LEADERSHIP EDGE
Jan-Feb 2011

THE LEARNING POSTURE

Leadership is an essential vehicle for progress in any organization, business, church or nation. Leadership expert John Maxwell has said, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” This buttresses that fact that very little gets done without effective leadership. There is leader in you waiting to be released. The world is eagerly anticipating your manifestation as an effective leader. The reality however is that, not many leaders become effective and relevant over the long haul.

It has been established that a great number of leaders do not finish well. There are several reasons attributed to this unfortunate trend but if I should isolate one and deal with it, it will be that many leaders do not maintain a Learning Posture. They do not keep themselves abreast of current trends issues in their world. If you are going to make an impact as a first class, relevant leader, you must maintain a learning posture throughout your life. The Book of Proverbs says, Every enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts. (Proverbs 24:3-4).

A Learning Posture is an attitude that say, “I must continue to learn throughout my whole life.” It is said that, Knowledge is power, and it is true. The day you stop learning is that day you start losing your leadership edge. Learning Posture is important because social change is rapid in this postmodern era. If you plateau, you will get run over by the incredible pace of change. I encourage you to develop an attitude of life-long learning and you will always be a candidate for promotion.

I want to place in your hands four sources that will aid you in your life-long learning quest.

1. LIFE ITSELF
There is so much you can learn through the activities of life. You can learn from people. That is from both the old and the young, from different cultures and also from those who may doffer from you in other ways.

You can also learn from world events. It is rather unfortunate that there are people who aspire to become leaders but have no clue about what is happening in the rest of the world. Such parochial attitude can make one an ill-informed and dangerous leader. Have you taken the time to read about events in other parts of the world? Understand that the world has become a global village. Technology has brought us closer to each other than at any time in the history of the world. Our destinies are inextricably linked to each other. Get to know what’s going on elsewhere.

You can also learn from the processing of life. By this, I mean the shaping incidents of life. Every situation you face is potentially a learning situation. Don’t waste your pain, your experiences and the things you go though in life. There is a life curriculum in there fir your leadership development.

2. THE SCRIPTURES

You need a life-long plan for mastering the Scriptures for personal and leadership use. Towards the end of his life, the great Apostle Paul was still eager and hungry to read The Book. (2Timothy 4:13).  Many leaders plateau and drop away because they have not developed Word discipline.

Due to busyness and the frantic pace of life and the demands of schedules, many leaders set aside the reading and studying of the Bible. Don’t the tyranny of the urgent pry you away from what will make you great. Have a devotional plan so that the Word will get into you. There are so many avenues available to us today. The internet has many free sites to aid you read, study and assimilate the Scriptures for life and wisdom.

3. BIOGRAPHIES

The lives of those who have blazed the trail of leadership can be an invaluable source of life-long learning. Studying after such people will shorten your learning curve and help you look further than they did. By reading biographies, you expand your understanding and appreciation of those leaders. You will learn about their triumphs and trials and also stand on their achievements to be inspired to greater heights.

 The writer of the Book of Hebrews admonished us to,
“Remember your leaders who taught God's message to you. Remember how they lived and died, and copy their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7). Endeavor to read at least one biography a year. Now, that is not asking too much, is it?

4. OTHER MATERIAL

Be an avid reader. The world’s readers are the world’s leaders. Reading will expand your mind, challenge your thinking and educate you on many fronts. Read books, periodicals, magazines and materials in your specific area of interest. You must also read outside of your immediate interest so you can hold intelligent and relevant conversations as a leader.

My hope is that this year you will strive to reach up in your leadership development. Don’t stop, don’t hold back. Aspire to be a leader who is beyond average. 

See you next month a better leader.