Learning Lessons That Last

I didn’t become a Learning Leader by accident.

My mother made me…?

who I am.

These are some of the top things I learned from her. Whether you are passionate about learning or just want to grow personally, check out my mother’s wisdom:

1. Read Always?

My mother read to me before I understood what reading was. She read every day. My reading skills took off in part because I could not wait for reading time to find out what happened in the next chapter, and I started “reading ahead”. She didn’t look at teaching reading as just teaching a skill. She looked at it like it was a sacred act of showing children how to fall in love with magic. This magic of reading would transport them anywhere they wanted to go, both metaphorically and actually. My mother didn’t care if it was an audiobook, a picture book with no words, fiction, non-fiction, a comic book, gum wrapper, an instruction manual, braille, pamphlets, or magazines. Reading was reading, and everyone could fall in love if shown why they would want to.?

2. It’s not all about you!?

Center your learning on everyone, even the people who have not yet arrived for you to teach. My mother believed that we should show children the world we want them to live in, not just the one we are currently evolving. She was a feminist who sometimes rewrote my sexist children’s books making Susie the doctor and Tommy the nurse. I didn’t realize I was getting an edited version of the reality of the times.?

My mother believed you needed the vision of what it could be and the skills and motivation to work for a more equitable world. If you had rights that others didn’t (whether legally or culturally), then you had better use them to make sure others could have the same opportunities to learn and grow that you were lucky enough to enjoy.?

My mother’s faith was very important to her, and it was centered on love, not punishment. She believed that teaching should also center on growth and positivity (with a clear and equitable system for consequences for negative behavior so that the learning environment could be maintained for all).?

She taught me to look for who was missing in the images I saw and the spaces I inhabited and to ask why. There were no women signing the Declaration of Independence, but she taught me to look to see where there were no women present 200 years later and see what I could do to help change happen.

3. Learn to fail and fall and get back up again.?

No child who quit trying to walk ever learned if they stopped after the first fall. First, you get good at falling, then you get good at balancing, and then you get good at mobilizing.?

Learning new skills you will use often is a set of shampoo instructions: lather, rinse, repeat!

This is very different from the instructions for a single-use product or to deploy a nuclear bomb. When we create learning, aligning our instructions to the larger use case for the learning objectives is critical!?

4. If you see something, say something

Use your voice to make a difference, especially if you are the one being listened to.

Everyone has a right to speak, but not always at the same time. Take turns and share the microphone. Make sure that no one is being silenced, even the voices that don’t align with your beliefs. You can listen with manners, you can share your beliefs when they differ. You can debate and try and build consensus. You should follow the law and if the law is morally wrong, you should work to change it.?

Remember, everyone having a voice is not the same thing as everyone being the decision-maker.?

5. Listen to your little sister; she can sing it any way she wants to

Don’t try to control everything. The only thing in life we can control is ourselves. Also, there is not one right way to do something, learn something, or express something.

Different isn’t bad or wrong. It is necessary to grow and have the most beautiful, creative, equitable, and adaptive world possible. Think differently than others do; think together and think separately. This is how many great things get started.

6. We can do this the fun way or the boring way.

I have used this line in every learning program I have ever been involved with, from the K Suite (kindergarten) to the C Suite.?

Fun is more impactful and more enjoyable. Why would we not choose a more effective option. But don’t confuse fun with whimsical or silly. We must find a way to make the content, no matter how tedious or stupid it is, enjoyable to learn. If it can’t be made enjoyable to learn, but it is truly necessary and measurable, then learning it matters. If so, we must build in the positive feedback loop from the learning and practicing experience to provide the motivation and support to make it successful.??

Let’s face it, people don’t go through labor and childbirth because it’s fun; they do it because of what they get out of it!?

If there is no fun way to do the process of learning the material, then we must make sure that the return on investment is so clear that people have fond memories of the experience of trudging through a miserable situation together.?

We all remember with fondness the most miserable camping trip we spent in the rain with people we care about and good laughs.?

We can do that with ugly, boring content as well, as long as it actually is meaningful and necessary.?

If not, knock it off, don’t waste your Learners’ time.

7. Knowledge is a gift you give to the world, be generous!

My mother looked at birthdays a little differently. She looked at her children’s births as a gift we gave to her. One of the things that she encouraged was using celebrations as a time to give back to others. There was always something you could do to make the world better, even if it was just in tiny increments.?

For herself, that usually occurred in the world of teaching, singing, or story hours. With kids, it was often letting them pursue their curiosity, regardless of the mess (they would clean it up later) or life lessons created (some were good, some were hard, all were important).?

You’ve got a break some eggs to learn how to make a good omelet.?

#mymomiscool?#foremothers?#wisdom?#courage?#learning?#lifelessons

#cultivateoptimism?#growth?#gratitude?#teaching #giveback

April is my birthday month. I am going to follow my mother's tradition by giving a birthday present to others. In honor of what I learned from my mom, I am going to offer several organizations either a workshop or keynote on the topic of their choosing. Perhaps this would be useful for your Employee Resource Groups, New Hires, Interns, Leadership, Sales and Revenue, Technology, or other departments.

If you would like to enter the drawing, click on the link at the bottom of this page.?

To learn more from my mom, you can check out her secret past or how she taught me how to be an outlier.

To enter to win a workshop or keynote for your organization please click on the link below the topic list:

• Allyship is a verb
• Are You Ready for a Learning Revolution?
• Belonging and Othering, Creating an Organization for All
• Breaking Down Walls to Scale Up
• Building strong teams - it’s not about the swag
• Creating Meaningful Learning Ecosystems
• Cultivating Outliers and Success
• Do you have to be seen to be included? Creating Inclusion with 0% visibility
• Does This Suck? Or is it just a spoon when you need a knife?
• Driving Leadership Skills from the Center
• Good Learning Doesn't Always Look so Good
• Hiding in Plain Sight, Focusing on What you Can't See?
• Intersectionality at Work - the intersection of who you are and how you work
• Kind Cultures and Meanness?
• Launching a Global Ally Program
• Share Don't Scare - managing change well
• The Future of Learning
• The Importance of Sucking - what being really bad teaches you on the road to greatness
• The power of Intergenerational Learning
• Using the 7 Fs to Launch Your New Initiative
• Using your powers for good, not evil
• What Kind of a Relationship is Your Content having with your Audience?
• What would you do if you knew you would fail?
• Women's Leadership is More that Crossing Your Arms in Your Photo
• Writing your Learning Manifesto
• Yes and… improv for the win

The Link: Thanks For All The Great Learning Mom!