I’ve had such a wonderful life to date, full of variety, amazing people and things that have inspired me. It’s hard to pick a single learning and describe it as my “biggest”. Every day I learn something new and each learning in its way is huge, because without the foundation of knowledge that I have within me I can’t progress to the next stage. It was due to my inability to provide a single, simple answer to @naturalgrump’s request for an account of “my biggest learning in life” that, initially, I was hesitant about contributing. Then I realised that it is the creation of my attitude towards my experiences that is my biggest learning. I have grown to appreciate that I can draw upon the things I have done and, more importantly, I now understand that I can use all that I have learned from the past to help me going forward. The ability to apply old learnings to new scenarios is part of what makes us human and can result in wonderful outcomes and at times a few laughs.

The capacity to acquire new skills and understanding and to use them as struts in the ladder to the next level of skill or experience is a natural part of human development. Shakespeare wrote about “the seven ages of man”:

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. As, first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

There is a similarity between the ages of man and the progression that can be made in a corporate career. A smooth flow from stage to stage, with new skills acquired along the way to enable promotion and success at the next level. In learning & development circles, most of us are familiar with the leadership pipeline:

However, outside the corporate environment, we take a similar route in life, regardless of the job we finally end up doing. We cannot progress successfully to the next stage without acquiring the basic skills for the level at which we are at. It seems to me that I have learned from each step so far and, without consciously knowing it, I have used each distinct level to equip me for what is to come:

Infant – the first few years during which we progressively learn to see, to gauge distance and differentiate, to touch and hold, to balance, to walk, to talk, to appreciate that we are an individual (although most of us are convinced that the world revolves around us). I learned about the value of having people around me on whom I could rely. I learned that although I like blue Smarties there are others who prefer the orange ones.

Schoolchild – without the earlier learnings it would be impossible to benefit from being at school. School is not just a place for gaining the skills to read, write, present a lucid argument, to explain and anticipate an outcome; it is also where we first learn to be part of a group and how to interact with strangers. I was the leader of a popular gang. I was also at times ostracised and bullied. I learned how people interact with each other and how much most of us want to be loved.

Teenager – Like most of us, I experienced highs and lows of emotion as the hormones that controlled my moods raged through me. I begrudged the responsibility my parents tried to inflict upon me and I enjoyed “being an adult” with my friends. I grew to appreciate how insecure most of us are and hence how keen we are to be accepted and/or to make an impact. I learned to power of love and the dangers of infatuation.

Student – Being a student was the first time that I was responsible for me and the repercussions of my actions. It was also the first time that I found myself mixing with a truly diverse collection of people from all over the world. I began to appreciate the fact that a combination of knowledge and skills can produce a better answer or result – I was a member of a pub quiz team that was invincible, because each of us were specialists and our combined strength was much more powerful than each person competing on their own.

Worker – Amazing, people wanted to pay me to contribute towards the success of their business! However, I had to learn to comply with rules and regulations, even if I did not agree with them. I learned that success is founded on much more than just academic results and that the solution for a problem can come from various routes. I learned that communication is often the biggest issue in an organisation or between people and that the lens through which you see things will impact your outlook and the way in which you articulate your point of view.

Partner – I learned that life is a balancing act and that there is more to life than work. I learned the meaning of commitment, trust and the joy of sharing things with a person you really care about. I also learned that at times a relationship can be hard and hurtful, but that, if it is important, it’s worth making an effort for others.

Parent – this was the time when I discovered that I am prepared, without question, to sacrifice myself and all that I have for the people that mean most to me. I have experienced such joy and suffered such angst whilst being a parent, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it to make my life easier. I found strengths within myself I did not know I had – and just when I couldn’t cope any longer (e.g. with sleep deprivation or teenage disputes) things changed. I have learned to have faith in the fact that, no matter how awful a time seems, the tide will turn and things will change.

Leader – I really care about people. I want them to achieve their own goals and exceed their own expectations, as well as those of the individuals around them. I enjoy inspiring, supporting and encouraging, as well as helping people to learn. I have co-founded businesses where all we had was a concept and a laptop and, with the right team, we built an award winning business that was exemplary in its field. I have watched people grow and become what they never believed they could be capable of. I am truly lucky and privileged to share and build the experiences that I have had with the people I have worked with. I learned from each and every one of them and I know that I still have some wonderful adventures to come.

Carer – My parents are growing older and the balance of our relationship is shifting. I am often the carer and advisor, rather than the cared for. It was not until I became a parent that I began to appreciate all that my mother and father have done for me. I must confess that I enjoy being able to do something, no matter how small, for them. It is only a trifling contribution, but being able to save my mother £100 off her car insurance, by teaching her the wonders of the internet and the ability to compare prices and providers was, in a tiny way, a means for me to give something back.

And next… I suspect that the time will come when I will need to be cared for and I will have to learn to accept my decline in ability and strength. That acceptance alone will be learning. It will be a new chapter with many lessons and experiences that I will cherish.

The one thing I have learned, and it is a big learning, is that there is always more to learn, but that the skills and knowledge that you have gained in the past will enable you to move forward.

Over the month of February I am hosting guest blog posts and the invitation is open to all. If you’d like to take part, the question you have to answer is: What has been your biggest learning in life?

“Just let me out, for f***’s sake – I din’t do nothing” came the voice accompanying the explosive percussion on the cell door.

“Sergeant, please can you have a quiet word and explain the error of his ways to him?” I asked. The response came in that gentle Welsh accent. “I’ll try Sir but he wouldn’t listen to the Corporal overnight.” I mused on this, Cpl Evans was a man of infinite patience, if he couldn’t get through maybe it was time for a different tack. “Ok, wheel him in but warn him on his language, there’s no need for him to make it worse for himself” I sat back to listen to the Sergeant prepare the man, (always a pleasure to hear an expert at work). Soon enough a rather bedraggled looking Junior Technician stood in front of me.

“Ah JT Phillips, I should have known it was you when I was told we had a visitor. Well what’s your excuse this time? Girlfriend dumped you? Lost at cards? Moon in Capricorn? Honestly I lose track”

“They shouldn’t have arrested me” he blurted out

“They didn’t arrest you Phillips, you were ‘accommodated’ out of the goodness of Cpl Evans heart because you were about to be beaten up for being rude to people bigger than you and in all honesty you were so drunk that he decided you’d be better off with us rather than choking on your own vomit in your pit. So lets not hear any complaints about how hard done by you are, be thankful we let you have a blanket, one we’ll need to disinfect I note. Now what was it this time?”

“I got passed over for promotion”

“Are you honestly surprised?”

“That’s easy for you to say, poncey officers with your money and your f***ing degrees, Bunch of jumped up w*****s. Think you know it all cos they give you a badge and some power, makes me f***ing sick.” To be fair to him, he did look rather stunned by what he’d just said, I think it was that look of amazement which made me ask the Sergeant to put him back down. Then however I exploded.

“Right, let’s take that from the top, I don’t have a degree, my father is a builder and I lived in a tiny bungalow not some ruddy mansion. I had to work hard to get where I am, be that at school or at the RAF college. So let’s be clear about who I am shall we? Why did they give me the rank? Well I guess because they saw something in me and said, here is a guy who can lead people, who will care about the people under his command. You know Phillips I don’t think I’m any better than you, merely that I have different skills. They made you a technician, because you are clever enough to mend satellite tracking systems, me I can barely wire a plug. So let’s not hear any more bleating about how tough things are. You failed to make corporal or indeed something more because you want to blame everyone else for your lack of achievement instead of standing up and being counted. No one has the right to promotion, you have to earn the trust and respect of your peers and seniors. You want to waste your life in a haze of drink and regret then you go right ahead but don’t bring it to my door, or to Sgt Williams or Cpl Evans. They could have arrested you on a charge of drunkenness. I could have you arrested now for insubordination. My staff have tried to help you – yes I’ve checked the records as I’m only new here – you seem to be a fairly regular visitor to our humble establishment, but no more. We are tired of giving you chances, the next time we see you we will charge you and I can assure you the Commanding Officer will see fit to deprive you of your liberty for a while. So think on that and as you would routinely say ‘F*** off’ out of my sight before I change my mind.”

