What did you learn?

When you are subscribed to various newsletters of leadership coaches like Robin Sharma, Brian Johnson (PhilosoperNotes, ThinkArete) etc., sometimes they are coming on the right moment. And here is the one i received some days ago... Connected to my previous posts...

Hi Aigerim,

We grow from the experiences that stretch us. Actually, we grow when we learn from the experiences that stretch us. Seems so obvious, yet so few take the time to reflect on our experiences.

When you are stunningly disciplined about your learning you create daily 1% wins. The small incremental improvements that lead to staggering results over time.) Being disciplined about your learning means that you schedule the time to think about your craft. It could be a post-project debrief that you run with your team. It could be quick review of the past month at a staff meeting. Or, it could be several pages in your journal. Leaders do this until they get to extraordinary. And, then they keep doing it.

Here are a couple of tips for getting the most out of your experiences:

3 Questions

For every experience ask yourself the following questions:

1. What happened? (Describe the events and the people involved.)
2. So, what? (What does this experience mean? Describe why this is important? Did this experience identify a strength or weakness? Did it force you to reexamine your assumptions?)
3. Now, what? (What will you do differently next time? What is the essence of this lesson?)

Avoid Blame

Sometimes it's easy to point fingers at others. Or become overly hard on your own performance. Try to get beyond blaming and understand why people behaved the way they did. Was the goal clear and achievable? Did people have the tools they needed? Was communication clear? When you focus on blaming people you miss the opportunity to change the systems, rules and procedures that can make you better next time.

Think Long Term

Sometimes the results of our decisions take a long time to manifest.
Look back on decisions you made several years ago and try to trace the consequences. (For future decisions use a journal to record your goals and assumptions around important decisions.)


Share Your Lessons

Once you have learned from your experience, sharing it is the best way to keep it fresh. Blog about it. Tell your colleagues what you learned. Discuss it with a mentor. When you have conversations around your learning you deepen the learning.


In Leadership,
Robin Sharma