Be more Michelangelo in your leadership: be a lifelong learner

Michelangelo, the great Renaissance artist, is credited with writing this inscription on a sketch he was working on, at the ripe age of 87. 

Some debate over the accuracy of the attribution exists, but even the possibility that he did is an inspiring reminder for the rest of us of the power of lifelong learning.

And if you’re a leader that’s especially true: the best leaders have an appetite for lifelong learning, they never see themselves as ‘done’. 

Why are the best leaders lifelong learners?

As seminal research by Daniel Goleman, Jim Collins and others has evidenced, the most effective modern leaders have the humility to know that they don’t know all the answers and the curiosity to keep seeking them. 

That humble learning orientation is often an innate quality of good leaders: they just always believe they can improve. As author and speaker Simon Sinek puts it “the best leaders don‘t consider themselves experts, they consider themselves students.”

Those student leaders also understand that leadership is something you can learn, which helps them engage with the challenge with energy and tenacity. 

My ‘Made Not Born’ podcast series on learning to lead for creativity is inspired by that truth: that successful leaders bring talent and often vision to a role of course, but get really great at it through a journey of trial, error and constant learning. 

The best leaders also know the landscape around them is evolving constantly and they need to keep absorbing new knowledge and skills to lead through shifting sands. That’s never been truer than now: even the most confident leaders have had to embrace new learning as they’ve worked out how to lead through the pandemic. 

Learning can be uncomfortable and effortful: it’s easier to assume you’re done. 

But learning can also be fulfilling and fascinating, and it’s a passport to sustained success as a modern leader.

Of course we all have different learning needs and approaches. But whatever it is you need to learn, or whatever your preferred learning style, there are some universal ways of engaging with the learning process that can help us be more Michelangelo. Here are three… 

1. Work out what you need to unlearn

In my recent podcast chat with the inspiring Peter Souter (a creative leader deeply committed to lifelong learning), he highlighted the importance of unlearning. 

That’s long been a part of the learning journey into modern leadership (for example leaders needing to unlearn being the one who always solves problems in order to learn to coach their team to solve problems themselves instead). But as Peter pointed out in our chat, the pandemic has made it imperative for leaders to have the willingness and agility to unlearn old behaviours to make space for new ones.  

What old assumptions and behaviours might you be holding onto as a leader, that are blocking the path to the fresh insights and skills you need now? What do you need to unlearn to make space for new learning?

2. Adopt a growth mindset

Carol Dweck’s influential work on the growth mindset is a profoundly helpful compass for a leaders’ lifelong learning journey.

Because people with a growth mindset believe that they can keep developing their talents, and as Dweck says, “they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning”.  

A growth mindset is energising and resilient. It sounds like “I can’t yet, but I’m learning…” or “I didn’t do that well, but how could I do it better next time?” It’s about reframing failure as an opportunity to learn, facing setbacks with fascination not frustration, and becoming consciously open-minded about how we can grow. 

The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset, which can be exhausting and confidence draining. Fixed mindset sounds like “I can’t” and “I could never”. 

Growth mindset is not a birth-right. We can all get triggered into the insecurity of a fixed mindset, so developing a growth mindset is an active, ongoing choice to notice when we are limiting ourselves and choose instead to lean into learning. 

3. Help yourself retain what you’ve learned

One of the great challenges of the learning process is retaining what you’ve learned! 

Different techniques work for different people of course, but overall I think it’s about relevance and memorability: practical ways to make learning stick in ways that you actually use. 

I’m passionate about relevance and memorability as a leadership coach, always thinking about how to help my clients make their learning digestible and sticky. I use one-page summaries, alliterative lists and memorable phrases to help my clients retain key insights, for example. And I always ask my podcast guests to give me their greatest lesson as if ‘on a postcard’ as a memorable full-stop to our chat! 

Actionability is obviously a key driver of retention too, and again, something that (like any coach) I work with my clients on. Use it or lose it, to coin a phrase! 

So whatever you’re learning – taking an insight from a great book, listening in to a webinar – remember to self-coach with the question “what can I usefully do with this learning now?” Something small is usually the best way to start – try a new skill out on one person, for example.

‘Teach to learn’ is another classic way of retaining learning. Cascading your learning through your teams is an effective way of making sure you’ve digested the learning yourself as well as inspiring and useful to them, of course. So who would benefit from learning what you’ve learned recently? And what can they teach you in return?

The ability to keep learning is a gift and one of the things that can make the demanding daily challenges of leadership stay energising and enjoyable. 

What are you going to learn this week? 

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