HIGHLY talented people have a rough time adapting to new circumstances. This is because in their over confidence, talented persons feel they know it all. This is why it is difficult for them to continually expand their talent. Being adaptable or teachable isn’t about competence and mental agility. It is about your attitude to life. Being adaptable is about the desire to listen, learn and apply. It is the hunger to discover and grow. Being teachable is the willingness to learn and unlearn what is stale and obsolete. It is how you adapt to your learning that counts. In leadership, if you stop learning you stop leading. That is why there is a dearth of quality leaders in our country. Our leaders don’t even read; much less unlearn their archaic methods.
As a leader, if you remain adaptable and keep learning, you will be able to continue to make impact. As an entrepreneur, you will be able to expand your creativity by striving to learn. Champions with attitudes of adaptability will expand their greatness. In determining who the most talented person of all time is, historians aver that Leonardo da Vinci is a strong candidate for such an office. Leonardo has been called a “Universal Man,” for his incredible ability to master diverse disciplines. The term “Renaissance man” was coined for him because he embodied the rebirth of learning which the Renaissance symbolized. Leonardo was admired by his peers, by his protégés and historians who have studied his life. Giorgo Vasari, author of a classic biography of Leonardo, The Lives of the Arts, said and I paraphrase: The greatest gifts often rain down upon human bodies through celestial influences when a single body is lavishly supplied with such beauty, grace and ability that wherever he turns, his actions are so divine that he leaves behind others displaying such genius endowed him by God. And fame of the Leonardo name was spread so widely, that not only was he held in high esteem in his own time, but his fame increased even more after his death.
What set Leonardo apart from his contemporaries, Vasari asserted, was his adaptability. Evidence of this can be found in his notebooks. They are a physical record of a mind that never stopped discovering and never stopped learning. Champions create notebooks to record their ideas. For example, Picasso produced 178 sketchbooks during his life. But Leonardo notebooks displayed a highly teachable mind. Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder bought one of them in 1994. The notebook is called Codex Leicester. It was created by Da Vinci between 1506 and 1510. Its 72 pages contain sketches motivated by his desire to discover more about art.
Bill Gates says he had been fascinated by Leonardo since he was 10. He averred Leonardo to be one of the most amazing beings who ever lived. Leonardo was a genius in more fields than any scientist of any age. The good news about Leonardo’s life is that we don’t have to be like him. All we need is the right attitude about life. To do that, consider these truths about adaptability.
One, nothing is interesting if you are not interested. In his book, Quality is free, management expert, Philip Crosby writes: a theory of human nature says people subconsciously retard their own intellectual growth. They come to rely on clichés and habits. Once they attain the age of personal comfort, they stop learning and their minds run idle for the rest of their days. In contrast, teachable people get excited about things. German Philosopher, Goethe advised: “Never let a day pass without hearing some great piece of music and reading some great book”.
Two, champions view learning differently from mediocres. After 40 years of teaching and learning, I have come to realize that champions think differently from mediocres. After all, we think in Nigeria, but despite that we have only one Nigerian Nobel prize winner to 170million people. Whereas in Germany with 65 million people, it is one Nobel Prize winner to less than 200,000 people. A winner knows he still has much to learn, even when he is considered an expert by others. Whereas a loser wants to be considered by others before he has learned what he knows. Teachable people are always open to new ideas and are willing to learn from anybody.
Three, lifelong learning is the prescription for progress. Every stage of life presents lessons to be learned. By being open-minded, you continue to learn and grow. If you close your mind, you stop growing. Four, when aspirants reach a comfort zone, they can be the toughest to teach. However, a paradox of life is that what makes you successful initially isn’t always what keeps you successful. You need to remain open to new ideas and willing to learn new skills to remain successful. If you are not teachable, having talents would not help you. If you are not flexible, having goals won’t help you. If you are not forgiving having abundance won’t help you.
Five, pride is foremost hindrance to adaptability; pride inflates your sense of self-worth and distorts your perception of reality. While envy is the deadly sin that comes from feelings of inferiority, the deadly sin of pride comes from feelings of superiority. It creates an arrogance of success, an inflated sense of self-worth accompanied by a distorted reality perspective. Such an attitude inhibits a desire to learn and feels an unwillingness to change. It makes people unteachable. Pride is a great barrier to success. It closes the mind to new ideas. King Solomon of ancient Israel observed, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than him.” Proverbs 26:12.
Pride closes our minds to feedback. Stephen Covey in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, asserts, “It takes humility to seek feedback. It takes wisdom to analyze it and appropriately act on it. You must listen to the opinion of others. You cannot succeed alone, so seek the input of others. Your willingness to listen and embrace feedback, not only improves your strategy, it also improves you. Pride prevents you from admitting your mistakes. The most important isn’t to capitalize on your gains; the most important is to profit from your mistakes. It is pride that prevents us from profiting from errors. Also, pride prevents us from making needed changes.
The first step towards overcoming pride is to admit it. Admit that you are not indispensable. Be grateful to your family and neighbor. Expressing gratitude continually helps you to break the malady called pride. Moreover, cultivate the habit of laughing at yourself. “Blessed are they that laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be entertained.” That is a Chinese proverb. Being a good listener helps you to know others better, to learn from them, to show them that you value them as individuals. You can’t learn if you are always talking. Listen to others remain humble and you will receive help to expand your talent. The goal of all learning is action. If what you are doing doesn’t contribute to your greatness, change your vocation. Always make your learning greater than your experience, for experience is no guarantee for growth. Life is a school and experiences are lessons.
Cultivate friendships with people who challenge and add value to you. It will change your life. Be a good sponge by absorbing ideas from anywhere. Then improve on such ideas and put them to practical use. That is how a teachable person behaves. Seek out teachable moments yearly by selecting one conference to attend, one inspiring location to visit, six books to read, six lectures to listen to and two important people to meet. Never forget to create an action plan to apply what you learned after each of these events.
08034673443
http:/ogunmupe.blogspot.com
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
