Learning affects eternity. We can never fully realize
the influence and impact of what we learn, or for
that matter what we don’t learn. How leaders
support their colleagues as life long learners will have
a direct impact on their productivity, job satisfaction
and perhaps more importantly, the quality of their
lives at work and away from it.
More than ever before, the statement, “education is
preparation for life” is less meaningful and less
significant. This old axiom has taught us, our
employers and our society in general that education
and learning is a “one shot deal” set in segmented,
time ending frameworks like high school and
college.
Instead, we as leaders need to promote continuous
learning and personal and professional growth as the
essence of life itself! We must lead our colleagues
and for that matter our communities into thinking
that learning is a timeless, essential and vital part of
living. To stop learning and growing is, in effect, to
die–to die intellectually, relationally and spiritually.
To learn continuously is to celebrate life and living.
To truly learn is to embrace the notion that there are
more questions than answers. It is to understand
that there are many right answers instead of
one.
Helen Keller once wrote, “If life is not a glorious
adventure, it is nothing at all.” This perhaps catches
the real essence of what learning is–an
adventure, a glorious adventure! To learn is to
embrace failure, mistakes, errors and the challenges
of change. Who among us that embraces an
adventurous approach to living and learning is not
better prepared to deal with the chaos of change,
adversity and disappointments that confront us?
Better yet these lessons teach us the appreciation of
sunsets, the laughter of children, the joy of a good
book or the fellowship of stimulating conversation
and
dialogue.
Learning begins with an internal commitment. It is
not the responsibility of teachers, they are merely
instruments.
It is our responsibility as leaders to expect, if not
demand, that our colleagues continue to be or
become, “Continuous Learning Professionals.” For
this to become a reality we as leaders must be
committed to the growth of each other, the breaking
down of organizational and personal barriers, to
learning and to ultimately become “Champions of
Learning.”
John Cardinal Neuman’s writings inspire me to this
final thought: “To learn is to grow, to grow is to
change, to learn and to grow together and do it
often is to allow us to have a peek at heaven.”
May each of us and those we may inspire have a
glorious adventure on our way to having that peek at
heaven.
