Leaders Are Learners

Imagine. You are 60 years old, a billionaire and have founded a big business empire. 

AWESOME! Isn’t it?

Someone who works with you asks you a question. And, you don’t know the answer.

How comfortable would you be in saying ‘I don’t know’? Might not go too well with the ‘image’!

Here’s the story of a billionaire in the US. His name was Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.

Sam was 60 when he went on a trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

His host family got a call from the police department saying, “Come bail out Sam Walton. He’s in jail.” They rushed to help.

"We didn't know who he was, and we found him crawling around the floors of stores", said the police.

The worried family asked Sam what he was doing! “I was just measuring how wide the aisles were with a tape measurer. I was trying to figure out if these Brazilians knew something that I didn't know."

A successful billionaire definitely didn’t need to crawl around the floors!

There is something in great leaders that sets them apart from the rest – they are lifelong learners. They look out for new learnings all the time, anywhere and everywhere. They are not afraid to say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘Let me learn this!’

What we can learn from Walton is - that there’s always a lot left to learn at work and in life!

At times, a lot of us feel we have mastered our areas of work. Or, shy away from telling others we don’t know something.  Maybe it’s a good idea for all of us to find what is our equivalent of ‘crawling on the floors’. Look out for someone who knows more than us and learn from them.

Try to find one good thing in each of those around you. They maybe your family, friends, colleagues or absolutely anyone!

Learn that one thing from them.  Become a lifelong learner!

“Leaders are learners.” – John C. Maxwell