A learning culture is one that encourages and supports continuous learning, curiosity, and innovation among its members. It is a key factor for organizational success, adaptability, and resilience in a fast-changing world. But how can you develop your career in a learning culture? Here are some tips to help you thrive and grow as a learner and a professional.
The first step to developing your career in a learning culture is to identify your learning goals. What skills, knowledge, or competencies do you want to acquire or improve? How do they align with your career aspirations and the needs of your organization? How will you measure your progress and outcomes? By setting clear and realistic learning goals, you can focus your efforts, prioritize your activities, and track your achievements.
Setting goals is a reasonable idea, but there is no need to have clear goals at the outset. Start by being open to learning about the environment you are operating within. What is important to your team, to your leader, to your peers and to the organization. Once you get a feeling for what is important. Then reflect on what you would like to accomplish, what you might like to learn. Realize whatever you do is an experiment. So once you do set a goal, you can then measure your progress against that target.
The second step to developing your career in a learning culture is to seek feedback and coaching from others. Feedback is essential for learning, as it helps you identify your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Coaching is a form of personalized guidance that helps you overcome challenges, develop new skills, and achieve your goals. You can seek feedback and coaching from your manager, peers, mentors, or external experts. Be open to constructive criticism, ask for specific suggestions, and act on the feedback and coaching you receive.
The relationships you build will serve you well when it comes to feedback and coaching in your career. If you can build a collection of people who can give you honest feedback as well as coaching and mentorship you will be able to objectively view yourself and build the appropriate skills to improve. My advice here is to look outside of traditional norms like line managers etc. and look towards your network to get views that are completely objective.
The third step to developing your career in a learning culture is to learn from diverse sources. Learning is not limited to formal training courses or programs. You can learn from a variety of sources, such as books, articles, podcasts, videos, webinars, blogs, newsletters, forums, social media, etc. You can also learn from different people, such as colleagues, customers, partners, competitors, industry leaders, influencers, etc. By learning from diverse sources, you can broaden your perspective, discover new ideas, and stay updated on the latest trends and developments.
Seek out sources (articles, podcasts, books, people you can follow on LinkedIn) who don't look like you or identify the way you do, people who have different lived experiences and different political beliefs.
The fourth step to developing your career in a learning culture is to apply your learning to your work. Learning is not effective unless you put it into practice. Applying your learning means using your new skills, knowledge, or competencies to solve problems, improve processes, create value, or innovate. It also means sharing your learning with others, such as by teaching, mentoring, presenting, or writing. By applying your learning, you can demonstrate your capabilities, increase your confidence, and enhance your reputation.
The fifth step to developing your career in a learning culture is to reflect on your learning. Reflection is a process of thinking critically about your learning experiences, outcomes, and impacts. It helps you evaluate your performance, identify your gaps, and plan your next steps. Reflection can be done individually or collectively, such as by journaling, blogging, discussing, or reviewing. By reflecting on your learning, you can learn from your successes and failures, and improve your future learning.
The sixth and final step to developing your career in a learning culture is to celebrate your learning. Celebrating your learning means acknowledging and rewarding yourself and others for the efforts and achievements made through learning. It also means expressing gratitude and appreciation for the opportunities and support received for learning. Celebrating your learning can be done in various ways, such as by giving or receiving feedback, recognition, praise, certificates, badges, rewards, etc. By celebrating your learning, you can boost your motivation, engagement, and satisfaction.
It's so important to celebrate the journey. Celebrate your own personal milestones and if you're a leader looking to build a learning culture, celebrate the people who are leaning in to learning (their own, and those who devote time to training and developing others).