The Sergeant came back a few minutes later “Well it had to be said sir but I don’t hold out much hope.” I thanked him for his efforts and headed back to my office.

A few days later there was a knock on my door. A very shamefaced JT Phillips had come to apologise. It was the end of a long day and I really wasn’t in the mood. I grudgingly accepted his words, it was more than I had thought I would get to be honest. Then however he asked if I would sponsor him for promotion. I told him that it should be his Flight Commanders job. He admitted that his boss had refused, infuriated with Phillips attitude, deaf to his protestations. I asked him why me? He said it was because I had given him a chance, that underneath his bluster he knew he was destroying himself, the fact that I had let him off a likely charge had shown him that he couldn’t just blame the hierarchy, he needed to step up. I took all that with a pinch of salt and sent him away to write 1000 words on what skills, knowledge and experience he could bring to promotion, and crucially, why him rather than all the other applicants. I figured that would be the last I would see of him.

A week later he was back, the paper was tatty, dog eared, had tippex everwhere but he’d done it. In 987 words he wrote eloquently of his childhood and his desire to escape his upbringing, of how the RAF had provided him with a family which he had then sadly abused as he didn’t know how to deal with kindness. He wrote of how his experience could save others from a similar path.

So who learned more from the experience? Him or me? I’m not sure. I know he went on to become an engineering officer and to a successful career. I know that this event happened almost 20 years ago but it remains fresh in mind and is still a reminder to me to look beyond the surface of everyone I meet. I guess that day is still probably helping both of us to continue to learn.

Over the month of February I am hosting guest blog posts and the invitation is open to all. If you’d like to take part, the question you have to answer is: What has been your biggest learning in life?

When I saw that the theme of @naturalgrump’s guest posts were going to be what was your biggest learning in life, part of me hesitated. I just thought that as I get older I realise that I really don’t know a lot, and a lot of my personal and work life has been about trial and error. In saying this, I have only recently applied to myself a lesson that I felt I had learnt some time ago: what motivates you in your work will either be a life saver or taker, from a professional perspective of course, as opposed to anything literal (this is a guest blog post not Murder She Wrote people!). But why did I not apply this lesson sooner?

I feel I can say with some confidence that the most valuable lesson I have now accepted as a rule over the course of the last year/18 months is about acknowledging what motivates me on a daily basis in my work. This might come as a surprise to some of my friends whose reaction is ”Hey didn’t you work in HR? Aren’t you meant to already know all the career management stuff there is out there to advice others?” – well yes, up to a point, but the reality can be quite different.

One thing my work experience and studies (McClelland Theory X and Y anyone? What about some hygiene factors at the back?!) was that people are motivated by different things in terms of their choice of industry and roles, but I had not applied that to myself as readily as I had thought. I had become so head down and obsessed with the ‘doing’ and working my way up the career ladder in HR that I did not stop to take a moment to wonder if the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.

With the new strategic models/theories of the HR profession this can happen. I certainly felt I was told more about what I should be, and what I should not be – and let us take a moment for those no longer with us: Personnel, reactive HR and ’Policy Police’, may ye all rest in peace.

In doing so I had convinced myself that it was very much a win-lose game in terms of my career, thinking the following was the career path was all that I had ahead of me without considering alternatives:

And it drove me mad that I was not further along this journey, that it all seemed to come much easier for peers who seemed to be a better ‘fit’ for the industry despite me working my guts out.

I had to get to a pretty bitter and low point about it all, until I just realised that actually I had become wrapped in the expectations and rewards that I had thought I should be receiving and never stopped to think: “Do I actually enjoy this and, if not, what do I enjoy that I could be doing instead?”

