Learn to Learn Again: How Coachable Are You?

The most watched TED Talk is “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” It’s been 18 years since the late Sir Ken Robinson delivered his evergreen talk, and it’s as insightful, relevant, important and funny as it was in 2006. 

One of Robinson’s key points is that we don’t know what the world will look like in a few years or even weeks — in fact, things can change in hours or minutes — so we need to teach children (and adults) how to think for themselves, not just memorize data that may become quickly outdated and irrelevant. 

Due to the speed of change and that we aren’t omniscient, we must develop a learning mindset — to keep an open, curious mind. Every day provides opportunities for learning and challenging the status quo. 

As a leader, you must keep learning and encourage others to do the same. This can be challenging, as many leaders feel they are too busy to make time for learning. 

On the other hand, most leaders also know that learning happens every day, naturally, if one always looks at situations and interactions as learning opportunities. Learning is crucial to leadership — it’s hard to lead if you don’t stay ahead. 

What Leaders Must Learn

In your role as a leader, you influence the work culture, whether you pay attention to it or not. You are a culture shaper, which means being intentional about it. And that culture is shaped by your behavior — minute by minute, hour by hour, situation by situation. Every moment counts.

A substantial aspect of leadership learning is coachability. Look around for numerous coaches around you — other leaders, colleagues, direct reports, friends and family — people who can hold up a mirror, let you see what they see and offer guidance.

When moving up the corporate ladder, many leaders lose their coachability. Seniority, both in age and experience, negatively impacts level of coachability. The more senior and experienced you are, the more you are in danger of thinking “I know best.” Even if developed unintentionally, such a mindset can suffocate collaboration, learning and innovation.

Despite having plenty of experience, this paradox can make it difficult for leaders to try new approaches and learn new things. They develop blind spots. This is most unhelpful, as coachability is critical to becoming an effective and successful leader.

According to research by Zenger Folkman, an Orem, Utah-based corporate training program developer, and Kevin Wilde, a strategic business adviser, leaders who are coachable are four times more likely to be rated as highly effective, with employee engagement scores three times higher and productivity and promotability ratings 20 times higher.

Remind yourself that nobody knows everything. An “I know best” attitude is never conducive to learning. What’s more, you may not even be aware that you have it!

A Training Camp for Coachability

• As athletes who want to win welcomes coaching, so must procurement and business leaders. How can you become more coachable? Follow these steps: 
• Think of yourself as a champion of your “game.” Invite feedback, receive it graciously and assume that those providing it mean well. Such insight might have gone unnoticed due to a personal blind spot. 
• Never take feedback personally. Listen carefully and ask questions, seeking clarification to fully understand the feedback.
• Be on the lookout for learning opportunities in all situations. Be eager to continue doing better, learning and growing.
• Get a great leadership coach you feel safe with — someone you can be honest and even vulnerable with. Being coachable means having respect for and trust in a colleague or confidant that can help you grow.

Finally, be a coach yourself! Not only will you observe and experience the transformational power of great coaching, but your example will also help foster learning and coachability in others.

First, be a role model. Show that you are coachable and share your continuous learning journey, encouraging others to do the same, Second, create a work environment psychologically safe, so admissions of imperfection are easily expressed and shared.

What is most important for you to learn right now? What steps can you take immediately to move in a direction of learning? Start building a greater culture of learning today. Put your imagination muscles to work. Envision yourself years from now: How are you staying in a learning mindset? As the world moves into an even faster pace, how will you learn to learn?

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