Email this page to a Colleague
	Print this Page

Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential
Issue 5.4 - January 28, 2007 - ISSN: 1551-6571

In Kevin's Own Words

Training is an Event, Learning is a Process

I say that phrase often.

It’s part of my personal philosophy, and it’s part of my business philosophy.

Let me explain…

People around the world (you included) buy learning materials, books, audio programs, webinars, tele-seminars and attend lectures and workshops every day. These learning options exist whether you want to learn about leadership, leopards, or being a lifeguard.

Companies and organizations everywhere organize and fill workshops and classes continually, because they want to invest in their employees’ and team members’ education and learning.

All of these activities make sense; we want to be able to learn or do more, and our life experience says that a classroom (i.e. school) or reading (i.e. books, etc.) are the ways to learn something new.

Unfortunately a large percentage of these investments of time, money and effort in these courses, books and programs are wasted. Books don’t get opened, tele-seminars aren’t attended, workshops are forgotten and much more. It isn’t really the fault of the author, instructional designer or trainer for these problems. While there are things that these people can do to improve the results gained from their products, in the end it isn’t their responsibility.

It is the learner’s responsibility.

That means it is our responsibility.

And as long as we carry an “event” mindset, we won’t get the results we hope for. Because learning is a process, but all of the programs, classes and books are just events; and we don’t learn in a lasting way from an event.

In order for us to get value from the books, audios, classes, courses and workshops, we must take action. We must try what we learned, see what happened, tweak it, and try again. In other words we must do for learning anything new, what has always worked for us. Think about it – you didn’t learn how to ride a bicycle until you put your butt in the seat and a foot on the peddle.

At first, when you got on the bike, you made mistakes and fell down (and scraped your knee and depending on who was watching wounded your pride). Yet you got back up, tried again and learned how to ride.

To learn the things you want to learn now, you must get a little dirty, expose yourself (and your image), and try it. Once you have those lessons, you can improve and adjust until you get the results you desire.

Here then is the magic pill that you have been looking for ever since you grew up and forgot about the lesson of the bicycle: Make your learning a process.

Consider books, courses, audio programs all a part of your grander learning process. Commit to finding ways to practice what you are learning, and to finding ways to receive feedback (from yourself and/or others) about your progress.

When you place all of these wonderful learning tools in perspective, they can have a tremendous positive impact for you and your results, but only when they are seen as a piece of your personal learning puzzle, rather than the moment in time where things will change for you.

This information is important for you as an individual, but it is important for you to remember as a leader as well. If you want to help develop those you lead, you must help them create a learning process, rather than simply signing them up for the next corporate course. Leaders can help create a process (holding them accountable, asking for their learning goals, giving them feedback, as examples), or invest in learning opportunities that include a process.

Your Comments: Please visit Kevin's Blog to leave your comments on this article.

Potential Pointer: We rarely learn anything, beyond a fact or morsel of knowledge in an event or moment in time. Real useful learning comes from a process of doing, trying, experiencing and applying. Despite this fact we continue to seek the “event” that will transform our performance. Remarkable learners consider the event the spark for, rather than the completion of, the learning.

Kevin

Kevin's Recommends

Remarkable Leadership
Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time
by Kevin Eikenberry

This is part of what is inside the front cover of the book:

Remarkable Leadership is a practical handbook written for anyone who wants to hone the skills they need to become an outstanding leader. In this groundbreaking book, Kevin Eikenberry outlines a framework and a mechanism for both learning new things and applying current knowledge in a thoughtful and practical way. Eikenberry provides a guide through the most important leadership competencies, offers a proven method for learning leadership skills, and shows approaches for applying these skills in today’s multitasking and overloaded world of work. The book explores real-world concerns such as focus, limited time, incremental improvement, and how we learn.

Rather than me writing a recommendation for my own book, let me share what a few people who have already read it have to say (after you read those comments, keep reading I have a special announcement below):

"Kevin accurately reminds us that whatever our job title or position, we are all leaders—and all have the potential to become truly remarkable. His belief in us and our ultimate success is real and can be read on every page. This belief is inspiring and empowering—as you read these pages his belief in you will build your own belief, an important ingredient in any successful learning journey."

- From the Foreword by Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles

"Kevin Eikenberry knows what it takes to be a remarkable leader and shares his secrets, tips, and examples in this compelling and enjoyable book. Remarkable Leadership is elegant, powerful, and actionable. The book is full of excellent self-assessments and stories that illustrate what you can do to improve your impact as a leader. I love that Kevin zooms in on the leadership practices that can supercharge any company environment. Anyone can be a great leader by reading and following his guidance."

- Lisa Haneberg, author of Two Weeks to a Breakthrough and Focus Like a Laser Beam

"I can't think of a better book than Remarkable Leadership to put into the hands of aspiring leaders - or people who want to become more effective leaders. It's well-written, filled with practical suggestions, and, for my money, hits the truly important aspects of leading inside an organization."

- Rick Maurer, author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance and "Change Management News" blog

Normally I would encourage you to buy a book I recommend immediately. But I’m not doing that today. This time I want you to wait until tomorrow. Why tomorrow?

Because when you buy a copy(ies) of the book tomorrow you will be given tools that go beyond the book that will help you immediately on your path towards Remarkable.

If you can’t wait until tomorrow, you can have a sneak peek at what we’re doing right now. Otherwise, watch your inbox because I’ll give you all the details on tomorrow.

Home | About Kevin | Archive | My Subscription | Contact Us

If you find this information valuable, please pass it on to a friend. You can forward them the email or go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/tell.asp to use our Tell A Friend tool.

If you received a forwarded copy of this newsletter and would like to subscribe for yourself, go to: http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/subscribe.asp.

For information on reprinting any of this information included in this issue of Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential, go to: http://kevineikenberry.com/uypw/reprints.asp

© 2007 The Kevin Eikenberry Group – All Rights Reserved

The Kevin Eikenberry Group
http://www.kevineikenberry.com
7035 Bluffridge Way
Indianapolis, IN 46278