This was both a terrifying and electrifying moment – I had realised that I might have made a mistake with the HR generalist route and wasted valuable time and resources trying to climb up that ladder. However, I had the opportunity to jump off on to another and, the most exciting part of all, it was all within my control.

I started digging deeper and realised that, actually, I had constrained myself for so long in wanting to fit a path that was not of my own choosing that I had kind of lost track of myself and this was why I was not further along where I ‘should’ be in comparison with my peers. They were going at their work with a positive intention because it was something they truly loved, whereas I had become distracted with what I felt I was owed.

It was scary – you work and study at something then realise that you it not what you wanted for yourself – but I managed to hitch my star to the L&D wagon, and I can honestly say I have never been happier in a role. I finally feel I am on the right journey, which looks a lot more like this:

I suppose the point I am trying to get across in this post is that before you start setting out plans of what you are going to do in your career and what it is you actually want to achieve, consider really carefully the ‘why’ behind it all -why do you enjoy different aspects, why do you want to do this, why is this a better alternative to other career routes etc. Make sure that if you have certain expectations or goals they are your own and not a route or path you feel obliged to follow because the rest of the crowd are doing so.

You have to enjoy what you do, that way you will got at it with real feeling, passion, and in doing so are more likely to reap results and have fun along the way. We all might know and accept this as a lesson learnt but, as my experience has taught me, applying this to our day-to-day work lives is something quite different.

Over the month of February I am hosting guest blog posts and the invitation is open to all. If you’d like to take part, the question you have to answer is: What has been your biggest learning in life?

When Sukhvinder Pabial @naturalgrump tweeted about publishing guest blogs on learning and development, I immediately knew that I wanted to write something. Well, here goes…

Everyone has a story to tell, you just need to have the curiosity to ask the right question and there is a unique life story unfolding right in front of you. There’s always a lesson to be learnt from their story, if you want to.

All my life I feel I have been blessed in so many ways, mostly though of the support of people around me, may that be family, friends, colleagues or business acquaintances. One of the major lessons taught by my parents was to give without expecting anything in return and life finds a way in returning the giving in abundance. This has been interwoven into the fabric of my being.

No matter what curve balls life throws at me, I know that I have my inbuilt intuition to see me through, but more importantly, there’s always a helping hand extended to me without asking! The lesson is to know how to gratefully accept that gesture of genuine help.

As a young girl in Uganda, brought up in a traditional Indian family, life was all about extended family, friends and school friends. I was lucky enough to go to Bombay (Mumbai) to study. A land so alien to Uganda but oh so exciting, so much to learn! Here again, I was supported by my extremely large but loving extended family and I also met people whom I now am lucky enough to call my lifelong friends.

The curve ball came at us in the form of Idi Amin and before we realised what was happening, my family and I left Uganda penniless and arrived in the UK.

Here we go again, a land I knew very little about with not much in common other than the history that joined my two homelands to it.

The inbuilt self reliance kicked in and I found a job in 4 weeks at the local airport. The landlord and his family, the neighbours and the work colleagues all took me/us under their wing!

Over time, I seem to break the mould each time, but then I’ve never thought of it as being different, it’s just me! This includes being the first Indian woman to work as a telephone operator, or in a shift environment in a Computer Centre. Recently another curve ball has turned into a blessing in disguise.

Starting own company in deep recession could be seen as madness; however, the generosity of networking colleagues has been amazing, Twitter, #ConnectingHR , #thebreakfastclub, BNI to name a few! Two things that have helped us when it comes to business and life are, “Givers Gain” and “It ain’t what you do, it’s the way you do it”!

Each time though, people have extended their hand of friendship, shared knowledge, helped me with my goals and enriched my life beyond my wildest dreams and they continue to do so…Thank You! x

Over the month of February I am hosting guest blog posts and the invitation is open to all. If you’d like to take part, the question you have to answer is: What has been your biggest learning in life?

