Learning

Learning: Strategies for Continuous Improvement

To learn means to acquire knowledge, skill, or information. You can learn by study, by example, and most of all, by experience. In some respects, we can't stop ourselves from learning

Learning enriches our environment. When a person who can't read learns to do so, for example, he doesn't just learn to put letters together to make words. He opens up whole new worlds. He increases tremendously not only his opportunities to succeed in the world, but also his ability to make a contribution to it. It's the snowball effect at work. You never know where the one thing you learn today will lead you tomorrow. As the famous orator Frederick Douglass said, "A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people."

All of our senses provide us with information. We are not all intellectually equal, but we are all able to take in new information, to form ideas, to change our lives. Learning is an equal opportunity employer.

The Power of Learning

I was an average student in high school. Although my parents always wanted me to study, I rarely did; I could never get excited about learning. I took a year off after high school and then went to college. It wasn't until I took one particular course that I realized how important learning would become to my future. This time I studied, and this time I made the dean's list.
The course was called Learning Techniques and it was taught by a wonderful man named Adolph Capriolo. He taught us how to read more effectively and the best ways to take a test. He taught us how to think and how to understand situations more clearly. What he taught me and what really got me excited about learning was that I had something to offer— I had the ability to learn, to achieve, and to learn some more. This is what this book is about—that learning is a continuous adventure. And it is an adventure that starts in childhood.

I have interviewed many famous doctors, and they have all agreed on one point—that it is important to establish learning patterns early, when the brain is most receptive. The brain is maximally plastic up until the age of eight. Up until then, it is possible, for instance, for one portion of the brain to take over for another injured part. After the age of eight, this becomes increasingly difficult.

There are two important things you can do to instill the love of learning in children:

Communicate with them. Read to them all the time. Take them places out of the ordinary, such as petting zoos, hands-on museums, and parks. Spend time with your children, and answer their questions (even if they seem silly).

Give them love and recognition. Praise them for learning new things and for jobs well done. Let them know that you are excited when they learn new things.

A TIME Magazine article from 1997 titled "Fertile Minds" claims that studies have shown that babies even as young as two-and-a-half months can learn and remember visual sequences and simple mechanical tasks. Five-month-olds can grasp the basic concepts of addition and subtraction. Six-month-olds can recognize language, long before they know how to speak. Infants even seem to have an innate understanding of the laws of physics, of how the world is supposed to work (for example, that objects can't hang in midair by themselves or pass through solid barriers). If this is how much we're capable of before we're even 1 year old, imagine what the adult mind can do!

You have one life; you have one chance to learn as much as you can and reach your highest potential. The only way you can discover that potential is to experiment and experience, to use your mind and body fully, and to engage yourself totally in life. You are a perfect instrument for testing what you see, hear, feel, smell, and touch. The more you engage your senses, the more you can experience and understand the world around you. Ask yourself, "Have I explored this subject with every level of understanding I have? Have I gone as deep as I can go? Have I been thinking creatively? Have I remained focused? Do I understand the truth of this experience?"
Always remember that the best way to learn is through action—to fail, to fall, to rise up, and try again. Nothing replaces the understanding you get through experience, through totally immersing yourself in an activity so that all your senses are involved. As author John Holt said:
"Not long ago I began to play the cello. Most people would say that what I am doing is 'learning to play' the cello. But these words carry into our minds the strange idea that there exist two very different processes: one, learning to play the cello; and two, playing the cello. They imply that I will do the first until I have completed it, at which point I will stop the first process and begin the second. In short, I will go on 'learning to play' until I have 'learned to play' and then I will begin to play. Of course, this is nonsense. There are not two processes, but one. We learn to do something by doing it. There is no other way."

Or, as science fiction author Ray Bradbury put it, "First you jump off the cliff, and you build your wings on the way down."

Communication

What Is Communication?

There are many ways to define communication. The simplest definition is simply to "make known." Another definition is "to give or interchange thoughts, feelings, information, or the like, by writing, speaking, signs, etc." To me, communication is making connections. Take Helen Keller for instance. She wasn't able to communicate until she learned to connect objects with words. But she didn't stop there. Despite the fact that her physical senses may have been limited, she used her whole self to make connections with others.

