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| "Too Busy to Learn" |
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The following two e-mails came in response to last month's lead story "Too Busy to Learn". Both readers make good points about learning and improving.
Good Morning Jim!
I read the above article today from your August issue of The Leader Letter.
I would like to add a comment on this topic. I believe that today, we
stress the 'formal' learning process to the point that we have
forgotten or overlook the 'informal' channel and opportunities. I once
had one of my staff say to me... "but I am too busy to learn". My
response was...
Me.... "Have you not talked to anyone today?"
Staff.... "Yes, naturally I have."
Me.... "And who may that have been?"
Staff.... "I have talked with a large number of people from team mates, to peers, to customers, to our suppliers."
Me.... "And did you listen to what they said?"
Staff.... "Naturally."
Me.... " So, did you learn anything from those conversations?"
Staff.... "Yes, I did."
He then proceeded to list all that he had learned during the conversations that had taken place that day.
Me....
"So how can you say you are too busy to learn? Look at all that you
have learned and in just one day. Now think of what you said to them
and what they learned from you. If you both learned as much as you
claimed to have, then think of how much further ahead we all are. Don't
take for granted the information sharing process."
Naturally,
the words may not be exact as it was some time ago, but I believe that
you will appreciate where I am coming from with this example. The
problem is not only that the staff are too busy to learn, but the
leadership is too busy to lead their staff's thought process in the
right direction.
Regards,
- Joanne Vallat, Regina, SK, Canada
Whenever
I hear someone tell me that they "don't have time to learn", I always
find it useful to ask them to substitute the word "improve" for the
word "learn" and then ask how they like the result.
"Learning" is a sometimes cold-blooded exercise that is easy to
dismiss, whereas "improving" is an unarguably desirable goal that
leaves no wiggle-room for procrastination. Learning isn't just some
necessary evil that we were finished with after our schooling, but a
lifelong process that is indispensable to our continuing growth and
improvement as human beings.
Therefore,
the phrase "I don't have time to learn", is actually equivalent to "I
don't have time to improve". This latter sentiment is poison to both
our professional development and to our own fulfillment as individuals,
and the act of casting it into such stark equivalence, strips the
original sentiment of its detachment and unveils what is really at
stake.
- Barry Chow, Executive Vice President, Resiance Corporation, Calgary, AB, Canada
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| My Personal Learning Habits |
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Thank
you for continuing to provide 'free' newsletters. I always enjoy
reading them and find them inspiring. I was wondering though... how
does someone like you keep your skills current? When do you have the
time?
This
was an excellent question that caused me to step back and reflect on my
own learning. It was a great time to do a 'personal learning
inventory'. This is an exercise I highly recommend periodically. What
better time to do it than in September, when many learning institutions
start back up again.
With an extremely busy Client and travel schedule, learning and staying current is a big challenge. Here's what I do:
- Take
reading material with me everywhere I go, whether on my many business
trips, or just a trip to the dentist for that 10 minute wait.
- Subscribe
to a few dozen e-newsletters, magazines, journals, newspapers, and
e-zines in the fields of personal, team, and organization effectiveness
. Many I just skim for any new items, research, or articles I may want
to read further. My first choice is always reading in digital format
(we have a wireless network in our house that I connect to my notebook
computer), because I copy and paste the item, research, or quote into
my electronic database. In cases like Fortune magazine or Harvard Business Review I may read the hard copy, mark what I want to copy and file, and then go to their web site to do that.
- When
I am at home, my day starts with a run on the treadmill, a shower,
breakfast, and then reading a passage from a spiritual or personal
growth book followed by meditation. Currently, I am re-reading The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle.
- I
belong to the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS).
This gives me a monthly magazine and an audio CD from the National
Speaker's Association, as well as the CAPS newsletter. The CAPS annual
conference (which I always attend) and NSA's annual conference (which I
don't get to every year), are full of workshops and networking for, by,
and with other professional speakers and workshop/retreat leaders.
