Las Vegas is home to a couple of University of Wyoming alumni. I am one and Robert Rippee is the other. We didn’t know each other in school despite having similar majors but we became fast friends through a common professional connection; his employer and my customer.
During our time together, I have never seen Robert stop learning. He is a passionate seeker of knowledge and hones his skills constantly. Conferences, classes, articles, books, sharing with others; Robert is constantly learning.
As some people with Robert’s tenure are fighting to remain relevant, he is on the cutting edge of his craft and considered a subject matter expert in the constantly changing world of marketing. Beyond his core expertise, Robert has added new levels of knowledge in big data, destination management, luxury brands and content development. All self-learned through his passionate pursuit of knowledge and growth. As of this writing, Robert is a widely sought after presenter, consultant and panelist because of his life-ling learning passion.
Far too often success becomes intoxicating for a leader and the learning stops and stagnates. A few promotions, a great review, a bonus and a raise will create no impetus for a leader to continue to learn and grow. That type of leader will often be fighting obsolesce and organizational obscurity.
The effective leader, like Robert, will be in a constant state of learning, growth and evolution. There will be no need to stop to sharpen a saw blade because it always honed to maximum cutting edge.
Restarting the desire to learn and in some cases, relearning to learn may require you to begin:
- Read an article a day related to something you want to know more about and applies to your abilities to lead in your organization. This is one of the great values of social media. These types of articles are everywhere on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
- Start a classic book that challenges your knowledge, vocabulary and comprehension of complex concepts.
- Take a class or refresh a skill through some online learning. I know this sounds a bit self-serving but it works. Stimulates the mind and encourages future learning.