The importance of continuous learning as a Leader
I read a few years ago the concept of 1556 and 1591 regarding continuous learning. This is simply if you read 15 minutes every work day it amounts to 56 hours of learning in the year and if it is every day of the year it is 91 hours of learning!
In today's fast-paced world, it is very easy to be caught up in the rat race of every day stuff. However, I think as a leader it is essential to be continually learning in order to seek to stay relevant and effective in our field.
Whilst I would not profess to have developed the 15 minute every day habit, I do try to consume a high number of books and articles each year and enjoy it as part of my personal learning and development.
Personally, I find there are many benefits to reading and continuous learning as a leader of a Venture Capital team including -
Keeping up with industry trends: As a leader, I think it is important to stay informed about the latest trends, technologies, and practices in your industry.
Developing new skills and ideas: As a leader, you need to adapt to new challenges and opportunities. I think self-learning allows you to acquire new skills and knowledge that can help you stay ahead of the curve and respond effectively to any situation.
Inspiring your team: As a leader, I believe you set the tone for your team. When you demonstrate a commitment to self-learning and continuous improvement, you hopefully inspire your team members to do the same.
A fellow avid reader and my colleague at Mercia Ventures Stephen Johnson shared this link with me recently that lists all of Amazons top selling books each year since 1995.
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It is fascinating to see how the subjects have changed over the years but a large proportion of the books are educational in some way or the other.
One of the books featured regularly between 2003 and 2013 is my most recommended and gifted book. It is Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni and I have attempted to implement his simple but highly effective framework with a number of companies I have ran or advised over the years.To this day I implement the building trust exercise with every new leadership team I join.
However, a word of caution to the above from personal experience. Be careful how you implement some of your learnings as when I was a first time CEO running my medtech company, I received the feedback from my team that I was changing tack too often based on the latest book I had read. So do take care how you implement your learnings with your team.
Fellow leaders what are your thoughts on reading and self learning?
Are you a fellow Patrick Lencioni disciple?
What is your most gifted/recommended book?
Have a good day!
Great post Peter Dines. My most gifted is “The Culture Map” by Erin Meyer a superb and incredibly practical book on international culture. Closely followed by “Belonging” by Owen Eastwood which really digs into teams and togetherness in a brilliant way. On the flip side and somewhat dated I had 3 book’s recommended to me on my first week in the MedTech industry. All had an impact on me: “7 Habits” Stephen M. R. Covey “Unlimited Power” Tony Robbins “How to win friends and influence people” Dale Carnegie
Thank you for sharing. It’s amazing how 15 mins per day can build up over a year. I’m sure I have 15 mins per day, but sometimes doesn’t feel like it! I completely agree that continuous learning is a must. Seven habits of highly effective people was probably the most impactful book. I tried to read it in my early 20’s, failed, and re-read 10 years later and thought it was the best book I’d ever read. Reminds me of the quote ‘When the student is ready the teacher will appear’.
Thanks Peter Dines for reminding us that we should never stop learning!
Back in the day, to help broaden knowledge and to understand the diverse opinions of people and our prospective investees' customers, I used to read skim read FT, Guardian, Telegraph, Sun and Express every day. This helped avoid the pitfall of only investing in people like us or in products/services we liked! Four of those titles are so brit-centric and ownership biased and now, for a more outside the box and outside the UK perspective, I subscribe to unherd
Totally agree with this. In the words of President Harry Truman: “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers”