Effective leaders are committed to constantly learning and growing. This desire to grow is driven by their character. Effective leaders have the following character traits:

• Confident but not arrogant, they know they have been greatly blessed with talent but recognize room for growth.
• Humble but not meek, they know that they have areas to improve and room to grow to be more effective.
• Driven but not obsessive, they want to accomplish more, both for themselves and for those that they serve.

These character traits convince leaders that they can continually increase their effectiveness by continually learning. Much like the areas described in Goleman’s book, “Focus”, of inner, other, and outer focus, effective leaders seek to grow in these inner, other, and outer dimensions. They are especially focused on learning in the following areas:

• Character
• Competency
• Constituents
• Context

Leadership is built on competency and character, with character as a foundational element. Leaders know that they need to continually build their character in order to be more effective. Character growth is more than reading and attending seminars, it requires intentional change and growth of our inner self. To do so usually requires some experiential learning like participation in a cohort leadership development program.

Leaders desire to grow in competency, developing skills to enhance and expand their capabilities. This might include leadership skills such as communications or culture development, but also technical or functional skills. In the earlier part of careers these might be in our functional area but, as we grow in responsibility, would include the expansion of our knowledge in other functional areas. To do so requires extensive reading, study, seminars or conferences, etc.

A third area for learning is constituents. Effective leaders know their people, how to motivate them, how to develop them, and how to help them be more effective. To do so requires that we be students of the people with whom we work.

Leaders also need to grow in context or their outer focus. They need to learn about other areas of technology, markets, business practices, etc. A broad base of knowledge can expand the leader’s perspective, enhance creativity, or identify new ways of thinking or doing business. To do so means we need to be on the lookout broadly for places to learn.

What are you doing to learn and grow? What is your plan for personal development?