Learning is about YOU

May/10

Learning is about YOU

by ReThinkHR.org (@BenjaminMcCall) under Brand, Leadership, Learning, Training

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This post has a point - More about learning then anything else. A little long but bear with it! You’ve got 5 minutes right?

This is NOT about HRevolution. It’s about YOU. It’s about US!

What Will You DO!

What is this about? This is about what we expect, how we cloud and clear our thinking. This is about the way we learn, unlearn and re-learn to be effective in all walks of our life. This is about how we perceive the actions we take as a result of those perceptions. It’s about internalizing, externalizing, and ultimately about us communicating those reactions and conversations with honesty, conviction and respect.

It doesn’t matter what you love. It doesn’t matter what you hate.
It matters what you will do as a result!

This past weekend I attended HRevolution. You can read some of my pre-conference thoughts here. I personally had a great time. I personally had some great take always. I personally learned a lot about the people, the topics and the different perspectives of the attendees. I say personally because I cannot speak for anyone else. Nor can I learn for someone else. I have to understand what my expectations are and look at the structure of the environment I am in so I do not shade my own view. What is important to me is not necessarily important to everyone else. I, being an individual, need to understand that aspect for myself. Until I do, I am lost in the woods.

I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. ~Eartha Kitt

Before you make a decision on what you take away from any learning you take part in, take time to digest

Whenever you attend any conference, un-conference, leadership seminar, etc, etc you will need to take time to digest your thoughts and what you have brought back. There are agreements and disagreements on so many levels. However, anything you attend is more about the challenge to supersede the differences and come to an agreement in order to move forward. Learning can be so much more important than building consensus. There comes a time when you have to ask yourself – Will I take what I WANT or am I willing to receive what I NEED.

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts. ~ Attributed to Harry S. Truman

The Art: Moving from a Subordinate to a Management mentality

When you are an employee there are certain things you get frustrated with: like lack of control, decision making power and to some extent flexibility and autonomy of the job. Yet the role you play is often just that.

As a manager there are certain things you get frustrated with: Like lack of control, decision making power. Yet as a manager you have some flexibility and autonomy within your job, and over your subordinates.

As HR practitioners, consultants, vendors and partners; we argue and complain about the “lack of.” We do this most often instead of using the talents we have. We should involve and encourage those to make decisions in the best interest of whom we partner with.

There comes a point when you may not get any more…

There is only so much you can give and get from anything you take part in. At any event you attend it is about finding out what skills you have and the gaps you need to fill in order to be effective for what you do. If you don’t have influence, don’t allow that lack of influence to stop you from ‘trying to build relationships’ with an executive or people w/ decision making power. Don’t let your lack of position/title/influence keep you from building rapport to get that position/title/influence. You have to start somewhere, maybe that somewhere is where you are instead of when you reach where you want to be.

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
Bill Cosby

We are given a blank slate – it is up to us to decide what we will do with it.

There is a point in learning where you either “get it” or “you don’t.” I kind of talk about this in a previous post.

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. ~Winston Churchill

schoolboy 1 Learning is about YOU As with any subject: economics, geometry, chemistry, etc. that is perceived to be difficult you will either get it or you won’t. For some it is easy… you can place a piece of paper in front of you with a formula and come up with the answer in moments. For others of us, it can be difficult. We can try our best to “get it.” We can become a part of the class. Listen hard on the conversation. Press ourselves into the exercises. Practice, practice and practice; we can try hard, put our minds to it but never get the formula that others are trying to solve.

HRevolution is one of those formulas. Those who attended drove, took a bus, train or even flew to Chicago to come to a class. We took part in the discussion and the arguments. A blank slate is laid in front with a formula that we could begin to solve. Some of us have what we believe to be answers that we plan to spread within and outside of the profession. Some just don’t get it and may never get it. Let’s breathe and tell ourselves, THIS IS OK!

The key is to recognize how far we can go with what we have and decide

I know what I have to do… or
Is this for me… or
Maybe it’s time I call it like it is and put my efforts and talent toward something I do get…

It’s a tough choice to make. But the choices we make define us. How will you define yourself? Will you live with the choices you make or be defined by those that make the choices for you?

This is Leadership Development

What some experience is not a walk-me-through, step-by-step, I-will-have-all-the-answers-when-I’m-done process. It is a process of discovery. Whenever we go through a process of discovery we can become frustrated. The next steps are not always easy to define and I will tell you that this frustration is exactly what upper-management and c-level executive experience. You aren’t handed all the answers. You don’t always ask the right questions. You move from the mindset of being given all the policies, procedures and rules of engagement to working from scratch and operating within the gray and undefined lines of strategy. You start from scratch.

For these reasons, the un-conference atmosphere is really an exercise and seminar in “leadership development” training. What you are forced to do is re-think how you approach and move forward within the context you are in. You have to move from… You need to give me what I want, tell me what I need to do… to Maybe what I want is not what I need, maybe I need to re-evaluate and start to adjust my thinking and the thinking of those around me.

For those questioning the next steps and what to do, there are essentially 4 choices you can make:

Learn more to prepare you for the future within your organization and/or your career.
Engage those in an organization that have power. Build the courage to challenge them in a way that makes them Re-Think HR (subliminal message… ummm J)
Feel lost in the next steps and become complacent in your job (there is no shame in this! Those who acknowledge these acts and still go to work every day are stronger than 86% of Americans)