- Writing
is a constant learning opportunity for me. A big part of this comes
from reviewing research and articulating my position, point of view,
advice, or experience on that topic. When I write my Globe & Mail pieces,
the editors are constantly pushing back on my thinking, content, or
prose and helping me to clarify or re-state what I am trying to say.
Feedback and inquiries from readers continue my learning process.
- Delivering
workshops, retreats, and keynote presentations is often filled with
much learning as I field responses, lead discussions, and get feedback
on my ideas or approaches. I can think of a few ideas like 'embrace
change,' where I have dramatically changed my views through this
process and dialogue.
- Customizing
or preparing for my workshops or retreats requires me to spend time
learning more about the organization I am working with, what's working
and not working for them, and helping them to integrate past and future
leadership programs, projects, or pathways toward broader developmental
goals.
- I
attend a lot of conferences as a speaker. In just one year, I get to
hear many effective and not so effective, internal and external
speakers. This gives me great examples of what to do and not to do in
connecting with audiences, as well as new insights into emerging trends
and approaches in personal, team, or organization development.
- I
almost always get written feedback forms and/or verbal reflections at
the end of my speaking engagements, workshops, or retreats.
- Since
we began in 1994, my CLEMMER Group colleagues have been, and continue
to be, a big source of learning. Currently, Scott Schweyer and Karen
Lee are working extensively with a few CLEMMER Group Clients to help
them implement the organization and leadership plans we first kicked
off with a senior management retreat. This work usually stretches over
a few years. We learn first-hand what does and doesn't work in bringing
about culture change, service or quality improvement, increasing
productivity, developing leaders, and so on. Scott and Karen are
particularly gifted at consulting and training design and very tuned-in
to the latest tools, trends, and techniques. I learn a lot from them.
- In my car, I listen to audio CD's or tapes of conferences or workshops that I'd like to attend if time permits.
- Writing The Leader Letter
each month is a dynamic process, especially as it's evolved to
including many comments from readers as well as questions raised. The
current question that prompted my response, is a perfect example. This
has caused me to reflect on my learning and review what I am doing and
how effective it is.
I feel
pretty passionate about this topic and my continued personal growth. At
risk of totally 'over-answering' this question, here's an outline of a
two-part article on our web site that digs deeper into many of these
personal growth areas:
Personal Improvement Planning Pathways and Pitfalls (Part One) (Part Two)
Daily
or even just weekly, small stretches accumulate into powerful new
habits and ever-stronger discipline muscles. Discover the 'Personal
Improvement Planning' approaches that can help you to avoid the
pitfalls and pave your pathway to success.
I'd
love to hear how you personally learn, or what you've found helps
others to learn, grow, and develop. Please send me your thoughts and
experiences on a 'need to grow' basis at [email protected].
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| Contribute an Amazon Book Review? |
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This
summer our son, Chris, worked with me on various Internet marketing
projects before moving to Ottawa to start law school at the University
of Ottawa this month. One of those projects is adding further reviews
of Growing the Distance and The Leader's Digest to Amazon.com and our own web site (which is being completely overhauled).
If
you have enjoyed either or both books and would like to contribute a
review, we would be most appreciative. Should you wish to help out,
please respond to [email protected]. and she will send you the easy steps to post a review.
As a token of our appreciation, we will hold a draw for $100
worth of my leadership development books, workbooks, or CDs. But time
is limited! This draw will be held at the end of September 2006 and
will be based on the reviews that appear on Amazon's web site prior to September 15, 2006.
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| Moving from Victim to Navigator |
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A subscriber who "has read The Leader's Digest for
about the 6th or 7th time" (he's going to know the book better than
me!), sent an e-mail asking about the section in the book entitled
"Steering the Course" (page 59), where I discuss the three choices of
Navigator, Survivor, or Victim. This discussion is always one of the
high points during my presentations and workshops. He asks:
"In
your experience, when a person chooses to move forward from victim to
navigator, do they make a stop at survivor or in most cases is it a
case of straight to navigator, so to speak? What sort of time frame has
been about the average in your professional experience for a person to
make this transition in their life? Also, how do you link the three
steps together when trying to get people from the victim mentality to
the navigator mentality?"
Navigator,
Survivor, or Victims are modes or thought patterns we go through when
dealing with difficult changes, adversity, or crisis situations.
Generally, these all involve loss of some type - health, money, status,
loved ones, relationships, jobs, etc. How we habitually explain those
losses to ourselves make up our explanatory style. It's all too easy to
put on our Victim glasses and explain these negative events in ways
that make us feel helpless, hopeless, and persecuted. The key is how
long and often we use Victim explanations, versus Navigator
explanations. In Navigator mode, we are hopeful, optimistic, and
opportunistic. We are looking to make the best of a bad situation or
even figure out how to capitalize on, or use the loss as catalyst for
effective change.
How long it takes us
to move from Victim to Navigator mode is extremely variable. It depends
upon the size of the loss, our perceived power/control over the
situation, and our habitual explanatory style. The first step is
awareness of our Victim thinking and the desire to change it. If that
doesn't happen, we'll be riding the Bitter Bus around Pity City from
Pity Party to Pity Party for a very long time - possibly the rest of
our lives. If we do want to change, it may take a lot of work, help,
and time to make a habit out of seeing the possibilities (rather than
just the problems) and becoming more optimistic and positive in outlook
and approach – acting like a true leader.
In the March 2004 issue of The Leader Letter, there's a short article on the Navigator-Survivor-Victim chart (with a graphic) at http://www.clemmer.net/newsl/mar2004.html
and pass it along to others. The April issue continues a follow up
discussion from some readers, sparked by this chart. Earlier this year
I published a longer article on this approach, entitled "Navigating Change and Adversity."
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Permission to Reprint: You may reprint any items from The Leader Letter in your own printed publication or e-newsletter as long as you include this paragraph:
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"Reprinted with permission from The Leader Letter,
Jim Clemmer's free e-newsletter. For over 25 years, Jim's 2,000+
practical leadership presentations and workshops/retreats, five
bestselling books, columns, and newsletters have been helping hundreds
of thousands of people worldwide. His web site is www.clemmer.net."
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| Leadership for Developing Navigator Kids |
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I
am always especially gratified to hear examples of parents teaching
their young children a 'Navigator' or 'Leadership' mindset at home. Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal and Career Success
was written to help readers take these leadership concepts out in that
broader application beyond organizational life. Jeff Johnson told me
earlier this year of how he was using material from my books with his
family. Here's the P.S. on that e-mail:
"You
would have smiled this afternoon as my wife and I were playing Monopoly
with our three children, when our 6 year old said to our 8 year old,
"It looks like you're in Pity City" after he complained when he didn't
get the property he wanted!"
Recently, he sent this family growth update:
"Your
thoughts have truly caught hold in the family. In the last week or so,
I have heard my kids saying to each other, "Uh oh, are you getting THE
Virus...the Victimitis Virus?" and "Listen. Do you hear that? It sounds
like the Bitter Bus just pulled into the driveway!" Our two cures have
been to take 'positive choice therapy' and to wear our armor – 'the
attitude of gratitude'."
- Jeff Johnson, Marketing Manager – Africa, Pioneer, A Dupont Company
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| Thoughts That Make You Go Hmmmm...on the 'Victimitis Virus' |
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"If
belligerence puts people at risk, science increasingly shows that a
life of quiet desperation does, too. Study after study has now
confirmed that factors like social isolation, depression and poor
marital relations can contribute to heart disease. Patients who are
depressed at the time of bypass surgery are more than twice as likely
to die in the next five years as patients without clinical depression,
although their disease is of comparable severity."
- Anne Underwood, "For a Happy Heart," Newsweek
"Attitudes are contagious, mine might kill you."
- Despair.com
"People
with an external locus of control see the world as controlling them;
they are subject to the forces of other people, chance, or of 'fate.'
Obviously, both conditions exist at the same time; I determine if I
will brush my teeth this morning or not, but I also recognize that
there is precious little I can do about the Chinese government's
one-child policy or the weather. But the proportion of things which
individuals put in each category can vary quite dramatically, and this
factor has been shown to be related to a number of different aspects of
health and stress."