The theme put forward this month is “biggest learning in life”. I’m afraid that after some thought I need to distil that down slightly. As I considered all my life experiences, some relatively recent, nailing one in particular was difficult. I found that in the context of what this blog generally aims to explore, it was easiest to consider my biggest learning within the context of learning and development.

To some people, I might be relatively new to this field. I know that I still feel that I am. I started in my first “pure” learning and development role in September 2009, and before had only ran the odd pre-arranged staff training session when I was a manager. I was thrown into a company that had never had anyone in such a position before, and I had no-one to guide my development.

In the early days, as the sole person in the company seemingly responsible for staff training, I felt a need to acquiesce to all requests for training. Take this one (completely genuine) example, which I paraphrase slightly here. It happened on a Friday:

“We want to run a training session for a new product on Tuesday for our team. We want them to become familiar with it and our plans for the launch. We can’t tell you yet who will be able to attend, over how many sessions. And what’s more we’re not quite sure how long we can release each member of staff for. We haven’t actually fully agreed the commercial aspects of the product or the marketing plans, but I’m sure we’ll be able to tell you on Monday afternoon”.

There was a time in my early days where I would have moved heaven and earth to meet this request. After all, I was in training, right? This was my job. If I didn’t do it, what was the point of employing me in the first place?

But let’s break this down a bit. First of all, what exactly are we meant to achieve in this session? Who knows, it’s extremely vague. In fact, the marketing plans aren’t even written out yet, although they’ve stated that they want attendees to have some level of knowledge of them after they’ve attended.

The timescale is ridiculously tight, especially when you consider that there is a weekend in the middle and it goes without saying that I always have other projects and priorities to work on too. No amount of “rapid content creation” will make this a success.

Finally, how do you build a session when you don’t know how many people will be coming along or how much time you will have with them? The objectives of the training aren’t set out clearly, and we don’t know if we’ll have the time to meet them when we work out how long the session will be.

But like I said, a couple of years ago I would have tried to bend over backwards to deliver this. Maybe I was trying to prove my worth? Many companies don’t have an in-house L&D function, and there’s always a lingering fear that one day you might be seen as an unnecessary expense.

It’s a silly way to operate though. The role of a learning and development person is not to meet any demand made of them by a line manager. Your role should be to stand up for the best interests of the learners in the organisation. It is your duty, in my opinion, to set yourself up as an expert in the field of learning, and like any consultant it means that you should feel empowered to criticise plans such as this, and offer constructive suggestions on how to do it better.

You probably could knock together a session on the brief set out above. But what you do is likely to be ineffective, almost “training for trainings sake”. If attendees are polite, they might say “thank you, that was very useful” as they file out of the room. But scratch beneath the surface and they’ll probably think “that was a waste of a couple of hours. I could have just read a memo on it”.

In short, you are doing a disservice to yourself as a professional, to the learners who need to feel equipped to fulfil their roles, and the organisation itself that relies on learning and development as a crucial tool in meeting its objectives. You will create a rod for your own back, as people will assume that you will always meet requests such as this, and your colleagues who attend will assume that all your output will be of such poor quality.

I wish that I could have told this to me a couple of years ago, when I was lacking guidance and experience in this new role. Once I realised that I should push back more often (without being needlessly “difficult”) and positioned myself more as a consultant within the business (as opposed to “the training guy”) my life was made a lot easier.

And here’s the big learning experience – if you position yourself like this, and take a keen interest in the organisation’s plans and objectives, and the plans and goals of each team, you’ll find that meeting their learning and development needs gets easier too. You’ll get less random requests like the one in this story, and when you do you’ll be well placed to argue against it. You’ll see in advance the developing needs of each team. You’ll also know that sometimes you’re not best placed to meet them, and can engage other people on them at an early stage.

I wish I could tell me back then this – you are there to serve your profession, your organisation and your learners. Never lose sight of that.

Over the month of February I am hosting guest blog posts and the invitation is open to all. If you’d like to take part, the question you have to answer is: What has been your biggest learning in life?

