Reflective Essay For Leaders And Learning

EDUC 3001 Reflective Practice

The Importance of Learning for Leaders

Write about the Reflective Essay for Leaders and Learning.

Leaders are those who have capability to lead a group of people. A leader holds a stronger position to influence others to follow him. Leadership is the action which is taken by leaders to guide and direct a group of people for achieving the common goals of the organisation. As per Meyer (2013), Learning is the continuous process. The leaders must be the learners because the ones who are into continuous learning are able to take more challenges and take more knowledge at each time.

Learning comes in many different shapes. The world’s greatest leaders like Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton or Dalai Lama shows that they all are engaged into continuous learning. They also persuades million and billions of people to follow their path and do what they ask them to do. Learning can be defined as an activity of gaining knowledge or skills by reading, writing, experiencing or by getting influenced. There are many theories of learning which shows how the process of learning takes place. These theories include the theory of Behaviourism, Cognitive psychology, Social learning theory, experiential learning and 21^st century learning (Ernest, 2010).  Behaviourism learning skills shows that here the learning takes place through observation or measuring the behaviour. It is also known as Biological basis for learning and the focus is made on the observable behaviours. The rewards and punishments are given for the behaviour and it is a highly structured type of learning. The theory is criticized as it does not account the behaviour which takes place in the mind. The theory of Cognitivism is another theory in which learning is considered as the process of the connected symbols. It is beneficial in the case of lectures and learning by reading. It is criticised as it does not focus on the individual needs like behaviourism (Pritchard, 2013).

Social learning theory grew out of Cognitivism in which learning takes place through observation as well as experiences. The leaders learn a lot through this theory. This theory is given by Albert Bandura. The theory says that learning takes place through the influence people make on each other. This process involves attention, retention and motivation. Experiential learning theories are built on the basis of social theory. In this theory, people learn through their experiences. Learning is made through meaningful experiences. This type of learning is used mostly in organisations (Reed, et. al., 2010).

Different Theories of Learning

21^st century learning emerged to meet the learning needs of the 21^st century. It includes learning the directions, critical thinking and other traits which are essential in the 21^st century. It includes learning through media, communication and collaboration. It also includes learning of life and career skills which involves learning accountability, leadership and responsibility (DuFour & Marzano, 2015). 

Learning and leadership are interrelated. It shows how people learned how they are able to lead others. There are many theories of leadership like Trait theory, Behavioural theory and Contingency theory. In modern trait theory, the leaders learn by going through various situations and tasks. It includes intelligence, experience and extroversion to learn. Behavioural theory says that leaders should have strong personality where self-confidence is important. In contingency theory, the leaders have to learn to act differently in different situations (Stid & Bradach, 2009).

In an organisation, the leader has to consider various situations and act accordingly to handle the situations. The leaders have to learn through experience, their intelligence, observations and behaviours so that they can guide others to follow the right path. Learning is considered as a foundation of good leadership. It is very important for the leaders like corporate managers and executives to involve continuous learning. It is seen that all the leaders have to learn continuously o handle the ever changing environment. Leadership, in the present world, is not learned by people but it is a process of learning (Bezzina & Burford, 2010). The leaders observe at the workplace and then take actions. The development of leaders takes place when learning is connected to the process of development of leaders. In today’s rapidly changing market where people have to take challenges of change and foster the environment of innovation for meeting the competitive edge in the industry, learning is essential. The leaders must have the competency to show excellent performance and success in their career. Many studies has been conducted which have shown the interrelationship between learning and leadership. The studies show that the leaders who are engaged in learning show better behaviour in leadership. The leaders often use learning tactics and experiences while taking decisions at the workplace. The future leaders and their competencies will be evaluated on the basis of their learning. The upcoming leaders have to be great in learning. The leaders who learn are able to take more competitive decisions and are able to take future challenges and show their capabilities efficiently (Jwan & Ong’ondo, 2011).

Leadership Theories and Learning

According to Mikkelsen& Jarche (2015), Leaders must have the quality in which they can scan the signals of change. They should have the ability where they can connect the dots between people and different ideas. For all these capabilities, the leader should have learning capabilities. The leaders cannot follow the static plans but they have to face complexities in the business which needs different behaviours in differentsituations. In 21^st century, the leaders are required to show the abilities of thinking, learning and doing. The leaders should have the abilities to renew their thought processes in accordance to the needs of the organisations. In this century, the leaders who learn fast are able to grow faster. As per the study conducted by Deloitte named Global Human Capital Trends 2015, most of the respondents i.e. 85% said that learning is very important criteria for being a successful leader.

As per Seijts (2013), a study was conducted where 30 leaders were interviewed who are at different stages of their career and are from different industries too. It was found that the leaders have to take chances to lead and to learn. They have to go beyond their comfort zone to handle complex situations. Every leader has to calculate risks and take opportunities to learn all the leaders shared that they are always open to learning because they get to learn many things every day from others which helps them to succeed professionally and personally.

Being a leader, I believe that empowerment and encouragement is very important. I accept that learning is a continuous process which updates an individual in the 21^st century ever-changing environment. For leaders, it is very important to have a vision that they could inspire others by their knowledge and skills. These knowledge and skills have to be updated and good enough which can meet the challenge of the present complex environment. As a leader I experienced that Learning and leadership goes side by side. Learning increases the knowledge and helps in understanding the complexities of every situation. I have gone through the theories of learning from which I learned that Social learning theory is the one which is used by leaders in the organisations. In this, the leaders observe the behaviour and actions of others and take actions accordingly. This theory helps in understanding the actual environment of the social world and helps the leader in learning that how every individual is different to handle.

Learning and Leadership in Organisations

I also learned that as per the 21^st century learning theory, one size does not fit all which means that a leader cannot act in the same manner in every situation. Learning makes it easy for the leaders to accept the change and to deal with it efficiently.  Change is never easy to handle and if the leader keeps him involved in learning then it becomes easy for him to accept and handle the change in the organisation. As a leader, I understood that Learning and growing is a continuous process. I have to make some action plans in order to accomplish my future goals. I also realised that continues development in an individual takes place when lifelong learning takes place. It contributes effectively in the community as well as society and allows the leader to work properly with the followers or peers.

As a leader I learned that every leader should be engaged in learning to keep the team motivated. To be a successful leader and to direct the teams it is very important to learn from the surroundings. I believe that learning could be made a part of training and development programs in the organisations where the team members could learn on a continuous basis in a work environment. The team members could also grab opportunities while learning leadership skills on the job. It helps the whole team in achieving the common goals of the business.  This also helps leaders to assess different situations and also make them learn that how strategies should be implemented for getting the best results. Learning should be taken as routine activity for the team and especially for leaders. It is because leaders are the one who directs the whole team and make them capable to achieve the desires targets and goals for the team and organisation as a whole.

References 

Bezzina, M & Burford, C (2010). Leaders transforming learning and learners: An Australian innovation in leadership, learning and moral purpose. In Global perspectives on educational leadership reform: The development and preparation of leaders of learning and learners of leadership (pp. 265-283). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

DuFour, R & Marzano, R J (2015). Leaders of learning: How district, school, and classroom leaders improve student achievement. Solution Tree Press.

Ernest, P (2010). Reflections on theories of learning. In Theories of mathematics education (pp. 39-47). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Jwan, J O & Ong’ondo, C O (2011). Educating leaders for learning in schools in Kenya: The need for a reconceptualisation. In International handbook of leadership for learning (pp. 397-417). Springer Netherlands.

Meyer, K (2013). Why The Best Leaders Are Full-Time Learners. Forbes.

Mikkelsen, K & Jarche, H (2015). The Best Leaders Are Constant Learners. Harvard Business Review.

Pritchard, A (2013). Ways of learning: Learning theories and learning styles in the classroom. Routledge.

Reed, M, Evely, A C, Cundill, G, Fazey, I R A, Glass, J, Laing, A, … & Stringer, L. (2010). What is social learning?. Ecology and Society.

Seijts, G (2013). Good leaders never stop learning.  Ivey Business Journal.

Stid, D & Bradach, J (2009). How visionary nonprofits leaders are learning to enhance management capabilities. Strategy & Leadership, 37(1), 35-40.