Leading Through Learning

To lead is to move self and others beyond the known into the unknown. Entering into unfamiliar territory requires learning. We must adapt to new experiences; we must acquire new abilities. Leaders must continually take themselves to their own intellectual frontiers. Leading demands living on the edge.

Our most significant learnings come from exploring our own inner frontiers. Learning about ourselves creates new possibilities. We discover not only that we are capable of more than we thought were, but we are more than who we thought we were.

As leaders take themselves to their own cutting edge, they are to lead others to do the same. This requires leaders to relate to followers from where the followers are. This means leaders must backtrack and help followers along the path the leaders have already traveled. This requires patience on the part of leaders. While the leaders have already covered this territory, the landscape is new to followers. But having already traveled the path, leaders can guide followers around the dangers of the journey.

Leaders are lifelong learners. And they share what they have learned with their followers. At the same time, leaders learn from their followers. It is this shared learning that moves leaders and followers to new levels of achievement.