CREATE A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING

"Start with smart executives, and then keep them smart". Can you name the well-known CEO who said this? His commitment to ongoing executive learning became a competitive edge, ensuring successful, sustained growth. Hint: he started his business out of his dorm room at the University of Texas. Michael Dell's use of ongoing executive learning and education provided Dell a competitive edge in the PC market.

Continuous learning is a fundamental element of the most successful growth companies and their leaders. A few years back, Verne Harnish, Founder and CEO of Gazelles Inc., did a poll and found that the most successful CEOs read two (or more) books a month. They have both a learning and growth mindset and devour content on both topics regularly.

Ensuring team members are engaged in an ongoing learning program is a key way to grow your talent.

There are many resources that are readily available to use - books, online courses, live conferences, and much more. The key is to make learning fun, applicable and interesting to the "student employee." Two resources that I use with my clients are:

1. Growth Institute's on-demand learning videos

2. Semi-annual leadership and growth summits

Feel free to ask me about either of these; I'm happy share more details.

According to Jim Collins, for every possible problem or opportunity that your business may encounter, there is a "WHO" with just the answer! The question is, which leading business mind is the right "WHO" for YOU? Without a culture of continuous learning where you "keep them smart," it may be a challenge to answer this question.