Those are the connections that are the foundation for effective communication. It is part of a cycle: The more you connect with people, the stronger your communication becomes; the stronger your communication, the better you connect with people. So how do you go about strengthening those connections? By spreading value and by concentrating on what you can add to a situation, as opposed to what you can get from it. When you do this, you find that people are more receptive to you, they want to listen to you, be with you, and work with you because of the value you're adding.

The Power of Communication

Most of the time, we think of communication as talking. I talk to you, you talk back to me—we're communicating. But to me, there is a larger definition of communication that has to do with seeing your place in the world. To me, communication is a threefold process.

It begins with a deep and rich understanding of the environment in which we live—an open, ongoing awareness of everything around you so that you are able to take advantage of every situation in which you find yourself. Second, it is a deep and rich understanding of the people around you, your contacts and connections, so that you may bring value to them. And third, it is delivering that value.

Step 1:
Understand your environment. Communication is most effective when undertaken from a strong vantage point, when you have the highest awareness of what is going on around you. As Ming-Dao Deng says in his book, 365 Tao: Daily Meditations, "...a wise person who lives high in the mountains and who is not blinded by...intellectuality, poor health or greed, will be better able to see events in the distance than one who lives in a closed room, eyes on some obscure project. A storm does not happen abruptly, it takes hours, sometimes days to develop. Travelers do not arrive suddenly. They can be seen in the distance. Knowing things in advance is possible with a high vantage point." A practical interpretation of that passage means that it's critical to "work from the mountaintop."
Here's an example of how this works. I have a product that I'm marketing. I want to connect with a particular company even though I don't know anyone there. I start at the top, and call CEO of that company first. I explain my reason for calling, and she likes what she hears.
She says, "I want you to call my vice president of product development. I give the green light, but I want him to look into this." I say I would, but first I ask her, "What are some of the challenges your company is going through, and what is your overall goal?" She tells me what her company is trying to accomplish, and what challenges they face.
Now that this vision is communicated to me, I can speak to the vice president of product development with a focused understanding of the company's vision and how my product can help them reach their goals. My communication becomes much stronger when the link comes from people who have a bigger picture of what's going on. Obviously, the CEO has the clearest view of how the company works. By starting from that position, I am working from the strongest vantage point.
Step 2:
Understand the people around you. Focus on other people's goals and challenges. You'll be amazed at the many ways you find you can be of service to others. Simply by really listening to the other person, you are strengthening your connection and building rapport. It creates a comfort level that enables communication to be relaxed and natural. That caring and connection will always come back to you in the circle of things, without you having to ask.
Step 3:
Deliver the value. Follow through on actions you said you'd take. If you promised to introduce someone to another person in your circle, do so. If you find a magazine article or book that might be of interest, recommend it (or send it directly to them). Write thank you notes. Do whatever you can to be true to your word and your purpose.

Leadership

Who Is a Leader?

The dictionary defines a leader as a "guiding or directing head." A leader can be anyone, and anyone can be a leader. You don't have to be in a position of authority to be a leader. There are many leaders who are in positions of authority, and their leadership is clearly visible. There are others, though, who are leaders by example. They may stay behind the scenes, yet they have great influence over people they meet.

Think about teachers, for example. Do they not "direct" our children? Are they not guides for our future generations? Yet we don't often think of them as leaders. And what about parents? Every parent is a leader, whether he or she wants to be or not. As the old saying goes, "We lead by example." Our children follow what we do, so we must accept that mantle of leadership with great care and responsibility.

And what about each one of us? Can we all be leaders? We can if we have a worthy goal in mind and are not just pursuing selfish ends. We can if we are passionate about what we want to do and pass that passion onto those around us. We can if we care about others and help them achieve their goals, too. We need not look far to find a leader, we need only look inside ourselves.

Traits of Great Leaders

They are realistically positive. A great leader doesn't have pie-in-the-sky optimism, thinking that everything will always turn out for the best. But great leaders do believe in the great possibility of success and are willing to take the actions necessary to get there. They expect things to turn out well and have confidence in their own abilities to make that happen.

