As learning leaders our job is to cultivate the necessary conditions for driving effective organizational engagement, capability development, and productivity. So what happens when learning leaders have no time to learn? As learning functions have gotten leaner, while organizational learning needs are growing larger, there is an inherent tension for learning practitioners to not overlook their own development. This is and has been the a tension for employees, but I'm hearing/observing through colleagues that the sheer workload and time-compression is inhibiting reflection, application, and innovation for learning professionals.
This is a case of the shoemaker's children going barefoot.
Some ideas:
1) Take the one sentence a day diary approach - what was the one clarifying question you heard that day, the business performance opportunity you uncovered, or a remaining challenge you are working on? Capture your state of mind now, you most likely will not replicate it tomorrow.
2) Think about the problem you are addressing and the people you are currently collaborating with, then think about who is missing. Follow up with a phone call to keep a broader circle connected with your actions. Take a minute now in order to accelerate later.
3) Make the paradigm shift from reflection being a passive activity to an active state. In the workplace, we all become action-oriented and reflection gets lost as a thing that's nice to do. From my observations in developing leaders, a differentiator and often an under-developed skill and behavior is deliberate practice and reflection. There is never going to be more time, so decide to stop doing something less effective, and choose to insert the occasional strategic pause into the day.
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