“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” John F. Kennedy
The subjects of leadership and learning have been discussed before.
However, coming across this quote by Kennedy raised a number of ideas that seemed important enough to revisit this idea.
A mindset does exist, often referred to as a leadership myth, that once someone becomes a leader they having nothing left to learn. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We have all seen, or perhaps known, someone who basically felt like they were God’s gift to humanity. They believe others are inferior and that they have little or nothing to learn, especially if they have already visited the situation before.
Arrogance is a dangerous attitude to possess. It leads to a lack of gratitude, separation, and a delusional personality. Ultimately, it destroys any possibility of leading, at least from a godly position.
Leaders must be constantly learning. They must learn about people. They must be, as Wayne Roberts often says, “A people of the Word and the world.”
Both require one to be a learner. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.