Leadership Horizons

Why Today's Leaders Must Prioritize Continuous Learning

• Lois Burton • Episode 21

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Are you leading with yesterday's playbook in today's rapidly changing world? This question sits at the heart of our exploration into why continuous leadership learning isn't just advantageous—it's absolutely critical for survival and success.

Drawing from 25 years of coaching experience, I've witnessed a concerning pattern among senior executives: as they climb higher, many delegate learning rather than continuing their own development. They approve training for teams but postpone their own growth until "things calm down"—a moment that never arrives. This mindset creates a dangerous leadership gap as the approaches that delivered success in the past fail to address tomorrow's novel challenges.

The leadership landscape is transforming at breakneck speed. Remote work dynamics, digital transformation, and shifting workplace expectations aren't minor adjustments to existing models—they require fundamentally new approaches. Meanwhile, leadership science advances rapidly, with breakthrough research in emotional intelligence, team dynamics, and organizational psychology emerging constantly. Your team members are already consuming this knowledge through articles, podcasts, and online courses. If you're not keeping pace, how can you effectively guide their development?

I recently worked with a managing director drowning in 70-hour workweeks who implemented what I call the "1% Solution"—just 15 minutes daily dedicated to leadership thinking. Within three months, she discovered approaches that freed up hours daily, transformed team dynamics through psychological safety principles, and streamlined a major transformation project. Her modest investment yielded approximately 10 hours of reclaimed time weekly—a remarkable 4,000% return.

Ready to revolutionize your leadership effectiveness? Start with micro-learning habits integrated into existing routines. 

Connect learning directly to current challenges, join leadership communities, teach what you learn, and schedule learning time as non-negotiable. When leaders prioritize staying current, the benefits ripple throughout the entire organization—sparking innovation, enhancing problem-solving, and expanding influence through genuine value rather than positional authority.

What leadership concept will you explore this week? What current thinker's work will you investigate? The horizon is always moving—your commitment to staying current isn't just about personal development; it's your responsibility to everyone you lead.

 

Leadership Horizons - Helping You Lead Beyond Boundaries

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome back to Leadership Horizons. I'm Lois Burton, and today we're diving into something that's absolutely critical for every leader listening, and yet it's often the first thing to disappear from calendars when the pressure mounts. We're talking about staying abreast of current leadership thinking and why prioritizing time for this isn't just beneficial, it's essential. 25 years ago, when I first began coaching, I thought how do you know enough? I have my qualifications, I have my experience, and surely that was enough foundation to build on right, wrong, dead, wrong. The moment I stopped learning was the moment I started to realize that I was becoming irrelevant to the leaders I was privileged to serve. And here's what I've discovered the leaders who thrive, who truly transform their organizations and inspire their people, are the ones who never stop learning. I've applied that principle in my own life as well, and sometimes it's really difficult to make that a priority, but we must. We talked last week about asking for help as a leader and using people who can help you. Learn is essential, and this week builds on that concept. Let me paint you a picture.

Speaker 1:

In my work with senior executives across multiple sectors, I've seen the same pattern emerging repeatedly. Some leaders reach a certain level and suddenly learning becomes something they delegate rather than something they do. They send their teams to conferences, they approve training budgets and coaching budgets for others, but their own learning? It gets pushed to when things calm down or when we've got more resource, which, as we all know, never actually happens. But here's the reality check the leadership approaches that got you where you are today won't take you where you need to go tomorrow. We've seen this truth validated again and again, particularly during the COVID pandemic, when everything we thought we knew about leading teams, managing change and building resilience got turned upside down overnight. So why does staying current with leadership thinking matter so much? Let me share three critical reasons. First, the pace of change is accelerating. The challenges your organization faces today didn't exist five years ago. Remote leadership, digital transformation, generational shifts in workplace expectations these aren't tweaks to existing leadership models. They require fundamentally new approaches.

Speaker 1:

I remember working with the CEO last year who proudly told me he hadn't read a leadership book in a decade because he had enough experience. Six months later, he was struggling with team engagement, innovation had stalled and his best talent was leaving. Experience without evolution becomes obsolescence. Conversely, a leader who spoke on one of the programs I facilitate a couple of months ago, talked about how he prioritized reading leadership books and listening to talks and podcasts as a regular part of his week. Books and listening to talks and podcasts as a regular part of his week. That leader is turning around an organization that was struggling and is successfully moving it forward.

Speaker 1:

Secondly, leadership science is advancing rapidly. The research on emotional intelligence, adaptive intelligence, positive psychology, team dynamics areas I specialize in. Psychology, team dynamics areas I specialize in is producing new insights constantly. The methodologies I use today while still drawing from the methodologies I've used before, such as gestalt, nlp, emotional intelligence but these have evolved significantly even in the past few years and it's essential I keep up with that evolution, just as it's essential you do. When I attend continuing professional development events or participate in masterclasses, I'm not just maintaining my credentials, I'm staying connected to breakthrough thinking that directly impacts the leaders I coach.

Speaker 1:

Third reason your people are learning. Your team members are listening to podcasts, reading articles, attending webinars. If you're not staying current, you risk becoming the leadership bottleneck rather than the leadership catalyst. Now I know what you're thinking, lois. I barely have time to eat lunch, let alone stay current with leadership thinking. I get it In my coaching work. I see leaders drowning in operational demands, believing that every minute spent learning is a minute stolen from doing. But this is exactly backwards. The busier you are, the more you need fresh thinking to work smarter and not just harder.

Speaker 1:

Let me tell you about Sarah, a managing director I worked with recently. She was working a 70-hour week, constantly firefighting and convinced she couldn't spare time for anything, never mind about learning. I challenged her and we implemented what I called the 1% solution just 15 minutes a day dedicated to current leadership thinking. She didn't find even that easy, but she committed to it and within three months she discovered new approaches to delegation that freed up two hours daily. This included using AI as well, but she'd learned about psychological safety and that transformed her team dynamics. She'd applied insights from organizational change theory that streamlined a major transformation project. She told me her investment of 15 minutes daily gave her back 10 hours weekly. That's a 4,000% return on investment. Now, I'm not saying everyone will get that same return on investment, but I know that you will definitely get a big return on investment.

Speaker 1:

So what are the practical strategies for staying current in the midst of the overwhelm? How do you actually make this happen? Here are five practical strategies that I've seen work. Firstly, create micro learning habits. Instead of waiting for large blocks of time, integrate learning into existing routines. Like Sarah did, listen to leadership podcasts during commutes. Read one article while you're having your morning coffee.

Speaker 1:

The key is consistency, not duration. Secondly, connect your learning to current challenges. Don't learn in a vacuum. If you're dealing with team conflict, dive into current thinking on team dynamics Facing a major change initiative, explore the latest in change leadership. This makes learning immediately relevant and actionable. Thirdly, join learning communities, whether it's a professional association, linkedin groups or informal networks. Surrounding yourself with other learning leaders is one of the most powerful strategies you can use. The accountability and the shared insights accelerate your growth exponentially.

Speaker 1:

Fourthly, teach what you learn. Share insights with your team, write internal blogs or speak at conferences. Teaching forces deeper understanding and creates a culture of learning around you. Fifth, schedule it Like any other meeting. Put learning time in your calendar and protect it. Give yourself permission to protect it as fiercely as you would a key client or stakeholder meeting, because that's what it is. It's a meeting with your future leadership effectiveness.

Speaker 1:

Let's also think about the ripple effect. Here's what happens when leaders prioritize staying current. It creates ripples through the entire organization. Your fresh thinking sparks innovation in your team. Your questions become more insightful, your solutions become more creative. Your influence expands because you're bringing genuine value, not just positional authority. Because you're bringing genuine value, not just positional authority.

Speaker 1:

I've witnessed this transformation countless times. Leaders who commit to continuous learning don't just perform better, they inspire better performance in everyone around them. So here's my challenge to you what's one leadership concept you'll explore this week? What's one current thinker whose work you'll investigate? What's one insight you'll implement? Remember, the horizon is always moving. The moment you stop moving forward toward it is the moment you start falling behind your commitment to staying current with leadership. Thinking isn't just about your own development. It's about your responsibility to everyone you lead, everyone who depends on your decisions and everyone who's potential you're meant to unlock. Next week, on Leadership Horizons, we'll be exploring leading through ambiguity with strategies for maintaining team confidence when the path forward isn't clear. Until then, keep learning, keep growing and keep pushing your leadership horizons. I'm Lois Burton, and this has been Leadership Horizons helping you lead beyond boundaries.