LEADERSHIP
Experience Is NOT The Best Teacher !
By CS , Dr . Kellen Kiambati
Most of the times leaders are naturally impatient . They are in a hurry to get a chance to shine unaware that sometimes it is better to patiently learn , pay dues and receive great leadership lessons . Experience is not a one-time phenomenon but it is the past , present , and future on the same platform . Experience teaches nothing unless it is evaluated to bring fresh insights . There are many people with accumulated years of experience but have no skill and wisdom to show for it . Every person out there has some kind of experience one way or another but what one does with the experience is what matters .
All leaders begin their leadership journey as new beautiful notebooks . Each and every day is an opportunity to write on the pages of the notebook and with each page , new knowledge is generated and understanding of issues become clearer . The major question to ask is whether all leaders , sit to reflect and receive fresh insights from the notes they write down ? Do they have a reliable system like journaling to capture their experiences ? Do they have know-how or know-why ? Do they have a plan to pass lessons from their experiences to others ?
Reflection is what turns each and every leader experiences into great insights meaning they do not only live the experiences but learn from them . They
“
intentionally and deliberately turn their notebooks into learning tools . That said , we need to appreciate that understanding will never catch up with our experiences and the secret is to make the most of what we can understand . One of the ways to do so is to have leaders continuously learn and spend time evaluating their accomplishments , relationships and lessons . For example , a leader can do so monthly , quarterly or annually . Imagine if every quarter , a leader is able to tease out successes , failures , goals accomplished , unmet dreams and relationships lost ?
While on the leadership journey , leaders also meet unpleasant experiences presented as unforeseen detours . Taking their detours and turning them into delights rather than fighting them is the best approach . Enjoying unplanned detours can easily result into a major positive come back , wiser
Experience teaches nothing unless it is evaluated to bring fresh insights . There are many people with accumulated years of experience but have no skill and wisdom to show for it .
and stronger . We certainly must agree that having a positive attitude about unplanned detours is almost every leaders ’ constant battle . Great leaders fail forward and fully aware that the difference between average people and achievers is their perception of failure .
In conclusion , most leaders are forever on the go and as a result they rarely take time to stop and reflect on their experiences . This makes them run the risk of having one experience thirty times rather than thirty years of experience . It is an expensive affair to pay the price for experience and not receive the lesson . Most important the lesson must be something positive . Think about the worst thing that happened and that is exactly where the greatest potential lesson is . Once again , we remind ourselves that experience teaches nothing unless it is evaluated to give fresh insights .
CS , Dr . Kellen Kiambati holds an MBA in Strategic Management from the Kenya Methodist University and a PhD in Business Administration with a focus in Strategic Management from JKUAT . She is a member of the Institute of Human Resource Management of Kenya . She can be reached via : Kellenkiambati @ gmail . com .
20 MAL49 / 22 ISSUE