Being a continuous learner

About 23 years back when I started my first job, my boss was my single point of learning at work. Tough may be a little soft word to describe him as I would literally have nightmares about him. But I couldn’t stop learning from him (and owe a lot to him) because in addition to being extremely demanding, he was constantly teaching me every day on various aspects of management, ethics, labor handing and many more – a long list to mention here.  The approach was that your immediate boss (and little later your seniors and colleagues) is your first teacher at work and if you have determined to survive in the job then you have to be open to learn every single day from everyone. There was absolutely no shame to say – I don’t know first time so you can learn quickly and move on.

With time, things do change and pace of change is so quick that even bosses and seniors are on constant learning phase. But what the new gen is missing is that there are still a lot of things to learn from their immediate supervisors and seniors. It’s up to them to seek out mentors, counselors, teachers in their supervisors or seniors as no one will voluntarily offer them their knowledge and wisdom. Even the current and upcoming supervisors should understand that leading teams is not just delivering a group outcome but it’s also one of their important responsibilities to nurture talent in their respective teams by constant teaching and sharing their experience.

An opportunity of learning need not be only during times of crisis but a regular way of professional life. How many times a new gen boss sat with his / her reportee to understand his/her current learning needs? I am not talking about those discussions about work challenges and possible solutions but an objective conversation about the learning curve of the team member. It’s definitely a 2-way street as people say – Teaching is a great way of learning too. With current technological tools available, this talent nurturing can be a group activity so everyone can learn from each other. With the amount of individual knowledge and wisdom, this mutualization can be a huge gold mine for many others.

It’s time that we revive the concept of “continuous and matrixed learning” not just thru regular classroom or online sessions but between people, peer to peer, group to group as it helps to create a culture of uninhibited learning, seeking support from others, camaraderie, team work and true job satisfaction when everyone learns something new everyday !

So what are you learning now?