“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

There are a lot of things about change that are difficult.  We’ve covered a bunch of them here before, and I won’t attempt to list them all.  Lately there has been a specific change challenge for leaders that keeps popping up on my radar.

Most people spend the early part of their careers learning how to do stuff.  Everything is new.  From figuring out how to log in to your computer on day one, to new software, to new products or processes, there’s a whole world of things to learn.

Then, somewhere down the road, most people start to feel like they have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing.  Every single thing is no longer new, and they start to get comfortable.  And that comfort is the beginning of a serious problem.

Eventually, most people go out of their way NOT to learn new things.  They seem to think that what they’ve learned so far got them to this point and they can make it to retirement without learning anything new.  And if they’re forced to learn new things, they only do it kicking and screaming.

That’s not a great picture, but it’s even worse for people in leadership roles.  Too many leaders attain a certain level of success, or a certain job title, or a certain amount of pay, and then they flatline.  They stop learning, they stop growing, they figure this is “good enough” and they intellectually cost to retirement.

I’m not suggesting they don’t work lots of hours, or don’t care about what they do.  They just get intellectually comfortable, and it eventually causes them to become obsolete.  And in an era of rapid change, that obsolescence happens faster than ever before.

Look at your career.  What new things do you need to learn in order to be the maximum leader you can be?  If your answer is “As little as possible”, then you have a problem. 

I hear a lot of leaders complain about younger people not being willing to work, but the reality is that failing to take learning and growth seriously as a leader is a form of laziness, and a bunch of leaders are guilty of it.

Learning can never stop.  There’s never a point where you know enough.  You can’t allow yourself to think that things are “good enough”.  Celebrate your successes, appreciate what you’ve learned and accomplished – then keep pushing. 

Leaders need to learn something new every day.  Decide what today’s learning will be.  Then go make it happen.