Find Your Edge, Stay Curious
Conscious leaders are always looking to find their growing edge; where they can improve, get sharper, and understand more deeply. This is true of all aspects, whether that’s experimenting with a new innovation framework, or deep diving into a particular subject matter. For conscious leaders, a growing edge is also true of their own learning of self. No matter where we are in our leadership journey, there are aspects of ourselves which we can know better, and work to advance, or deepen.
As we get older and more accomplished it can be hard to be a learner once more. The familiar leads to a belief that we ‘should’ know it all by now, that we’re the ones who are supposed to teach others, not to start again. When we are learning new skills or a new understanding we are bound to be the novice, and ask not so smart questions. It’s clear we simply won’t have all the answers. So we can keep ourselves small, and safe, and stuck. Further, learning something new is almost always accompanied by failure, that’s the only path to mastery. Any wonder we can avoid learning at all costs!
There is a saying from the famous computer scientist Alan Kay, which goes, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” But as leaders how can we create and innovate the future, if we’re not constantly learning, and growing when the world around us is changing — often at breakneck speed.
Part of the challenge of leaning into our growing edge is that learning can be darn right uncomfortable. The good news is that there are things we can do to engage our minds to be our partner, not a detractor when it comes to deep diving into the unknown.
Determine Your Learning Style
Most people I speak with have trouble articulating their learning style, meaning, how do you learn best? Are you a visual learner? Or an audible one? Or do you learn better in an immersive experience? We learn in all ways, and there’s usually a more dominant mode. Taking time to best understand how we learn and find ways to best serve our growth is half the battle.
Check out this super simple quiz (aimed at students, but really great for all people!) to discover your learning style. When you get the results, there are some great easy and practical tips on how to integrate into your learning. We are living in a world where learning and discovery is becoming part of the competitive advantage, refining how you learn will make you more effective.
Get Curious
Being a learner again can be a humbling experience, and that’s why cultivating curiosity is key. Applying a childlike wonder to the world not only encourages us to have fun, it keeps us playful and non-judgemental. Curiosity allows us to see and hear what learning is important now.
An Atlantic article from July this year states “Curiosity is underemphasized in the classroom, but research shows that it is one of the strongest markers of academic success.” Curiosity is sadly a rarely cultivated skill, even more so as we now live in a world where the answer can be found immediately. Just ask Alexa, or type it straight into Google. So why develop and flex our curiosity muscles at all? Curiosity is the primer for learning. As Marianna Stenger writes in this Edutopia piece “… curiosity puts the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain any kind of information, like a vortex that sucks in what you are motivated to learn, and also everything around it.”
Try this Curiosity Expanding Exercise
Indulge me! I was once told to open both doors of the cupboard under the kitchen sink, lie on my back, bring a full dose of curiosity with me and study the kitchen sink — pipes, valves, drains and all for a full 15 minutes! Yes, your horror, was my horror — believe me! And yet, I would wholly recommend you try it. You will be astounded at what you can discover. Things you’ve never seen and thought about before! I love this exercise. It teaches you to find the wonder in the most innate of objects. It demonstrates you are capable of finding the new in everything. But you do have to look and contemplate with an open mind.
Learn to Reflect
As leaders we are always in a hurry, there are a hundred different things we could be doing right now, but there’s no point learning something new and then not taking the time to reflect and integrate. Change will only happen if we put into practice what we have learned. ‘It is a process based on critical thinking where we weave together our thoughts, experiences, impressions and feelings to make meaning of them’. You might try recording your notes, writing a blog post, sharing an email to your team about what you’ve learned. This is will help contextualize and reinforce your own personalized learning. The best leaders are indeed the best learners!
People who become great, who are top performers regardless of their field — fighter jet pilots, pro-surfers, business leaders, gold medalists are those who have been willing to be uncomfortable again and again on the path to learning mastery of their skill. Ask yourself where are you compromising? Where do you need to be great, not just good or even competent? Where is the growing edge you need to find and lean into? Remember, it can be lonely and feel dangerous out on the edge, but is there really any other way if you want to kick the largest dent in the universe you can? Go forth in your discomfort and learn on!
_
This post is part of “Conscious Leadership”, Jane Finette’s insights into why the world needs an increased level of human consciousness, and how to get there. For anyone fed up with the status quo and ready for change — delivered straight to your inbox. → https://www.janefinette.com
