9 - We Never Stop Learning, Growing, and Teaching

~ We Never Stop Learning, Growing, and Teaching ~

We can never become stagnant and stop learning. We will seek out our gaps in knowledge both at the individual and collective levels of our function. We will anticipate, and seek the topics we need to learn and know to improve our ability to add value. We must also apply what we learn. Far too often we learn and do not apply our learnings. We must be deliberate with applying our learnings. We will think about how to apply what we’ve learned and we will apply it meticulously.

We will also teach. We will distill our knowledge and educate others who need to know it when they need to know it. Far too often do we allow the less knowledgeable and experienced to remain absent of others knowledge. Years, decades, centuries of collective knowledge and wisdom remains unshared. We are a culture of continuous learning and teaching and will not tolerate missed opportunities to teach someone something that will improve the outcome of their work, and the progress of their careers. We must all think deeply about the wisdom we have obtained over the years, and then we must share it freely with those who can use it.

Although we already possess an incredible level of knowledge, we also recognize what appears to be an insurmountable level of knowledge we’ve yet to obtain. We must constantly ask ourselves what we do not know. From there, we must strive to learn it. After we learn it, we must share it by teaching others. Finally, and most importantly, we must apply it to better our business. We are always findings our knowledge gaps, we are always learning, we are always teaching, we are always applying our knowledge.

We recognize the following pillars of knowledge and we will continuously assess the completeness of our knowledge, identify gaps, and fill in the gaps. There is knowledge of our business, its processes, its risks, and controls. There is knowledge of our profession, its practices, and our systems of work. There is technical knowledge and subject matter expertise of products, systems, and associated practices. There is knowledge of leadership, management and human relationships, including influence and motivation and other soft skills. These are just the pillars, or buckets of knowledge areas, all of which have incredible depth.

The responsibility for learning, teaching, and applying is greatest for those of us who are MOST knowledgeable. We will no longer hide behind our fully booked calendars. We will drop the habit of perpetually hiding in our offices behind closed doors. We will develop the habit of teaching. We will develop the habit of applying our learnings. We must love it, we love the feeling of teaching. It’s rewarding, and we recognize the exponential impact it has on our function. Far too many people need us. They need our Wisdom. They need to learn from our experiences. There are people outside our offices right now that are stuck trying to figure out a way forward. Worse, they are on the wrong path, headed in the wrong direction, to an incorrect outcome.

Thus, as the leaders with Wisdom, we will know what our team is working on. We will think about what they need to know. We will teach them, or we will guide them to the knowledge they need so they can learn it, and apply it.

Continuous learning and teaching is deeply embedded in our culture. We apply our learnings meticulously. It is why we are amazing at what we do. It is why we continue to get better at what we do every day. Every day, everyone is smarter. Every day, everyone has learned something new. Every day, everyone has applied their new learnings. Perpetual growth driven by our commitment to teach, to learn, to apply what we learn.