Leadership Tip

How to overcome a fear of learning

Do you struggle to get started with learning a new skill? Skill development is a top priority for 83% of our subscribers. As vital as it is to gain new skills, what happens when you have a fear of learning? Grappling with the unfamiliar can be anxiety-provoking, so here are tips to cope without giving up.

  1. To engage in learning for learning’s sake, we should not put pressure on ourselves with audacious goals. Instead, start small.
     
  2. To learn from mistakes, we should not mindlessly repeat the same actions over and over. Instead, we want to be more focused and analytical by reflecting on what we did right and what we did wrong. Psychologists call this “deliberate practice”.
     
  3. We should make sure our practice is varied, rather than doing the exact same thing again and again. Mixing up how we practise our new behaviour forces the learned patterns in our brains to become more flexible, allowing us to cope better when new and unexpected challenges arise.
     
  4. We should try our best to learn from other novices, rather than comparing ourselves solely with experts. It also helps to teach the skills we are learning to other novices. This is because we learn best when we know we have to pass the knowledge on.

The above leadership tip...
was sent in response to a question from a participant on our acclaimed 10/10 leadership development and mentoring programme. Whether you're a first time manager or an experienced leader, straightforward, practical advice on best practice is hard to find. Until now. To find out how you, your team or your organisation can benefit, please join us on our next complimentary webinar or contact us.


For more tips...
on leadership and management good practice, subscribe to a Minute with Montgomery on 10TV.

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