They inspire, they don't dictate. Great leaders are there to help, but they encourage people to solve their own problems. If someone comes to them with a problem, they say, "What do you think you should do?" They know how to inspire somebody to get motivated so that the person becomes excited about the possibilities that lay ahead.

They surround themselves with success. They create a very strong environment where they live and where they work. They are focused on keeping things around that elevate their success. They also surround themselves with other successful people. They share ideas with others in their industry and welcome input from their peers and colleagues.

They have a passion for what they do. Passion means having a deep love, respect, and commitment for what you do personally and professionally. It's possible to be a leader at something you hate, but not for long. Some people find their passion very early in life; others wander from here to there until they discover their life's work.

But all great leaders eventually find vocations they truly love. They are excited and enthusiastic about what they do, and they pass that on to those around them. Once a person discovers his or her passion in life, it becomes like a magnet, drawing them inevitably closer to success, and drawing others along with them.

They communicate and speak from the heart. They are able to connect with people. The greatest leaders are the ones who are spontaneous. They know their overall mission, they know what they want to say, and they can say it without depending solely on a written script. They have a message that they want to share that comes from their passion, and they can share it without preaching or shouting. Their sincerity comes through in their words as well as in their deeds.

They have goals and a vision. They focus on what they want to achieve, establish priorities, and know what they have to do in order to keep moving forward. They always have a specific destination in mind. Their goals provide them with purpose and allow them to wake up each morning energized and looking forward to the tasks they know must be accomplished that day. Leaders are part of teams, and their goals are tied in with the goals of the team.
In the movie Any Given Sunday, Al Pacino, who plays the role of a head coach of a pro football team, tries to encourage a young quarterback by telling him what a former quarterback, who was at the end of his career, said about leading the team: "Do you know what I'll miss the most? I'll miss looking down the field with the team." A great leader not only looks at the goal, but gets the whole team to look at the same goal.

They achieve plans through their people, not for them. There is an old saying that goes, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." That is the mantra of a perfectionist, not a leader. Leaders let their people do what they were hired for, even if it means that they make the occasional mistake. They are grateful for what they have been able to achieve, and are happy to help others do the same. Great leaders are able to see the potential in other people, and to allow them the time and space they need to develop it. As William H. Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina and author of I Dare You! once said, "Catch a passion for helping others and a richer life will come back to you."

They are bone honest. They say what they mean and they mean what they say. Jimmy Johnson, coach of the Dallas Cowboys, believes that this is the way to motivate people. Each year, during training camp, he has to encourage nervous, anxious rookies. So at the end of day, he'll tell each one about the good things they did on the field that day and say, "We think you can play here. We like you." And he means it. Says Johnson, "Sincerity is the most important part of positive treatment. The only thing worse than a coach or CEO who doesn't care about his people is one who pretends to care."

They maintain a sense of humor. Humor breaks down barriers. I was conducting a seminar recently for a Fortune 500 company. At the company-wide meeting before the seminars began, the CEO took part in a skit in which he made fun of himself. He took a risk doing this, as it might have made him appear foolish. But it had the opposite effect. It took him out of the category of CEO and made him appear human. It made him seem like a real, approachable person and transformed his employees' feelings toward him. Great leaders aren't funny all the time (they take their business very seriously). They don't necessarily have a great sense of humor—but they know when a little levity can ease a tense situation and make everyone feel a bit more comfortable.

They cultivate awareness. Leaders concentrate on the big picture, and all their actions are geared towards turning that picture into reality. They are often visionaries, and can see the great possibilities that can come from staying on the path they have undertaken. They see themselves as successful before they ever reach their goals. They are constantly looking out for the opportunities that surround them so that they can steer their ship in the right direction.

Great leaders hire great people. Great leaders know their own weaknesses, and hire people whose strengths fill in the gaps. They're not interested in "yes men" or people who do nothing but make the leader look good. They want people who fill in any gaps and make the strongest team possible.

Leaders are mentors and leaders have mentors. When leaders have problems, they have a core group of people the can call upon for help and advice. Every leader has to make difficult decisions. It's always good to consult someone who's been there before, someone who's wiser and more experienced than you. Leaders are also mentors to others. They are as generous with their wisdom as others are with theirs.