I’m not a girl who likes conflict, even though the face I present to the world suggests otherwise. I present as a feisty woman, willing to stand up for myself and others if principles like unfairness, injustice and hypocrisy are at stake.

These days though, I find most of my conflict is work-related, and is mostly linked to a clash of values, and is generally as a result of what I perceive to be poor leadership. Unfortunately, my feistiness means that I speak up where others – generally quite wisely – keep their own counsel, even though it is clear that there are issues that need to be dealt with, and aren’t. To my mind, sweeping things under the carpet has become a major activity in many organisations.

It is my contention that workplaces should actually be called shouldplaces, because there is a lot of shoulding that goes on. There should be inspiring, emotionally intelligent leadership in place; a strategy that is monitored and reviewed, with accountability for deliverables; clear and honest communication; engaged and motivated employees; work that is innovative, interesting and rewarding; excellent pay structure and career advancement; recognition for a job well done; and invigorating and stimulating professional development. You get the picture. A lot of shoulds that rarely happen in the one workplace. If you are lucky, you get might get two, three at the most.

All those should that never happened used to make me really angry. I left jobs and workplaces because there were so many shoulds that should have happened and didn’t. I became very disillusioned with work, and the difficulty has always been that – as a sole parent – not working is not an option. So I sucked it up, but moved when all the shoulds that didn’t happen got too much to bear. Needless to say, I moved around. Lots.

But one of the biggest – and most helpful – things I have learned in the last few years is that the shoulds will always be there. And it’s been a gradual awakening. I realise now that I can’t control the shoulds, so I generally don’t try. I can’t live my working life as an ideal: I have to live it as it really is, with all its ugliness and unfairness and hypocrisy. For me learning to be more zen and “meh” about most work situations has made me a better employee. I generally concern myself with issues that are only in my dance space. Anyone else’s dance space – those bigger leadership issues, for example – are not on my radar, unless I’m asked directly to intervene.

Sure, they still bother me, and I still want to change what needs to be changed, but it’s about putting my energy where I am going to get the best return on investment. Myself. So unless the shoulds directly affect me, my work and the outcomes I am expected to produce, I have learned to let things go.

And I am the happier for it.

(Short bio: Diane Lee lives in Adelaide, South Australia. She has post-graduate degrees in Communication and Education and has worked in both those areas. She is a travel addict and budding photographer, and blogs at The Diane Lee Show. She is totally addicted to Twitter.)

Over the month of February I am hosting guest blog posts and the invitation is open to all. If you’d like to take part, the question you have to answer is: What has been your biggest learning in life?

It might have something to do with the way I was raised but saying “I don’t know” was never easy to me and it was always perceived by me as a sign of weakness. I am not an expert but I feel that it has been fairly common across my whole generation and throughout the whole country where I was born, Slovakia. Being raised in socialism (idea destroyed by communists) didn’t help as the sources of information were restricted and ownership of any knowledge was definitely the way to survive.

I don’t quite remember when did it happen and surely it took longer then a eureka moment, but realising that I was wrong thinking, that admitting lack of knowledge leads to undermining my chances in life and career, was definitely the most important learning in my life.

I have been blessed ever since as I don’t stop wondering how much I can learn from saying “really?” “No way!” “I had no Idea!” “Tell me more!”

It might sound a bit cliché but those of you who follow my blog know that “cheesy” could be easily my middle name. Sorry, I can’t really stop it from happening.

Anyway, going back to the point. I realize that in professional and personal life it is very often about shifting power when sharing knowledge. I have learned however that the most fulfilling moments in my life were the ones where I felt no fear of sharing my weakness or saying “I Don’t know…” and this was most definitely followed by “…but I will find out”.

First it was hard and I have risked a lot (at least I thought I did), it appeared though that my honest response was most of the time returned with respect. It has probably had loads to do with the fact that by admitting lack of understanding I have also shown great interest to learn and listen. I have also made sure that I catch up with knowledge I have felt was important for me to engage in either discussions with friends or dealing with challenges at work.

