One of the key things we can do to create a culture of learning at work is role model our own learning. When leaders share their learning experiences, it inspires other people to embrace learning too. So, follow these five steps to role model your learning now.
Step One: Start with a Plan
Start by working through your own personal development plan to figure out what knowledge, skills, or behaviours you’d like to work on. Schedule time right now to do this. If you have a more formal process for your employees to set their development goals, work through that yourself.
Step Two: Share your Plan
You might want to talk about your plan with your team so that they know what you’re planning to develop. If this feels a bit too ‘forced’, consider how else you can share your intentions with your staff. For example, could you post in a Teams channel asking for recommendations of a course, book or podcast on a particular subject you want to learn about?
Step Three: Learn Out Loud
As you work through your plan, ‘learn out loud’ by scheduling time in your calendar to learn (and make those appointments visible). Share what you learn each day or week either in Slack or Teams or during team meetings. Tell people you’re trying something new and ask for their feedback when you do.
Step Four: Share your Learning
Once you’ve completed the course or finished the book, write or record a brief review, outlining the key things you learned from it. Share it with your employees and your network. This not only inspires others to learn more, but it also helps you to more fully understand what you’ve learned.
Step Five: Rinse and Repeat
This is key – keep going! If you get to step five and it feels like no one is interested, keep going anyway. Culture changes always take time, so don’t give up. Keep going, keep sharing, keep learning and you WILL inspire others to join in.
Create your Learning Culture Now
Which of these steps feels like the most doable for you right now? Share in the comments and tell us when and how you’ll do it.