They have a commitment to service. A few years ago, I saw a book with the title, The Customer Comes Second. In business, you're always taught that the customer comes first. Who could come before the customer? According to this book, your employees come first. If they feel valued and respected, they will value and respect your customers in turn. Great leaders take care of their employees, and their customers get taken care of in the long run.

They are constantly learning. Leaders are readers. They read about their industry. They read about current events. They read about history. They read biographies of men and women who have accomplished much in their lives. They learn by taking action. Nothing teaches better than experience, and great leaders are constantly open to new experiences. They explore new interests. They learn new skills for business and for pleasure. They practice the fundamentals of their business so that once learned, they have a skill for life

They have faith in themselves first. Mark Twain once said, "Fear came knocking at the door, faith answered, and no one was there." Great leaders have to have faith in themselves and in their abilities because they communicate this faith to those around them. Of course, they have moments of doubt and fear just like everyone else. But they don't dwell on them. They acknowledge those moments and let them pass. They exude confidence, and their belief in their vision is so strong that other people can't help but believe as well.

They deliver on promises, or they don't make them. Great leaders do not make promises lightly. They know that they will remain leaders only as long as they have the trust and loyalty of their "followers." If they break their word, they break that trust. They destroy their own integrity, and once destroyed, it is difficult to regain.

They are flexible,They are focused,They are flawed, but they have diamond potential,They understand that recognition is a powerful motivator,They expect excellence and push beyond,They turn adversity into opportunity,They have fun

The Leaders People Hate...

Have no energy and low enthusiasm.

Have no vision.

Are willing to settle for average performance.

Take credit for everything.

Are blame-assigners.

Are glued to their desks.

Care more about their commission than about their people.

Lack communication skills.

Let their friends stop pulling their weight.

Don't stand behind their team.

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. —Norman Schwarzkopf,U.S. military leader

Self-Awareness

Isn't it amazing how unaware we can become of our thoughts, actions and behavior, howstubbornly we follow the same route, and how perplexed we feel when we don't seem tobe achieving or progressing? If we remain on the same road, keep doing the same things,and don't endeavor to introduce change into our lives, then how can we expect things tochange for us? There is always the frantic search for the 'quick fix' in an effort to changeovernight what has taken a lifetime to create - our behavior!

The current emphasis on developing a Positive Mental Attitude is very laudable, butunfortunately it takes a little more than just a shift in attitude to undo the damage that wehave allowed to creep into our lifestyle through our behavior. We need to change ourbehavior before we can expect things to change for us in any radical manner. Wouldn't itbe great if we could just 'think' ourselves out of situations? We have to 'behave'ourselves out of these situations, by unlearning some of the bad behaviors and habits wehave developed. It's really a reconditioning process, because most of our habits andcomfort zones are the results of conditioning in one form or another.

"The wise leader does not try to protect people from themselves.The light of awareness shines equally on what is pleasant and onwhat is unpleasant" - The Tao of Leadership

Emotional Intelligence

Introduction

Emotional Intelligence refers to the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships

We are taught that emotions should be felt and expressed in carefully controlled ways, and then only in certain environments and at certain times. This is especially true when at work. It is considered terribly unprofessional to express emotion while on the job.

We believe that this view of emotion is incorrect. After 300 million years—give or take a few million—human brains have gotten bigger and more complex but still have the wiring for emotion. The emotion centers of the brain are not relegated to a secondary place in our thinking and reasoning but instead are an integral part of what it means to think,reason, and be intelligent.

The Emotionally Unintelligent Manager Approach

As managers, we have been buffeted by many a management fad and exhortation to develop new skills or risk certain failure. So we’ve dutifully gone to often terrific and valuable courses on creative thinking, quality circles, and self-directed work teams. We have also been exposed to other training efforts of more dubious quality and utility. Is emotional intelligence just another course, a passing fad? Or is it something new and of lasting value? After all, anyone who has even minimal work experience knows that emotional skills are not a prerequisite for being hired or promoted. The workplace abounds with stories of emotionally unintelligent managers who were considered successful—at least to a certain point.