My determination to be on top of everything does help. Where I am initially the one “not knowing” at the earliest opportunity I become one “knowing too much”. For this I can only thank to the same source that caused me trouble in the past. The fact that I used to put myself under constant pressure making sure that I don’t show any lack of knowledge, helped me to become very resourceful when looking for answers. And so, this period in my life, where I have completely misunderstood one of the best drivers of self development “knowing that I know nothing”, has actually helped me to gain great set of skills. So no regrets there at all.

There is only one learning I prize even more than this one. It is the moment I have learned not to be afraid to be wrong.

Countless amount of embarrassing situations where my ideas were dismissed instantly and very often left me with the feeling “what a loser”. Nevertheless I have realised that being right only one time out of ten was so rewarding that it was worth of being wrong nine times before that. Yes indeed I have learned to listen more and talk less but frankly, I never gave up in speaking up when I felt that I want to add something. Over the time I became more often right then wrong and for that I can only thank to all the lessons learned when I got things wrong. Hence today I have rarely hard feelings for getting things wrong. This wisdom also thought me to respect people who are mistaken and make sure they leave the meeting with “chin up”.

Over the month of February I am hosting guest blog posts and the invitation is open to all. If you’d like to take part, the question you have to answer is: What has been your biggest learning in life?

Blogging is an interesting part of my daily life now too. I read with interest news articles by mainstream media, and that’s important so we don’t lose sight of what’s happening in the world at large. But people live such interesting lives, that those personal interest stories only hit the news if there’s something to make bones about. So, people blog. About all sorts of things. In my corner of the world, I make it about learning and development in the workplace. A fairly mundane area of life but it holds my interest and think I’m good at it.

More interesting though, is hearing what other people have learned or experienced that’s driven them to write a blog post. Writing itself is easy, but articulating yourself isn’t. Finding the words that fit the occasion, expressing your feelings on a topic, ensuring you get your message across, this is the trick behind blogging. And the best bloggers do this effortlessly. The likes of Mervyn Dinnen on his T-Recs blog, Kevin Ball on his West Writing and Rick of Flipchart Fairy Tales infamy all have crafted this skill to excellence. I don’t mention them to praise them, I mention them to highlight how well it can be done.

In recent times, Doug Shaw and Alison Chisnell hosted a series of guest posts that produced some wonderful responses. Doug chose to share stories about Heroes which I thoroughly enjoyed reading about. Alison had the idea of an advent calendar blog over the month of December which produced some brilliant pieces of writing.

It occurs to me I might like to do the same. People visit and read my blog for a variety of reasons and I enjoy this. For the rest of the month of February, starting Monday 6th, I’d like to host guest blog posts. If you’re up to it and fancy the challenge, my question to you is this: What has been your biggest learning in life?

I have no idea what response this might create. I’m clearly hoping there’s going to be some uptake of this! Seasoned pros, regular bloggers, those who dabble, the ones who’ve written from afar, and those who want to but never known where to start, this is an open invitation to you all. The stage, as they say, is yours.

Ok, so let’s go back to that statement. Learning and development is your greatest currency. You are in a position where you have to batten down the hatches and keep the business growing and going. But you can’t restrict yourself to that. Someone/some team needs to take on the responsibility for making sure learning continues across the business so that you don’t get complacent. Complacency will kill in this environment. It does not just sit with your HR team (or L&D team if you’re lucky enough to have that) to help it to happen.

You need to make it happen on a day to day basis. There are ample opportunities to attend free events to get you thinking about the right things. Many training providers are holding free taster sessions that you can go along to and get some insight into what they’re talking about. There are also numerous webinars and the likes that are available. TED videos are brilliant for hearing from true thought leaders and experts in their field.

How can these translate to day to day activities?

Launch an internal learning forum. Give people the time and space where they can share the latest learning they have received and a discussion can be had about it. It should be voluntary, but open to all. The content should not be restricted to work related topics. Good ideas can come from anywhere, and from anyone.

