Lifestyle of a Learner

I read a book called Strengthsfinder 2.0 last year and it was very insightful.  The book comes with a code to go online and take an assessment that then gives you your top five strengths.  My number 1 strength was LEARNER. It makes a lot of sense to me.  I have always loved the phrase, "grow daily or die gradually."

Personal growth is something I care deeply about.  Its something I try to challenge the college students I encounter every day with.  We have to grow and develop, we have to be continually learning. 

In our role of higher education this is imperative.  Culture changes so quickly and the generations that are attending college now and will in the future are forever changing and adapting.  If institutions in higher education continue to operate and do things as they always have, they will get the results that they have always gotten. 

Here are helpful tips to grow:

• google blogs or articles specific to your field and read them once a week
• find a podcast you can listen to to encourage your leadership abilities or style
• don't complain about how things exist in your organization now but learn new ways that could make it better
• invest in one conference a year that will expand your learning in the field you are employed
• network with other colleagues from other institutions that have been doing your job longer than you to learn best practices they do and see if you can incorporate them into your style
• always keep an open mind to change and you will always be prompted to learn new ways of doing things

Just the other day I received an email that had a digital version of a higher education magazine.  Inside if it had some great articles on retention of students through custom visits.  It isn't something that I even deal with but it was insightful to learn about it and how this could help our institution.

The process of learning is at times more valuable than the particular outcome.

Organizations that aren't growing usually have members of that institution or organization that do not take a proactive approach to learning new things.

The heart of every institution is to grow but the members have to ask the hard question...what am I learning that will help with that growth?

What is it that I have read or listened to lately that I can apply to my own life and to increase the value of the institution I work for?

If we can be real and honest with the answers to those questions it will force us to begin to adopt a lifestyle of learning and that will change not only who we are but will in turn add value to the institution we work for.