Are you evolving?
I attended a professional conference today for training professionals and conducted one of the breakout sessions. On the way home I was listening to the monthly audio magazine put out by the National Speakers Association and they were talking about the importance of learning and growing, thus evolving. I started reflecting on my day’s learning. I always find it invigorating and it challenges me to try something I haven’t done before even if it is tiring sometimes.
Evolution is about learning and growing to not only meet the needs of today but ensure you will be around tomorrow. It is sometimes difficult to take time to learn something new, but it’s what professionals do. If I want to consider myself a professional, I have to take ownership of my learning. No one will care as much about my survival as me. If you are waiting for someone to develop you, I wonder what you have done to take the first step for yourself. Leaders lead the way. If you want your employees to be interested in learning something new, you have to also be a lifelong learner.
The other piece of learning is sharing what you know. Find a way to magnify your value by teaching it to someone else. You not only grow yourself by learning it deeper, you help someone else move along in their evolution.
