Brian Posen Explains Why Leaders Should Never Stop Learning
Whether leaders are born or made is a debate for another time, but one thing is for certain: good leaders learn. Self-awareness combined with skill and character development are necessary for a leader to be the best they can possibly be. Leaders need to ensure they are constantly learning in order to grow and evolve. More specifically, they should be learning about who they are and their own personalities, about their relationships, both personal and professional, and about their careers. And finally, they should never stop learning about other leaders, especially those they aspire to be like. Ultimately, this process of learning not only enriches people on a personal level but can have hugely positive consequences for your career. Some leaders have found that being open to learning has saved their company, preventing it from becoming complacent or failing. While others have realized that making their informal educational journey known to their employees has helped build a mutual respect and loyalty. All this to say, it is imperative for leaders to never stop learning if they wish to be successful.
Brian Posen, a Chicago native, has been in multiple leadership roles throughout his career and knows firsthand how true this is. Posen is an accomplished actor, director, and producer who served as program director at The Second City for many years and was the founding director of The Cupid Players, a traveling musical sketch group. He then went on to found Stage 773, where he was also the creative director. Further, Posen founded, and executive produced The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival, which hosts approximately 160 ensembles in the largest comedy festival nationwide. Thus, Posen is no stranger to being a leader. Throughout his career, he has always made a point of reflecting on his leadership habits and learning from those around him, to ensure he is the best leader he can be.
Tips To Ensure You Never Stop Learning
1. Listen Actively
When you’re able to learn something from a colleague or friend, make sure that you listen to what they say. Chicago’s Brian Posen urges leaders to practice active listening to ensure that you both hear and retain what they are teaching you. This might sound obvious, but it is essential if you wish to learn new information and use it in the future.
2. Take the Time to Think
Again, this might sound obvious, but Brian Posen believes that many people get so bogged down with the day to day, that they end up stuck in a routine that may not be working for themselves or those around them. That is why Posen recommends dedicating time every day to thinking. Block off a chunk of time in your schedule for a brainstorming session. Posen prefers to do this at the end of the day so he can take a mental evaluation of everything that’s gone on up until that point. Consider each task you did today, mentally noting which went well and which did not go as expected. This will help you realize which areas of work or your life can be improved and gives you the foresight to make these changes. Ultimately, stopping and thinking is a simple yet effective exercise that will ensure you are learning from your own experiences and enacting positive changes as a result.
3. Familiarize Yourself with Technology
Technology might seem scary, especially to those who haven’t grown up with it, but it is undeniably a huge part of our everyday lives. It’s also an industry that’s making advances at an astonishing rate, which might be intimidating to some. However, Brian Posen recommends not shying away from technology, as familiarizing yourself with new technology is one of the best ways to open yourself up to learning. Keeping up to date on the latest innovations will not only lead to growth and evolution in your own life, but in most cases, technology boosts productivity and efficiency in the workplace.
4. Connect with Your Employees
Spending quality time with one’s employees is an excellent way for a leader to learn something new. Getting to know other people and learning about their personal and professional experiences is invaluable information for a leader. In addition to signaling to your employees that you care, connecting with others provides leaders with an opportunity to put what they’ve learned about each employee into action. With this new information, leaders can consider how they can help those around them. Become a mentor and foster a positive work environment that your employees will be grateful for. Sure, you may not have gone through experiences that allow you to relate to every single person in your workplace, but that’s not a problem so long as you listen to your co-workers and continue to be open to learning about and bettering their roles at the company.