- Daniel Moerman, Meaning, Medicine and the 'Placebo Effect'
"When you blame others, you give up your power to change."
- Douglas Noel Adams, British novelist
"Resilience
is a reflex, a way of facing and understanding the world, that is
deeply etched into a person's mind and soul. Resilient people and
companies face reality with staunchness, make meaning of hardship
instead of crying out in despair, and improvise solutions from thin
air."
- Diane L. Coutu senior editor at Harvard Business Review specializing in psychology and business. "How Resilience Works," Harvard Business Review
"You have to take it as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it."
- German Proverb
"If
you went through a dangerously contagious hospital ward, you would,
immediately upon leaving, engage in hygiene practices. What about
psychological hygiene? What about that dreaded disease optical
rectumitis (a sh*** outlook on life)? When contaminating influences
come into your world, do you take time to wash up, to bring your
perception back to where you want it to be by engaging in good mental
hygiene practices that allow you to move forward?"
- Peter Jensen, The Inside Edge: High Performance Through Mental Fitness
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| Favorite August Improvement Points |
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Improvement Points
is a free service providing a key thought or quotation from one of my
articles, provided three times per week, directly to your e-mail inbox.
Each complimentary Improvement Point links directly into the full article on our web site that spawned it. If you'd like to read more about that day's Improvement Point,
you can choose to click through to the short article for a quick
five-minute read. This is your opportunity for a short pause that
refreshes, is an inspirational vitamin, or a quick performance boost.
You can circulate especially relevant or timely articles or Improvement Points to your team, Clients, or colleagues for further discussion or action.
Here are my personal three choices of the Improvement Points we sent out in August.
"The
popular goals of security, stability, and predictability are deadly.
The closer we get to these dangerous goals, the more our growth is
stunted. True and lasting security comes from constant growth and
development, based on regular R&R (reflection and renewal)."
- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Growing the Leader in Us"
Read the full article now!
http://www.clemmer.net/excerpts/growing_leader.shtml
"Not
all experience is equal. Experience isn't what happens to us, it's what
we do with what happens to us. There's a major difference between
growth experiences and stagnating experience. Just because we've shown
up year after year and put in the time, doesn't mean we've gained by
the experience."
- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Signs of Stagnation"
Read the full article now!
http://www.clemmer.net/excerpts/stagnation.shtml
"Classified
ad: "Parachute for sale. Only used once, never opened, small stain."
When it comes to sky diving, if at first I don't succeed — my worries
are over. Few learning experiences are that deadly. However, learning
impaired people treat many new experiences as if they were. Fear of
failure is a huge killer of innovation and learning."
- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Successful Failures"
Read the full article now!
http://www.clemmer.net/excerpts/successful.shtml
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| Feedback and Follow-Up |
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"Thanks for your articles - I like the way you keep it real!"
- Jennifer Blake, Organizational Development Officer - Management Development, Manor Farm Centre, Rushall, Walsall, UK
"I subscribe to The Leader Letter,
and appreciate the gems - always common sense - that are regularly
presented. I value the positive, practical tips and comments that I can
apply at work and in other everyday contacts."
- Lois Thiessen , Assistant to the President & CEO, North Shore Credit Union, North Vancouver, BC
I am always delighted to hear from readers of The Leader Letter with feedback, reflections, suggestions, or differing points of view. Nobody is ever identified in The Leader Letter without their permission.
I
am also happy to explore customized, in-house adaptations of any of my
material for your team or organization. Drop me an e-mail at [email protected].
Keep learning, laughing, loving, and leading -- living life just for the L of it!
Jim
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| | | | Please
post or forward this newsletter to colleagues, Clients, or associates
you think might be interested - or on a 'need-to-grow' basis. If you
received this newsletter from someone else, and would like to
subscribe, click here: www.clemmer.net/subscribe.shtml Phone: (519) 748-1044 ~ Fax: (519) 748-5813 ~ E-mail: [email protected]
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| Copyright 2006, Jim Clemmer, The CLEMMER Group |
