Learn To Be a Learner

It is rather surprising to see that many of us carry a know-all attitude in front of our colleagues and juniors in the workplace. Even at the face of a crisis, many companies were ruined by bad managers who didn’t know what to do and did not ask anybody for suggestions due to ego barriers. Now, this is something utterly stupid! If you don’t know something, you should feel free to consult your seniors, colleagues and even your subordinates, if required.

If you remember, Einstein said “Everything I know is but a drop in the ocean of knowledge.” An epitome of superior intellect, Einstein humbly admitted to the fact that knowledge is never ending and how much ever you know, you still have a lot more to learn. Every point of your learning is like the kindergarten level of school from which you’ve got to keep climbing up the ladder of knowledge for perfection. Many big achievers of our generation have enlightened themselves and are still learners in their quest for perfection. NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and best selling author Jim Collins are examples of this. After being a super achiever in games and music, he still wants to learn how to host a talk show from the elementary level. Collins, on the other hand, wanted to learn the techniques for climbing up the ladder to success.

As a leader, your followers view you as an expert in the field and also as an authentic authority. They look up to you for correct advice when they experience any hurdles. If you are not sure of something, put your ego aside and direct your followers to a person more competent than you in the field. Also you can tell them that you will clarify your concepts and then handle the situation. Your followers know that no man is perfect and it is human to err. They will not look down upon your lack of knowledge or expertise regarding things. Rather, if you fake knowledge and land them up in trouble, they will despise you for being unreliable and shun you. The message is simple-if you can’t handle something, accept that you are incompetent in the field and pass it over to a more competent person.

Even though you are in the most senior position, have qualifications and experience, there will still be certain things that you need to learn. You might have acquired so many faulty techniques of climbing up the success ladder that you might just need to unlearn what you have already learnt and start afresh. A typical example is the professional biases that you accrue over the years by working with an organization or a set of people. For example, you might feel that being authoritarian with your subordinates has worked for you over the years. But when you find that some of your subordinates are not happy with you, you might just want to review your style of leadership and apply a more egalitarian approach of leadership.

It is not only important to learn but also understand your style of learning so that you adopt the best way that suits you and learn most effectively. You might have the habit of jotting down points before taking any action, or you might find making a mental note of the points is enough. You just have to adopt a method that is most suitable for you. The difference between a child learner and an adult learner is that most children are unaware of the methods of learning that suits them the best, while adults can identify that.

As an adult learner seeking to excel in the professional field, you should be able to constantly figure out things and apply your knowledge to different situations. In the professional world you’ll not have a predefined syllabus to learn and answer questions apply your knowledge. Situations will come without warning and you’ve got to apply your knowledge to new situations as and when you encounter them. This process is called transference.

At the end it can be said that you can always be a learner. Feel free to ask questions to people without egos, rather than faking knowledge and success will be yours.