Learning from Experience

Learning-directed leaders draw on their own experiences and the experiences of others as the basis for learning. Leaders have unique learning preferences that impact how they interact and make decisions at work. Learning from experience involves four interrelated processes: gathering experience, reflecting on the experience, generating theories about the experience, and taking action. Learning-directed leaders overcome limitations of learning from experience by understanding the structure of the brain and psychological defense mechanisms, their own unique preferences for learning, and the role of anxiety in learning. Learning-directed leadership begins with an understanding of the learning process and an appreciation for the unique and diverse ways that people learn. Learning-directed leadership suggests that learning can emerge in many different ways. For sure, learning takes place in traditional classrooms, but learning that matters most to leaders occurs when they reflect on their own experiences, particularly their failures and challenges, formulate new strategies for moving forward, and then take a chance in their practice. We begin with a story of publisher Steve Forbes and how he drew on his experience and the collected experiences of his organization to navigate changes in the publishing industry.