The Leader as a Role Model for Learning – Where the Journey to Wisdom Begins

Introducing our three-part series, “Wisdom Is a Journey – The Leader’s Shift from Me to Team”

Leadership wisdom rarely comes from a single breakthrough. Instead, it develops gradually through reflection and experience, and it requires the humility to keep striving to learn. Early in our careers, our goal is to show that we are contributors and producers, that we are intelligent and have answers. But true leadership requires a different approach: It becomes more about utilizing the team’s collective intelligence—and more—than highlighting personal expertise.

This three-part series explores the leadership journey from Me to Team:

• Part I – The Leader as a Role Model for Learning. How a leader’s mindset influences whether an organization becomes a learning organization.
• Part II – Growth for the Team Member. Team members thrive when leaders foster environments that encourage learning and  accommodate mistakes—this ultimately leads to growth.
• Part III – Creating a Learning Organization. Learning organizations have open and honest conversations because they focus on the organization’s needs, not on team members’ shortcomings. To stay sustainable, the organization must evolve and become smarter, and everyone on the team is responsible for improving themselves to be better tomorrow.

The journey to build a learning organization begins with the leader.

The Leader as a Role Model for Learning

Charlie Munger once observed, “I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest…but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up.”

Great leadership starts with a simple promise: to become a little wiser each day. When leaders shift from “It’s about me” to “It’s about what we can become together,” they put themselves and their organizations on a path of continuous learning. This change requires two qualities essential for sustainable leadership: intellectual humility and curiosity.

Leaders who believe they always need the answers unintentionally foster a fixed mindset within their organizations, limiting their growth.

Fixed Mindset Versus Growth Mindset

Psychologist Carol Dweck describes two fundamental ways people approach challenges:

• A fixed mindset believes that ability is mostly unchangeable. People with this mindset often avoid challenges, reject feedback, hide their mistakes, and try to maintain their image as being smart.
• A growth mindset, on the other hand, believes that ability can improve through learning. People with this mindset embrace challenges, seek feedback, learn from failure, and continuously develop their skills.

Organizations often reflect the mindset of their leaders. When leaders are learners, they build learning organizations.

The Leadership Trap – A Fixed Mindset May Take Hold

Many leaders unknowingly develop a fixed mindset because of the pressure from leadership roles. They believe they must be the smartest person in the room, provide quick answers, and always appear confident and decisive. Over time, this slowly develops a subtle yet strong dynamic: The organization becomes limited by the leader’s way of thinking. When the leader believes they must always have all the answers, others stop sharing ideas. Learning slows down, innovation decreases, and engagement drops.

Historically, leadership training was rare. In both business and academia, people were often promoted because they excelled at their specific roles, not because they had developed leadership skills. A top salesperson might become Director of Sales. A skilled engineer could become head of engineering. However, the skills needed for leadership are quite different.

Without guidance, many leaders try to handle everything themselves. They see asking for help as a sign of weakness rather than strength. As a result, learning slows and becomes more difficult than necessary.

Early Lessons in Curiosity – Paving the Way for a Growth Mindset

In my life, curiosity started early. As a young student, I faced challenges with dyslexia. Learning was difficult, so I tried to understand how things worked. Luckily, my mother encouraged an effective way of thinking. She believed we shouldn’t accept what we’re told without question. My siblings and I were encouraged to ask questions: Why does this work this way? Is there a better way? What might we be missing? We grew up with an always-active sense of curiosity. We learned to think analytically and reflectively and to continuously look for ways to improve. That mindset has shaped my leadership style ever since.

The Leadership Shift from Me to Team

At some point, every leader must accept a powerful truth: Even the smartest person cannot list what they do not know. This realization marks the beginning of the shift from Me to Team. Humility becomes a leadership strength as they ask, “I don’t know. What do you think?”

This shift can transform a team. When leaders invite others into the thinking process, people feel valued, respected, and engaged in something greater than themselves. Few things motivate people more than the chance to contribute to meaningful progress.

Reflection Questions

1. How curious are you about people who see things differently than you do?
2. Do you see leadership responsibility as showing competence or as broadening understanding?
3. Are your interactions with your team merely transactional, or do they foster better thinking and decision-making?

Next – Part II in the Series on the Journey to Wisdom

In “Growth for the Team Member,” we will examine why great leaders build environments where people can learn, experiment, and improve without fear.