Use social networks to share content internally. This happens a lot already through the likes of Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook where people are creating there own personal learning networks. But are you doing the same internally? There’s a lot of content readily available to be shared and it’s being read by people at all hours of the day. Give them a place to share and allow others to experience it. An internal blog, internal social network, even internal email distribution list, are all good ways to make this happen.

Give the time for people to have downtime. This sounds really counter-intuitive. You can’t make your people work at 100% all week all of the time. They’ll burn out, and it happens all of the time. They need time and space to use their brains to do other things with their time. Bob might enjoy reading journals but needs the time. Bert might enjoy running but doesn’t have the time. Billy might want to do some market research but has too much to do. Becky might like to just have a quiet lunch but her to do list is too long. People need the time to be distant. It will give them more space to handle the stresses of a hard economy and allow them to be productive in their time.

Listen to what they want to do and make it happen. People are great are seeing what they need in order to be more efficient. Take the time to listen to these concerns and ideas, and figure out a way to make it happen. Good ideas can come from anywhere, and from anyone. This mantra should be the most prevalent idea flowing in businesses right now.

Have peer to peer discussion sessions. This is particularly relevant for management, but can be equally so for those with particular skills (e.g. project managers). People need to sound off and hear what others have to say about their situation. It’s often enough to just say it out loud. Our own thinking can then allow us to form new ways of thinking and build new ways of doing things. Advice from others allows us to debate an idea and form opinions on how to do something. At its best, it could form the basis for managing change well.

Mistakes happen. Don’t chastise. Don’t criticise. Be constructive. Help others learn more. Make it better next time. Be respectful.

Learning and development is now your greatest currency as a company. Don’t flaunt it. If you want to retain your talent, engage them in the L&D strategy. Forget the old guard thinking that the Exec know best, or the L&D team knows best. Learners will learn how they want, when they want, and where they want. All you can do is try facilitate that learning. Your talent is eager to be the best they can be. Help them get there. Your new candidates will want to know they’re coming into a company where they can be developed. They’re most likely eager to join you because of the opportunities it holds for them. This means that you need to be doing things that helps them to see you have something unique to offer them.

But this post isn’t about leadership. It’s about the followers. Me. I’m a follower. I learned a long while ago I’m not a leader with a vision or with drive to achieve. Not in the sense of leading a business. I’ve still got a lot to learn about the world before I think I go down that road.

But I can tow the party line. And tow it well. I know how to deliver a message. I get company politics. I understand people and what drives them. I can sell in an idea and encourage discussion. I’m a loyal follower. I’ll defend my company to the hilt.

This is true of the world outside of work. I’m a loyal brand follower: Disney, Nike, Android, London, Marvel Comics over DC Comics. I’m also loyal to my family and friends. I quite enjoy being part of the crowd and in amongst the thick of things. I like to be in with current news and not being left out of the loop. I can take someone’s idea, credit it to them and help spread the message.

So I follow. And I follow faithfully and with genuine belief in the idea, plan, vision or whatever you want to call it. I’ll give direction where I think it’s needed and provide advice where I think it will help. I have ambitions to be a business asset. Sounds pretty boring huh? But that’s my role. I’m a support function and I’m pretty clear about the value I add to the business and where I add it. I don’t bring in sales, or develop strategy, or create marketing plans, but I know how to make all those things happen.

People like me, we’re good for the business. We help the culture stay strong and true to its word. My old boss is a great example of this. He wasn’t just the head of learning and development, he was a core part of the cultural development programme we had. That’s influence right there. But he was under no illusion that he had any more power than this. Partly because this was quite enough, partly because that wasn’t his interest anymore. Partly because he enjoyed being in the thick of the way the business operated.

I’m happy being a follower. I know my lot and what’s expected of me. I also know what can be achieved and how to make it happen. Leadership, that’s for you. Following, that’s what I do best.