Leaders Are Learners

Our experiences with formal education greatly influence our approach to learning. Here learning is often defined as acquiring more information about a certain subject in order to produce the right answers to questions and problems. Most of us have been students at some stage of our lives and know the pressure of assignment deadlines and studying for exams. We have memories of intense study before an exam and late nights completing assignments just before they are due. These techniques are often sufficient to get us through academic studies, but are totally inadequate to meet the challenges of daily living. 

 Can we build a fulfilling marriage relationship by weeks of neglect and a few days of focussed attention? Can we build a God-given strategy for our church by rushing around busily for months, and listening to God late into one evening? It is true that we can implement a “quick fix” through this method, but often these “quick fixes” end up in generating bigger and more serious problems further down the road.

Learning is expanding our capacity to achieve the results God desires for us. Real learning is a process, not a one-off event. Only when the knowledge or principle that we have been taught has been incorporated as an intrinsic part of our lives can we say that we have learnt. Real learning means establishing a new habit or a new way of thinking. Real learning means change.