders, we just gotta learn it and earn it.