“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously” Sophia Bush
Do you speak to give knowledge or listen to gain it? There’s a place for both and as a leader ensuring there’s a balance of both is crucial.
In the past knowledge has been power and there’s been a pressure for leaders to know all the answers or to be the ones telling others what they think or how it should be done. This means it gets done your way but not necessarily the best way.
Growth and development is an area I’ve worked in for years and a passion I’ve always had. I believe we can be both improving and learning as well as being amazing and brilliant – all at once. Buddhists talk of, the beginner’s mind. Approaching everything with a curiosity that we’re here to learn even if we’ve done it before because the reality is we’re always learning, there’s always growth. We’re always a beginner even when we’re an expert.
Ako is a traditional Māori practice that means both 'to learn' and 'to teach' and I think that sums it up perfectly.
We can put so much pressure on ourselves to know all the answers or be the expert and it can be uncomfortable to sit in this place of learning, of not knowing. But it’s this open and curious mind that keeps us developing and growing and helps us achieve our potential.
It’s this theory of improving ourselves rather than trying to prove ourselves. That we’re learning and growing not trying to validate or prove we’re good enough.
No matter how much experience, awards or titles we have we’re still learning. It’s retaining this curiosity and knowledge that we never know it all that keeps us open and agile to things we may otherwise miss.
I’m the first to admit, regardless of what I’m speaking about that I’m not to only expert in the room. The richness of the conversations and the resulting ideas and new thoughts I then have from those events can prove invaluable.
Last year I got into a habit of rereading books I’ve already read. I’d never thought of it before until someone suggested it to me. My friend made a valid point. We don’t retain most of the information when we read it the first time and were a different person now than we were 5 years ago when we read it so we’ll probably get different value from it too. There might have been things we didn’t understand or forgot completely or just make more sense now. A way of revisiting ideas and seeing how they apply now.
Remaining curious means we’re more likely to collaborate and accept we’re not the only expert in the room. It takes a lot of courage to admit to not knowing or to seek help and support. It’s a courageous act for a leader to embrace this beginners mind and commit to being a constant learner and yet one that also makes us better leaders.