Thoughts on: Willingness to learn

Willingness to learn

BY CHUCK MORRIS

“A key characteristic for leaders to have is the willingness to learn and grow in their own professional development.” Why Leaders Should be Learners – Cornerstone University

In our business managing and leading others should never stop your learning. If you think to yourself after hearing that, “heck, I don’t have time to keep learning or, why should I keep learning?” you have best think again!

Take a look at the past few years (even through COVID) and write down what you have learned through webinars, specific focused learning modules, classroom learning through one of the many associations any number of us may belong to, or some other method. If you learn on a continuous cycle, good for you. Learning must never stop.

I provide sessions for my team through EFMA and in house, as well as what I call PUSH WEDNESDAY. Push Wednesday is an email sent out first thing on Wednesday morning to all my exempt staff, containing motivational and learning videos on a wide variety of topics. These range from approximately a few minutes up to 15 minutes. This breaks up the week slightly and allows them to think about what they are watching or listening to. It is a valuable tool. I have used it to address minor issues that may have popped up during our course of business each day. These are valuable nuggets and worth the effort. If interested, I will offer to send to the reader the Word document that lists hundreds of url links. These are on just a few pages so is not a large document.

Do you or your manager(s) deal with mistakes as a teachable moment? Instead of placing fiery blame on a staff member, turn it around and go over how things need to be done or what someone needs to be aware of. That works far better than putting someone on the spot and under duress.

Hopefully you have mastered the core leadership practices such as: Be a Role Model | Make an Impact | Follow a Vision | Encourage Collaboration | Be and Remain Positive. From Science of People by Vanessa Van Edwards.

If you do not fit into these five core values, pick one and start. These are essential for you to succeed and to allow those under you to succeed if they want to become a good manager (leader) as well. Then continue learning every day, week, month, and year. Information and techniques on how to do something better is always a great start.

Look around you. If you see someone doing something that makes an impression on you, have a closer look. It is not wrong to follow what someone else does if it improves your knowledge or improves your relationships with others.

The key here is to continue learning. Learn the best techniques on how to be the best in your role and how to help your reports learn from you. This is your WILLINGNESS to LEARN! n

We are Building Envelope Consultants with over 50 years of combined experience in the Building Envelope field of construction.

Apex Building Sciences Inc. (APEX) is an engineering /consulting firm specialized in the total building envelope. Envelopes include walls, roofs, windows, doors, decks/balconies, plaza decks with landscaping.

Services for Existing Buildings we offer include:

• Building Envelope Assessment Reviews for repairs/ remediation/warranties • Second Opinion Assessment/Peer Review • Budgets for repairs/remediation

Design services for repairs/remediation including options for:

• procurement/tender • obtain permits • create contracts • field reviews • contract administration

Our services are engaged by a diverse range of clients across British Columbia and Alberta for single family dwellings, Strata townhouse/condo complexes, commercial buildings/residential buildings.

301D-30721 Simpson Rd. Abbotsford, BC, V2T 6Y7 Office: 604-575-8220 info@apexbe.com www.apexbuildingsciences.com