There are many characteristics often associated with leaders: self-confidence, intelligence, determination, self-awareness, openness–and the list could go on and on. One trait listed nowhere in the Northouse (2013) text was the willingness of the leader to be teachable. While I agree all the other characteristics listed throughout the text and corresponding lesson are important qualities a leader can have, I think one of the most important qualities is the leader’s ability to be taught.
As a teenager, I was sure I knew it all. I was a high school graduate at the age of sixteen and was promoted within a year of starting my job as a bagger to a front-end manager at the local grocery store. I received the promotion a day after my seventeenth birthday. I will never forget the advice my wise father told me at Sunday dinner shortly after I was promoted.
“Holly,” he said, “Never think you are too good or too smart to be taught.”
As a teenager, I was too good and too smart to be taught; after all, I was invincible and knew everything. It wasn’t until years later that I really understood what my father was telling me. A leader, no matter how smart, never stops learning.
In my current job as a test officer, I work mainly with homemade explosives (HMEs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). I am constantly learning everything I can about both–from chemical properties of various explosives to the differences in each UAV platform. This is a concept I constantly tell my crew–make yourself an asset to the company. Learn everything you can. If someone else is doing something you’ve never done, ask questions. The bigger the asset you are to the company, the more likely it is you will keep your job.
Having been in many management and leadership roles in my life, I have always worked hard to be teachable. It’s not always easy–especially when you run a team of 30-50 personnel and all final decisions fall on your shoulders. When I did this, I was sure I knew it all. Only after a few small failures did I realize I had closed myself off to this concept. I bring up this trait in leaders because oftentimes followers will emulate the behaviors of their leaders. If a follower can see a leader being open to learning and being taught by someone “below” them (for lack of a better term), they are more likely to open themselves up to new things.
Reference:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Your entry forced me to think about some of the leaders I’ve worked for and their willingness to learn. I could only think of one example of a leader who despite his academic achievements was still completely open to learning and growing. I think one of the many benefits to having this characteristic is that it shows you value the inputs of those who work for you. I’ve found this to be a very motivating factor when operating as a follower.
After reading through Northouse again, I also couldn’t find anywhere that references willingness of the leader to be teachable. I do however think several traits feed into one’s willingness to be taught. Northouse (2013) lists emotional intelligence, conscientiousness and openness as leadership traits and I think each play a role in the trait you’ve described.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc