Written by: Ian Gibbs, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
If you’re anything like me, you have a list of things you do which you know you could do better. Maybe it’s your time management, your leadership, or your ability to pitch your latest great idea. But even though you know strengthening your skill set would put you in a better position, there never seems to be the opportunity, the motivation, or the pressure to do something about it.
Frustrating, isn’t it?
That’s why in this article, I’m going to introduce you to my favourite personal development initiative, the Learning Club.
The what?
Like an accountability group or mastermind group, a Learning Club is an unceremonious event held regularly for the sole purpose of helping its members develop and improve themselves in any way they want. Learning Clubs are small – 4 people is the sweet spot (I’ll explain why in my next article). A Learning Club session lasts for about 2 hours and you can have them as frequently as you like, although every 3 weeks is a good frequency to start with.
They can range from a group of colleagues meeting in the canteen at lunchtime to a team of senior management in the boardroom.
But whatever the place, time, or duration, all Learning Clubs offer the same benefit: personal development acceleration. This is because they are set up in such a way as to include several advantages over other personal development methods such as coaching or mentoring which we’re going to go through in a moment. As we go through them, I invite you to consider your current method of personal development. If it ticks all the boxes, you’re on the right track – well done. If not, then think about how you can adjust your strategy to get up that learning curve more successfully.
1: 100% Personalised
The first major advantage of a Learning Club is it allows you to work on whatever you want, in the way you want, at the speed you want. You have complete control. This is especially useful if your needs are so specific that there isn’t an off-the-shelf training course readily available. So, if you want to work on controlling your temper in board meetings, then that is exactly what you can choose to do. No one will stop you. In fact, it’s just the opposite – the other members of your Learning Club group will actively support and encourage you.
Now it’s time to take a moment to consider your current development program. How personalised is it? How much control do you have? Are you spending time on what you really need or are you following topics prescribed by someone else? Rate yourself from 0 to 10 and write it down, you’ll need it later.
2: Focus
In a busy world where there are so many things demanding your attention, a Learning Club provides the opportunity to focus on how members are progressing. Without this, it’s possible that your best intentions get buried under a pile of urgent distractions.
For example, imagine you're a business executive aiming to improve your public speaking skills. Left on your own, it’s easy to have your attention taken up by other people’s problems, so the precious time you need to practise gets encroached upon until there’s nothing left. In a regularly held Learning Club, you can identify your weaknesses, allocate time to practice and receive feedback from other members. Just knowing that you have a Learning Club session coming up, helps you focus on your learning objectives.
So think about how much time do you focus on improving yourself, rather than dealing with what other people throw at you. Again, rate yourself from 0 to 10.
Focus is necessary for learning.
3: Accountability
I’m sure you already know that you are much more likely to follow through if someone holds you accountable. If you know you’ll have to face your colleagues in a week’s time and admit you failed, you’re more likely to make the effort.
If you want to develop your project management abilities, a Learning Club helps you commit to regular progress updates and share your achievements or setbacks with the group. This accountability spurs you on to take consistent action and improve your project management skills.
But just being aware of the power of accountability doesn’t guarantee you’ll apply it, does it?
Consider how much you use accountability to spur you onwards and upwards. 0 to 10? Write it down.
Accountability fuels learning.
4: Getting others’ opinions
It’s easy to get trapped by the mental walls you built around yourself. Taking the time to talk about the challenges you’re facing and what you’re doing to overcome them provides an excellent opportunity to hear the ideas of others and learn from them.
Suppose you are a marketing professional seeking a new marketing tactic. In a Learning Club, you engage in conversations with colleagues from different backgrounds who share their opinions and experiences. This exchange of perspectives can be the catalyst you need to make the breakthrough you’re looking for.
How good are you at finding the right moment to talk to the right people about what obstacles you’re facing and how to get over them? Keep score.
We learn from others’ points of view.
5: Safe place to experiment
Part of a Learning Club is to provide the opportunity to practise in whatever way is beneficial. From role-play to real simulation, from presentations to experimentations, if there’s something the group can do to allow a member to try out a new technique (and possibly fail), then that’s what you should do.
For example, if you have an important interview or sales presentation coming up, Learning Club provides you with a safe environment to try out your ideas, allowing you to refine your techniques and receive constructive feedback from your peers before the big day.
So do you have a place to crash-test your developing skills, or do you just hope it’ll be ‘alright on the night’? Remember, 0 to 10.
Experimentation is part of the learning process.
6: Timely feedback
Anyone who knows anything about personal development will tell you about the value of immediate and specific feedback. Getting feedback on your leadership style afterwards when it’s too late is of little help to anyone. But getting good quality, actionable feedback isn’t easy. By its very nature, a Learning Club guarantees you constructive and supportive feedback when you really need it.
So, again, 0 to 10, how would you rate the quantity and quality of the feedback you receive?
Feedback is the breakfast of learners.
7: Fulfilling
Finally, if the previous six reasons to set up a Learning Club weren’t enough, then how about this? Which would provide the greatest benefit? Listening to your colleagues having the same conversations as usual (= complaints and idle gossip), or spending an hour or two once a month helping a group of friends get better at what’s important to them while you learn something useful yourself? It’s easy to get trapped in a behavioural routine which provides a little tangible benefit for your career development.
So finally, 0 to 10 – how well are you spending your time? Just going over the same routine each week and firefighting the problems that come up, or are you taking concrete steps to make real progress?
Now add up your score.
60+ is excellent – well done! You're a rising star.
40 to 60 is still ok, although clearly there's room for improvement.
But less than 40 suggests you're not making the most of your potential. You're in the slow lane watching as you get constantly overtaken. Maybe it's time to form a Learning Club.
I love Learning Clubs. They can be facilitated (I’m a Learning Club facilitator) or self-run by the members. I’ve witnessed people learn how to do things they thought were beyond them. Some have described the results as miraculous, but the truth is that when you make the effort to focus, be accountable, seek alternative opinions, experiment and get timely feedback, you’ll be amazed by what you can achieve. In my next article, I’ll share what the key components are so you can experiment setting up a Learning Club to see for yourself how fulfilling it can be.
And if you’d like a little helpful guidance, feel free to contact me.
It’s what I’m here for!
Ian Gibbs, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ian Gibbs is a leading expert in learning techniques and personal development. Through his talks, books and workshops, Ian helps individuals and organisations develop better strategies for learning how to overcome obstacles and achieve goals they thought were beyond them. He is the founder of Learning Clubs which are rapidly gaining notoriety for being a powerful personal development accelerator. Ian's mission is to help people understand and apply everything that science knows about how we develop new behaviour and skills but which is sadly so often overlooked and so keep up in today's rapidly changing world.
