Most leaders have probably muttered some version of the phrase “always learning” at some point in their leadership journeys but would you say that you’re someone that makes space in your life for intentional learning in all seasons?
“… lifelong learning has become accepted as an economic imperative. Eighty percent of CEOs now believe the need for new skills is their biggest business challenge.”
– Josh Bersin and Marc Zao-Sanders called HBR’s Making Learning a Part of Everyday Work.
While we know learning is imperative to success, sadly it seems we simply don’t make time for it.
But why?
The answer is that the “urgency of work trumps the luxury of learning.” Often times we see learning as something extra that we do on top of work when instead we should be figuring out how to make learning an expectation for ourselves.
For me, rather than fall into the temptation of the urgency of work ruling my days, I decided it was time to make intentional time for learning and specifically branched out of how I’ve traditionally filled my desire to learn (reading books and listening to podcasts) and I joined the Business Women’s Circle (BWC).
My BWC group consists of 8 other women business owners who meet 1x/month (along with a Facilitator) for 3-hours to share, coach, inspire and advise one another on business issues. Rather than join a circle of business owners in the same industry, I opted to join a circle with women in totally different industries and different seasons of life.
And here is what I’ve found. While I could have stuck to what was comfortable and seemingly easier to meet this goal of learning and growing my leadership, I’ve found that spending time with leaders with different experiences than me challenges me to think strategically about my leadership and business development in ways that people who are more similar to me don’t.
So I’m leaning in and learning a lot.
So, I leave you with this question. Will you join me in setting a goal to intentionally pursue opportunities to learn and grow?
It’s in learning that we grow and that our businesses develop too.
