Our society is focused heavily on ability and achievement. Our abilities advance our careers, social life, and relationships. Athletes with the physical abilities to play a particular sport at an advanced level are paid millions of dollars to do so on a professional team. Web developers who have the ability to code and create impressive websites are rewarded with major contracts to develop websites for large companies. College placement is at least partially calculated by one’s ability to succeed in standardized testing. We live in a society that praises ability. So why does that word mean less when added onto existing words? Believability. That’s an important characteristic. But not as valued as overall ability. Adaptability is another example. Being adaptable is a valuable asset, but even that does not seem to be more important than raw abilities. Something that I view as even more important is teachability. Arguably this is the least valued of any of the aforementioned traits.
Teachability is an incredibly important trait for everyone. There is a seemingly limitless wealth of knowledge available to us in the modern age. Gaining knowledge is often associated with personal growth. But not everyone has the curiosity bug that makes him actively seek out new information. So how do we learn and grow as humans? I believe most people learn primarily from others. In our adolescence, there are endless opportunities to learn from those around us. Teachers, parents, coaches, and other adults with which we come into contact offer up advice, life lessons, and in many ways lead by example. This is why we refer to these years as the formative years. As young children, people are often eager to learn. But as we get older, we often become more and more closed off to other’s knowledge.
A big reason that we stop learning from others is ego. We believe that we know better than another person. Remember being a teenager and thinking, “My parents just don’t get it”? It’s like that, but replace parents with a boss, manager, significant other, etc. While it is important to be critical of the information you receive from others, closing yourself off to learning from those around you only hurts you. There are so many contributing factors to how a person grows up. The people around you might have had a very different upbringing. These unique experiences taught them something that you might not have learned in your life. Being open to learning from those around you means that you can have the benefit of learning from their mistakes without having to make those mistakes personally. Additionally, people are a wealth of knowledge on specific skills and hobbies that you might not possess. Being teachable might allow you to learn some very useful and marketable skills.
As a leader, it is easy to put yourself in the role of the teacher rather than the student. While in many cases you should teach those around you, specifically those working under you, you cannot close yourself off to learning opportunities. Technology is a great equalizer in terms of learning. Generally speaking, it takes time to climb the corporate ladder. This means that as a leader, you will have younger people working under you. There are many instances in which younger people are more knowledgeable about technology. If you set aside your ego, you can learn a lot from your intern or entry-level employee.
Leaders should always be open to learning and improving. In most cases, even the top leaders of a company are held accountable by a board of directors, investors, or constituents. Leaders that are not teachable miss out on opportunities for growth and improvement. In the case of a leader functioning with a board of directors, this is multiple experienced and qualified people that to which you have access. Not utilizing the variety of backgrounds, opinions, and experiences to your advantage is unwise and will likely impact the quality of work your produce. On the flip side, being open to learning from these people can help spark new ideas and collaborative thinking. The thing about being teachable is that you have nothing to lose and everything to learn. As long as you fact check when necessary and be critical of information that sounds false, you can only benefit from learning from others.
- Bria