Learning from Life: Turning Life's Lessons Into Leadership Experience

Ruderman, Ohlott

• Publisher: Center for Creative Leadership Press
• Year: 2000
• Print ISBN: 9781882197606
• eBook ISBN: 9781604917154
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

If you were to ask managers and executives where they get the most influential and effective developmental training, the answer you're likely to get is "on the job." Too often, those same managers and executives discount what can be learned from experiences outside of work. CCL research demonstrates that activities that take place outside of the regular workday contribute to a leader's effectiveness as a manager. This guidebook shows how to see those activities as opportunities for developing key leadership skills in such areas as interpersonal relations, communication, collaboration, and flexibility.

How Private Life Promotes Leadership Development

There are three important ways in which private life encourages and enhances leadership development. The first is by providing opportunities to develop psychological strength. No doubt you’ve noticed that events in your personal life can from day to day have different effects on your outlook and concentration. Your personal responsibilities and relationships contribute to your general sense of how strong, secure, confident, and capable you feel. A second way is through the support of family relationships and friendships, which can encourage and advise you. A final way is through learning opportunities. The roles you play off the job can be your laboratory for mastering management skills.

To enable the power of nonwork experiences to enhance your managerial effectiveness, you must first become aware of the developmental nature of nonwork experiences. Instead of focusing on how your personal commitments and activities detract from your career objectives, examine how such activities strengthen your professional ability by providing psychological strength and supportive individuals and by motivating skill development.

Personal Life Experiences Provide Psychological Strength

A busy work life in a demanding career is often associated with stress and pressure. You might be angry with yourself for how you handled a situation, be frustrated with your subordinates, be discouraged at the results of your initiatives, or be anxious about decisions you have made. During those times it’s enormously helpful to have experiences away from work that serve as a source of gratification and pleasure.

When you’ve had a week of nonstop crises and chaos, for example, a weekend spent doing what you like with people you like has enormous power to calm and cure. Opportunities to be playful, follow an interest, or experience joy can provide great benefits to the busy manager.

Think about the activities you have outside of work, the ones that really recharge your batteries. They don’t all have to be high-action pursuits. You might enjoy gardening or reading; others might enjoy a sports activity or attending a concert. Everybody has a place of refuge that can be used to gain perspective. That place of refuge can be a literal place, like a favorite room or a house of worship. Or it can be more abstract, like a favorite book or movie. Whichever you choose, such an activity can provide a buffer from the stress of work.

Make a list of those sources of refuge as a way of discovering buffers for those times when the challenge of work is very high. Can you give any more time to any of those activities to provide an even stronger buffer? Are there activities or relationships or other resources you want to add to as a balance to the challenges of work?

Renewable Strength from Off-the-job Sources

Personal Activities/Resources	Time Spent During the Week
coaching girls’ softball	4 hours
practicing musical instrument	5 hours
hiking	2 hours

Another kind of psychological resource your private life can provide to you is confidence. For example, have you addressed a large crowd in your private life, successfully negotiated with a difficult vendor, or held an office in a community organization? Success in your personal life can contribute to a reservoir of confidence that supports you at work.

Personal Relationships Provide Support for Handling Leadership Challenges

To successfully meet challenges at work, it helps to have a support network from which you can get feedback, try out ideas, and learn new skills. But you can also build a support network among the people you know outside of work. Family, close friends, neighbors, and community partners can all be drawn on as support, and you can transfer the benefits of that support to your work. Knowing that there are supportive resources available can give you the confidence you need to take risks and to move out of your comfort zone. A solid support network outside of work is a foundation for facing new challenges, addressing personal weaknesses, and leveraging personal strengths.

Think about who in your private life will sup...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• The Pull of Work and Life
• What You Can Learn from Nonwork Experiences
• How Private Life Promotes Leadership Development
• What Work Experience Can Teach About Life Skills
• Make It All Work Together
• Serving as a Role Model
• From Life to Work and Back Again
• Suggested Readings
• Background
• Key Point Summary