Great Leaders Prioritise Learning: Why and How

Great leaders prioritise learning because they understand that continuous growth is key to sustained success. Doing so helps them adapt to an ever-changing world while setting an example for their teams.

According to Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner in The Leadership Challenge, “…researchers have found a strong relationship between learning and leadership effectiveness. Being able to reflect on your experiences, and subsequently to adjust and engage in new behaviors, is the single best predictor of future success in new and different managerial jobs…. Learning is the master skill.”

“The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.” – Sheryl Sandberg, technology executive, philanthropist, and writer

Why Learning Is Essential for Good Leadership

Here are five reasons learning is essential for good leadership:

1. Stronger Influence and Communication: Knowledgeable leaders can effectively communicate with diverse teams and stakeholders, inspire confidence, and articulate their vision clearly.
2. Better Decision-Making: The more leaders learn, the broader their perspective. Effective leadership learning yields well-informed and strategic decisions. It also develops their critical thinking skills.
3. Adaptability to Change: Continuous learning helps leaders stay ahead of market shifts, emerging technologies, and evolving trends, helping them lead effectively in dynamic and challenging environments.
4. Enhanced Innovation and Problem-Solving: Learning fosters creativity and the ability to approach challenges with fresh and more nuanced thinking.
5. Personal and Professional Growth: Ongoing learning can help leaders develop their own self-awareness and emotional intelligence, which are two hallmarks of effective leadership. And as they grow, they enhance their capacity to develop and mentor others.

Leadership Learning and Mindset

The extent to which leaders can derive the benefits of learning depends largely on their mindset. Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University famously developed a theory about the malleability of human characteristics. According to Dweck, there are two mindsets:

1. Fixed Mindset: the belief that your intelligence, abilities, and talents are fixed. Having a fixed mindset leads to a desire to look smart and avoid challenges as well as a hunger for approval and a focus on validating self, all of which are devastating to effective leadership.
2. Growth Mindset: the belief that your intelligence, abilities, and talents can be developed. Having a growth mindset leads to a desire to take on challenges as well as a passion for learning and focus on developing self, all of which contribute to effective leadership.

Fortunately, Dweck reports that mindsets can be taught and changed.

“Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.” - Dr. Carol Dweck

Building on this, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasizes this in his culture building work: “Don’t be a know-it-all. Be a learn-it-all.”

Leadership Learning and New Trends

To be effective as a leader today, you must not only learn about emerging trends but also work with them adroitly. Some key trends shaping leadership these days include:

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Digitalization
• Hybrid and remote work
• Cybersecurity
• Reshoring

How well are you keeping up with today’s fast-moving trends?

“In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer, philosopher and social critic

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Leadership Learning via Feedback

Effective leaders are hungry for feedback and very good at showing they’re open to it and eager to act on it. Indeed, when leaders are good at incorporating feedback, there are many benefits, including:

• improved decision-making
• stronger relationships based on trust
• enhanced self-awareness
• increased team engagement and performance
• continuous growth

“Openness to feedback, especially negative feedback, is characteristic of the best learners.” – James Kouzes and Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge

Leadership Learning via Reading

Leaders who read regularly expand their knowledge, gain fresh insights, and develop critical thinking skills that enhance decision-making. Reading exposes them to diverse perspectives, historical lessons, and emerging trends, helping them stay knowledgeable and adaptable. It keeps them informed, sharp, and better equipped to influence and inspire others while navigating complex challenges.*

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” – Harry S. Truman, 33rd U.S. president

Leadership Learning via Training

Leaders who invest in training continuously enhance their skills and stay current with the latest tools, techniques, and trends. Training provides opportunities for them to improve communication and problem-solving abilities. It also helps leaders develop new competencies. And importantly, by participating in training, leaders demonstrate a commitment to personal growth and create a culture of learning and development within their organisations.

Leadership Learning via Coaching

Effective leaders take advantage of coaching, since it provides personalized guidance and support to help them work through tough issues and gain greater clarity. A good coach offers a safe space for self-reflection, helping leaders develop self-awareness, identify their leadership derailers, and overcome challenges. With tailored feedback and approaches, coaching enables leaders to accelerate their growth and foster stronger relationships within their colleagues.

“…leadership starts from within. It’s important to learn how the world works, but it is even more important to learn how you work.” – David Gergen, Hearts Touched with Fire: How Great Leaders Are Made

Leadership Learning via Small Groups

Leaders can benefit greatly from being in a small group of trusted friends and advisors where they discuss personal and professional issues, as it creates a supportive environment for open dialogue and shared learning in a collaborative, non-judgmental setting. These groups offer a safe space to hear diverse perspectives, explore challenges, and gain insights from people with different experiences and perspectives. Small groups can also help them feel less lonely in their leadership journey. Also, such groups promote accountability and growth.

Leadership Learning via Experience

Leaders can learn tremendously from their own experiences if they take the time to reflect on their successes and failures. As author Polly B. Berends teaches us, “Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it.”

Such self-reflection helps them see what strategies worked, recognize patterns, and identify areas where they can improve. By reflecting on past experiences, leaders can better understand their leadership style, refine their approach, and develop greater confidence and resilience.

“One of the most reliable indicators and predictors of true leadership is an individual’s ability to find meaning in negative events and to learn from even the most trying circumstances. Put another way, the skills required to conquer adversity and emerge stronger and more committed than ever are the same ones that make for extraordinary leader.” – Warren Bennis and Robert J. Thomas, Harvard Business Review

Two Barriers to Leadership Learning

There are two big barriers to leadership learning.

1. Arrogance

Experienced leaders can sometimes become arrogant, believing their past successes make them infallible. Assuming they have nothing left to learn, they’ll start dismissing feedback and resisting new ideas. The result: losing touch with workers’ needs and market trends, degraded decision-making, stagnation, and poor performance. The best leaders humbly recognize that learning is a lifelong process and growth requires staying open to new perspectives.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” – proverb

2. Time

Leaders must be intentional and drive their own agenda instead of reacting to things that come at them and always putting out fires. Take it from leading authorities on this matter:

• “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically—to say ‘no’ to other things.” - Stephen R. Covey
• “Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” - Jim Rohn
• “Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.” - Peter Drucker
• “What gets scheduled gets done.” - Daniel Pink
• “Your calendar is a reflection of your priorities.”- Michael Hyatt

Conclusion

Learning is vital to effective leadership. In today’s complex and challenging environment, the demands of leadership can feel overwhelming for leaders who don’t continually evolve and grow. Continuous learning enables leaders to remain adaptable, innovative, and effective. It requires humility and a commitment to personal growth. Ultimately, investing in learning not only enhances individual leadership skills but also fosters a culture of collective growth, boosting both individual and organizational performance.

Reflection & Action Questions

1. Are you investing enough in learning, growth, and development?
2. What more do you need to do?
3. Are you supporting your colleagues enough in their learning, growth, and development?
4. What more will you do?

Postscript: Quotations on Leadership Learning

• “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy, former U.S. president
• “If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.” – Zig Ziglar
• “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing is to keep your mind young.” – Henry Ford
• “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
• “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is the private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” – John F. Kennedy
• “The best leaders are teachers. The best teachers are also the best learners. They know that by investing in developing others they are also developing themselves.” – James Kouzes and Barry Posner, A Leader’s Legacy
• “Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life, which is the sine qua non in becoming an integrated person.” – Warren Bennis, leadership scholar and author

This article was originally published on Gregg Vanourek's LinkedIn.

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