Being a Learner First
To be a true teacher, you must be a learner first. Leaders need to be learners, and their commitment can blind them to their own need to learn.
THE IDEA
BEING A LEARNER FIRST
To be a true teacher, you must be a learner first. Indeed, teachers’ own passion for learning inspires their students as much as their expertise does. So, too, must managers who are committed to organizational learning tools and principles be practitioners, not just “advocates” or preachers.
This was eloquently expressed by Greg Merton shortly after he retired as general manager and vice president of the Ink Supply Organization, for many years Hewlett-Packard’s largest and most profitable division. According to Merton, learning is the very source of leading. “If I look back over my career at HP, I’ve been around many very skillful people, but those who ultimately became the most effective leaders, at whatever level or role, were inevitably real learners. Whatever they had accomplished in the past seemed to figure little in their self-image. They were always aware of their needs to grow as people, and knew that the ‘learning game’ requires a relentless commitment to discovering what is effective here and now. It is very clear to me that when the company thrived it was because many in key positions had this orientation of learners, and when that was not the case, we struggled.”
While Merton’s point that leaders need to be learners seems obvious, its implications can take time to hit home—especially for highly committed people, whose very commitment can blind them to their own need to learn. “Forty people came to our first training in peacekeeping circles: young people, police and probation officers, community members, and friends,” says Roca’s Molly Baldwin. “Halfway through the opening session, several of us sat and talked in the middle of a circle formed by the full group. Within three minutes everything blew up. People were screaming, the kids were swearing, everyone was saying, ‘See! This is never going to work!’ Watching the session break down was wrenching, but eventually I understood how committed I was to divisiveness and not unity, how far I was from being a peacemaker. I understood on a visceral level the problems with ‘us and them’ thinking, and how I perpetuated that, personally and for the organization. Continuing to insist, ‘I’m right, you’re wrong! The issue is you, not us, because we hold the moral high ground!’ was a big source of our problems.”
When to use it
A manager implementing organizational learning tools must model learning behavior, not just preach it.
Teachers who continue to learn themselves inspire students more effectively.
Leaders in any organization should acknowledge their own growth needs and seek feedback.
Community organizers in peacebuilding need to examine their own biases and commitment to unity over division.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Greg Merton's Insight on Learning and Leadership
Greg Merton, former general manager at HP, observed that the most effective leaders were 'real learners' who focused on growing and adapting, not on past accomplishments.
Molly Baldwin's Experience in Peacekeeping Circles
Molly Baldwin of Roca describes a training session that broke down due to 'us and them' thinking, realizing her own commitment to divisiveness and the need to be a learner rather than insisting on being right.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
How can your commitment to being right blind you to your need to learn?
In what ways might you perpetuate 'us and them' thinking in your own context?
What does it mean to be a practitioner of learning, not just an advocate?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- The Fifth Discipline The Art Practice of the Learning Organization (Peter M. Senge)