If You’re Not Learning, You’re Losing

Lee Hackett
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read

I was attending a brand engagement workshop (in other words, how to get more sales by using data), in a big global tech company, and there was one very senior VP who just wasn’t into it. In fact, he was pushing back against a lot of what we were advising due to the fact he simply didn’t know anything about the language of sales and marketing. It got to the point where I had to address it. Now, the easy thing would have been to just tell him to ‘get with it’ because ‘it’s your job’ and if you don’t, ‘you’ll fail and you will ultimately lose it’.

I did not go with that option.

Instead, at lunch, I asked him what really got him going. What was he actually passionate about? He responded with fitness. He loved weight training, athletics and personal fitness. The whole world of it. To the extent he knew what macro nutrients he needed to eat in order to put on 5kg of muscle in 3 months. He knew what all his running times were. You name it, he could have talked for hours on the subject (it happened to be a mutual interest of ours so there was a danger of that happening!).

Then I asked him about his job.

What were his sales targets? What did he achieve last month? Last week? What was he doing to get better? What self development was he doing to improve his knowledge of his industry and performance? What training courses was he looking to take to improve?

He crumbled. He had absolutely no idea. I’d scratched the surface and it was wafer thin.

This guy was walking around with only a thin veneer of knowledge and now he was starting to get caught out by the market. I pointed out that he was spending at least 8 hours a day in this job, late nights and weekend catch ups. 8 hours plus and he was sleepwalking it. That it was worth approaching his professional life with the same keenness as he did his personal fitness. Or find a new job that would let him.

Why would you not treat that portion of your day with the same attitude and passion as you would the rest of your life? His answer was a modern classic.

Well, I work to live!

This is where people get it wrong. You cannot separate work and life. It’s all about life. A big philosophical claim, I know, and something for another time. Right now, I want to focus on this perceived chasm between work and life that holds people back from achieving their full potential during what time is given to them in their professional life.

Countless business biographies attest to the benefits of continuous learning and contemporary bestsellers provide the science and data behind the premise that it improves your life; personally and professionally. At the bare minimum, it paves the way for hitting bonuses, making a promotion and keeping the job. So why does this lax attitude prevail?

For me, it is an absolute necessity to take the time out to read books, watch videos, listen to podcasts and learn. This wasn’t an easy practice to begin with. Just like with exercise, the first few times are tough going and the payoffs aren’t immediate. But I stuck with it and in time, began to see the value and power in it.

When I take time away from the meetings, the calls, the deals, the management and financial demands of leading a business, it feels great to know I am still in control of where I spend my time. I open up the pages, I put my headphones in and listen. Then I’m focused on the material and only that.

Now, I’m completely confident that all this is more than meditation. I know that this practice will inform my ability in the business world, when I go back to it. Not only will it increase my knowledge base, it will go deeper — spur on new ideas, lead me to ask new questions, make new connections and, humbly, point out flaws in myself and my business that I’ve been overlooking.

If you’re not pushing your limits through deliberate learning, you will find it harder to stay afloat in today’s knowledge economy. But how do you uncover that hunger to learn? In next week’s blog, I explore the vital link between passion and career progression, and how these two factors must coexist if you want to achieve more for yourself and for your business.

Thanks for reading! For more related content, connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Lee Hackett

Written by

Family first. CEO @thisisbluprint. Investor. Speaker. Podcast series host. Data | Technology | Business | #EntrepreneurFit

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade