What Makes Leaders Better Learners

By Tara Middlebrooks

Military leaders serve under constantly evolving circumstances: new operational environments, international politics, resource constraints, current social issues, manning requirements, the disposition of our enemies, technological advances—just to name a few. How do adaptable leaders keep pace with these changes? What attributes do those leaders have in common? If a leader is lacking in these attributes, how can they improve? 

Erika Andersen explores these attributes and how leaders can take action to learn faster and reach new potential in her Harvard Business Review article, “Learning to Learn: Mental Tools to Help you Master New Skills.” While this article targets business leaders seeking to gain a sustainable competitive advantage over their competitors, it can apply to leaders in any profession—and the military is no exception. 

Military leaders are a part of a massive hierarchical organization that, on the whole, has its fair share of difficulties adapting rapidly to needed change. Therefore, the onus rests with leaders—at every level—to inspire innovation, challenge the status quo, seek growth opportunities, and push its talent to reach its true potential.

How is this done? Through learning. Not simply the learning one receives from standard Professional Military Education curriculum, formal undergraduate or graduate education, or required specialty-specific training. Rather, learning is sparked from new responsibilities, roles, experimenting on every-day tasks, or simple curiosities. 

Some leaders find this to be a natural process, while others need a little help. Erika Andersen identifies four attributes that successful learners all have in common: aspiration (a true desire to understand and master new skills), self-awareness (they see themselves clearly), curiosity (they are great at asking good questions), and vulnerability (they tolerate and learn from their own mistakes).¹ Leaders need to respond to shifts in how units operate, the strengths and weaknesses of their talent, and the needs of the mission. Strong leaders constantly seek growth opportunities for themselves and others, this means being willing to “start over” or acknowledge a gap in knowledge and shift their focus. Andersen shares simple mental tools that will help anyone enhance these attributes and become a more effective learner. 

Aspiration

“Great learners can raise their aspiration level—and that’s key, because everyone is guilty of sometimes resisting development that is critical to success.”² – Erika Andersen

Anderson explains that when confronted with new learning, the first roadblock is focusing on the negative which unconsciously reinforces a lack of aspiration. Simple things like a new tracking system/process, format for Command and Staff slides, knowledge management systems, military ceremonies, and the Digital Training Management System (or similar training management systems) are common examples of inefficient systems or processes that survive because “it’s always been done that way.” It may initially seem like an unappealing burden to break the cycle of using an efficient system, or build momentum to make needed improvements or innovations, but think beyond the moment you’re in—consider: what would happen if I stopped being complacent with the now and less resistant to investing the time to see this situation differently? 

Sure, at that moment, you’re rushing to get training slides formatted correctly, update a dysfunctional tracker, edit a memo that has some glitches in its formatting history (you know, like when it takes 15 clicks to fix one bullet), and you have 1000 other tasks to complete that week. These are all fundamental and routine events we do each day. Sure, they are not the most inspiring tasks, so it may not feel worth the effort, but think about the productivity or other projects you aspire to complete? Wouldn’t making those routine and fundamental tasks more efficient leave you time to accomplish other things? Take a moment to make a new template, redesign a product, re-think the purpose and intent of the things that are taking up your time. Instead of just dealing with it each day, find some way to make the task valuable and invest the time to do something about it—chances are you’ll thank yourself later.

Spend less time processing reports and more time doing the fun part of leadership—and let that thought reignite your aspiration for learning how to think and do things differently. 

“Shifting your focus from challenges to benefits is a good way to increase your aspiration to do initially unappealing things.”³ 

Whether it feels like a lack of time, an uninspiring mission, complacency, an overreliance on a colleague or subordinate’s resident expert or skillset that contributes to your lack of ambition, you must step outside the situation and re-evaluate your approach. Intentionally seeking the less-obvious benefits of a new responsibility or seemingly arbitrary task shifts your mindset from challenge-resisting to one that provides new perspective and value.

Self-Awareness

Every good leader understands the need to solicit feedback on how they are perceived by others. Most self-assessments (unless backed by data) of our own skills or knowledge are often wildly inaccurate. When we erroneously assess our own strengths and weaknesses, we do not feel the same incentive to improve, and subsequently operate  with a false sense of security. The first step in moving past this is accepting that it is impossible for you to be 100% objective in your own performance. This drives openness to feedback or criticism, but more importantly, according to Andersen, evaluation of your self-talk. 

Think of the self-talk as a reflection or “fair witness”⁴ to your situation. Examples of this have come up in nearly every Command and Staff or unit training meeting: your platoon has the lowest physical training test scores, your unit’s maintenance readiness is the lowest in the battalion, your maintenance team is not taking care of the motor pool bays (perhaps there has been an increase in lost tools), or your Battalion Command Sergeant Major is not impressed with the attention to detail at the range. When these failures are brought to your attention, is your instinct to react defensively, find a way to rationalize the standard not being upheld, or accept responsibility? Chances are you have experienced all three responses at some point. High stress driven by high operational tempos leave room to redirect blame somewhere else or feel satisfied with the status quo. This is not acting as a fair witness in your situation.

To re-frame the self-talk driving these reactions, think about the following questions when provided feedback (inspired by those provided in Andersen’s article):

1. How accurate is this feedback? Are there facts that support it? 
2. Why did I react the way I did to the feedback? Is there something specific you can reflect on, like your mood, who delivered it (bias toward the messenger), or frustration with related processes or procedures?
3. What checks and balances (quality assurance/quality control) measures were in place for the task/performance under scrutiny? 
4. What role did you (as the leader) play in the task/performance? Is there any element you could impact for next time?
5. Who in your network (peers, leaders, local experts, subordinates) has the influence and/or knowledge to leverage for your next attempt?  

Objectivity may not always be attainable, but giving yourself (or others) a break and choosing to see what is “fair” may be the mindset shift needed to tap into a new level of self-awareness and inspire learning in your craft.

Curiosity 

“Curiosity is what makes us try something until we can do it or think about something until we understand it.”⁵

Exploring curiosity is another opportunity to assess your own self-talk. According to Andersen, “People can increase their willingness to tackle necessary tasks by thinking about how they could do the work differently to make it more interesting. In other words, they change their self-talk from ‘This is boring’ to “I wonder if I could…”⁶ When you have become curious, take an actionable step towards finishing the question “I wonder if…” and see where it takes you. It could be a search on the internet, a scan through regulations or doctrine, a consultation with an expert (where are those Warrant Officers at!?), a superior, peer, or a subordinate. Some leaders may want to avoid asking a subordinate, for fear of looking incompetent or some other insecurity, but as leaders, those below you are often the ones with the experience in carrying out your guidance and are equipped with the resident knowledge and skillsets. Asking them for help both empowers them and contributes to your own learning.  

Building on feedback received, intentional reflection, and putting the resulting thoughts into action can inspire experimentation (driven by curiosity) in any role. Experimentation keeps things interesting (increasing aspiration) but also provides new ways of exploring elements of a role or processes that feel untouchable (you know, because they have always been that way).

Any leader can assess new approaches to considerations like:

• Communication techniques (how you manage group/individual tasks, when you communicate, what medium do you use, what tone do you use, what predictability do you provide?)
• Battle rhythms (optimizing when certain recurring requirements or events happen—does it have to be weekly, or would every other week be sufficient? Does it have to be a meeting, or could it be an email or an OPORD? Why do we have certain meetings?)
• Meeting formats (does a training meeting need to have slides, or would a more practical platform be more efficient–I know, mind blown just thinking about it)
• Education (do you need to rethink how you educate soldiers on property accountability to resolve the missing tools? Is there a better technology or system we use for tracking frequently used equipment? What questions should I be asking my maintenance team to address their needs?)
• Exploration of root causes (are tools missing, or are they breaking and being thrown out—do you need training on equipment or better tools?)
• Confidence (do you have it in your knowledge or skill set? If not, how can you fix it?)

Changing your inner narrative transforms unsupportive self-talk to supportive self-talk, check out the below examples provided by Andersen:⁷

“I don’t need to learn this. → What would my future look like if I did?”

“I’m already fine at this. → Am I really? How do I compare with my peers?”

“This is boring. → I wonder why others find it interesting.”

“I’m terrible at this. → I’m making beginner mistakes, but I’ll get better.”

Vulnerability

“Great learners allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to accept that beginner state….the ideal mindset is both vulnerable and balanced.”⁸

Albert Bandura, a Social Cognitive Psychologist, found that when people are encouraged to expect mistakes and learn from them (early in the process of new skill acquisition), the result is “heightened interest, persistence, and better performance.”⁹ Leaders do not like to admit they are lacking in anything. Sure, there are fundamental tasks every leader must know in their respective professions, but quite often leaders are hardly experts in everything. Acknowledging that you have a “novice” background in something will relieve the immediate pressure (that can often be overwhelming) to be an expert in everything and open your mind to the learning opportunity it presents. Military leaders, especially those new in a position, often forget there is a learning curve. It may be steep in some cases, but when you have the window of opportunity to step back and learn like a beginner (or a novice if that language is easier to digest), take it. Better to admit it now, then suffer consequences of not knowing later (those moments are rarely well-timed). 

Conclusion

“The ability to acquire new skills and knowledge quickly and continually is crucial to success in a world of rapid change.”¹⁰ If you are a leader and not aspiring to learn, failing to constantly evaluate your own expertise and self-awareness, failing to ask the curious question that could drive innovation, or refusing to accept that failure is inevitable at times, you are not setting the right example for your Soldiers. Self-awareness is playing an increased role in selection assessments for Battalion and Brigade Commanders—but there is no reason you need to wait until then. Seek out the opportunities now and shape that learning habit now. Your role, especially in the military, is to adapt to any operational environment or mission requirements. To do so successfully, consider these four attributes (and the mental tools provided to improve them) as part of your Missing Essential Task List—no leader should be without them.

Tara Middlebrooks is an active-duty Army Engineer officer serving as an Assistant Professor in the Behavioral Sciences and Leadership Department at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Citations

Andersen, Erika. 2019. “Learning to Learn: Mental tools to help you master new skills.” Harvard Business Review Special Issue, Winter: 15-18.

1. Andersen, 15.
2. Ibid., 16.
3. Ibid., 16.
4. Ibid., 16.
5. Ibid., 17.
6. Ibid., 17.
7. Ibid., 18.
8. Ibid., 18.
9. Ibid., 18.
10. Ibid., 18.