We never reach a point in life where we can’t learn something new. At the same time, much of life-long learning is actually an exercise in relearning – we’ve learned things along the way and simple need reminders.
If we do something regularly, of course, it becomes almost second nature. We don’t have to relearn how to brush our teeth. And some skills stick with us even if we don’t use them very often. If we know how to ride a bike, we’re unlikely to forget, even if we go years without getting on one.
But what about our leadership skills? Do they atrophy like muscles when they go unused?
I think so. It might not always happen and it might not happen in the same way for everyone, but I believe we all have times when we aren’t doing what we already know we should do and just need reminders about how to lead well.
The good news is that it doesn’t take long to relearn an unused skill. We just have to brush up on what to do and how to do it and then put it back into practice.
Where might our leadership grow stale or weak?
- Maybe we are super busy and find ourselves less curious because we are hyper-focused on the tyranny of the urgent.
- Maybe keeping a daily journal was a key to finding clarity when thinking through decisions, but we skipped a day that turned into a week that turned into months and now we never write down our thoughts.
- Maybe our travel schedule and executive responsibilities have pushed us more and more into conversations that are exclusively with upper management and top-tier clients. We no longer have valuable insights from front-line employees because we no longer spend time with them.
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If we know we’re slipping in an area – that we need to get back to something that’s important to effective leadership – then, of course, we’ll address it. So in my experience, the key is to proactively seek reminders about things we already know to be true and useful.
Where might we find those reminders?
Here’s one simple model to consider:
Look up.
This isn’t for everyone, I realize, but I regularly seek divine wisdom and insight when it comes to where I should go in life and how to get there. And when I seek, I find.
Part of the value in this is simply in the acknowledgment that we don’t have all the answers and need help. That type of humility is central to good leadership in part because it gives us an open mind and a willingness to learn or relearn what we need to know.
Look in.
Self-reflection is a powerful tool for recognizing where we are doing well and where we are struggling. Spending a few minutes a day in self-assessment – what have I been doing well lately? Where am I lacking as a leader? – helps us identify areas where we need to course correct. And the correction often involves doing things we already know to do but simply haven’t been doing consistently.
Look out.
Revelations about our blind spots often are all around us, but we have to look for them. Sometimes we can find them by intentionally asking others for help. But we also might find them by looking in unlikely places – the actions of a grandchild, an experience on the golf course, a tidbit from a television show, or even in a blog by a former CEO.
It’s true that the older we get, the more we know how much we don’t know. But knowledge is like the old rhyme about friends—make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. So we need to keep learning and relearning to be at our best. One is silver and the other gold.
