These methods can also extend to any topic, not just global perspectives, and I encourage that you use it to learn outside your field. Pick up magazines on topics outside your normal range of interests. It’ll help you understand others, pick up on trends, connect dots and increase your value.

A great tie-together of communications skills and motivation to learn is to push yourself to become a speaker and author. Are you a member of Toastmasters? This is a nonprofit group of dedicate peers helping each other’s communication skills. They have a structure of taking the newest of public speakers and building presentation skills in a non-threatening way. There are thousands of chapters you can join.

Giving presentations can be a way to force yourself to learn. When I was a Systems Engineer with IBM, I was asked to give a technical talk on a new architecture I was not yet familiar with. I knew, however, that it was an area of expertise I needed to develop, so I said yes. Since the presentation was to be in front of 300 of my very technical peers, I learned it well and fast. It forced me to learn quickly and thoroughly, since the Q and A sessions can be brutal!

The columns that follow will target specific areas of knowledge leaders should consider acquiring and how to do it. If you have specific thoughts regarding what you think that ought to be, please contact me at mcook@ageos1.com and we’ll compare notes!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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