In leadership, simplicity often works best. Thus one liners such as “leaders teach” are valuable for their simplicity and effectiveness. Some appointed “leaders” try to avoid the teaching role required of good and great leaders. However, teaching is essential for effective leadership because the development of others is likewise essential for the growth of the individual and especially for the growth and success of the team and organization.
To teach effectively, the leader is best served by knowing how learners learn. Adults learn in stages, with an unconscious series of decisions made along the way.
Please imagine the Great Pyramid of Giza in three dimensions. Imagine you have a magic sword which allows you to slice horizontally through the entire pyramid three times. The first slice is exactly one quarter of the total height of the pyramid, measured from the ground. Each subsequent slice is also one quarter of the total height of the pyramid, measured from the top of the slice below.
Now consider the volume of each piece of the pyramid. Clearly the greatest volume is contained in the first quarter of the pyramid’s height, measured from the ground.
This first, largest volume is labeled AWARENESS. Adults learn by first being aware there is something to perceive and perhaps learn. Each adult is filled with awareness, often complex. Examples range from what a red traffic light means to literacy to electron theory. Basic or complex, this is where learning begins. For a leader to succeed at teaching, she/he must realize what the learner is already aware of. This is discovered through inquiry, the tool of discovery.
Ask questions to determine awareness.
The next portion of the pyramid is a somewhat smaller volume. Label it UNDERSTANDING. The goal here, if understanding is needed, is to have the learner gain knowledge sufficient to know when to apply the knowledge gained.
First a subtle decision has to be made. Does the learner need to understand what he/she is aware of? If no, we move on to what the learner does need to understand. If yes, we deepen the understanding. This is why the volume of topics the learner must understand is smaller than the volume of topics need to be aware of. Tools for doing so include one liners like “leaders teach” and “build the relationship before you need it” when teaching leaders how to lead. Thus the volume (number of topics) of what needs to be understood is much smaller than the volume of topics of which we are aware.
Frameworks are a second tool for understanding. “How Adults Learn” is a framework unfolding here. So far we’ve covered two of its four elements, AWARENESS and UNDERSTANDING.
Worth noting is how incredibly public education and higher education in the North America handle AWARENESS and UNDERSTANDING. Historically the third step in how adults learn was left largely to the workplace. North American practicality and marketplace necessity, plus the creativity of faculty and their leaders, plus the addition of technology, have caused educational institutions to get better and better at building SKILLS.
We don’t need to build SKILLS with everything we understand. For example, raw material buyers, finance professionals, marketers, and HR professionals all need to UNDERSTAND how supply chain activities interact with these separate disciplines. But those in other disciplines don’t need to develop the SKILLS of supply chain such as economic order quantity calculation.
The volume of topics in which SKILLS are needed is thus smaller than the volume of topics needed to be understood.
SKILL is the third element in the journey of adult learning. SKILLS can only be built through both practice and use. Understanding without skill does not yield a useful outcome where and when action is required. Understanding plus skill gained through adaptive practice leads to experienced decision-making and its application. One must play basketball to be good at basketball. One must lead in a leadership setting in order to develop effective leadership skills and be good at leading others.
K through 12 educators now build skills through role plays, team assignments, and technology enhanced activities like simulations as three examples. Internships are a major source of bridging the perceived opportunity gap between UNDERSTANDING and SKILLS. Educators and leaders as educators have huge opportunities to have learners connect SKILL development back to the frameworks of UNDERSTANDING so that, when faced with somewhat altered circumstances, leader and learner can adjust decision-making and actions taken to yield better outcomes.
The fourth and final “piece of the pyramid” is the top. It is the smallest. It represents MASTERY. MASTERY is not more or deeper skill. MASTERY can only exist when a leader has the capability to teach the learner what is needed to a level where the learner becomes a MASTER leader.
Tools of teaching include inquiry and advocacy. “Teaching isn’t just telling” is a theme we need to explore further. I feel another Diamond6 Leadership Newsletter article coming on!
Ken Graham, Ph.D., Strategy, Leadership, and Change Consulting. Learn more about Ken or connect with him on LinkedIn.