How Teaching Can Help You Learn

We all teach, even if we don't recognise our actions as teaching. Showing a child how to swim, explaining how to set up a report, or coaching a little league game all showcase teaching skills. The ability to teach has enormous value and can lead to increased awareness of ourselves. By teaching others, we deepen our own learning, we improve our memory through repetition and we add clarity to our thoughts.

When you discuss work with your staff, it's easy to get in the mindset of results. You expect x, y and z by a particular time on your desk or in your inbox. You may not even care at the moment how the tasks get accomplished, as long as they do. But this type of thinking is detrimental in the long run because you may get into an automatic pattern of ‘just doing’ versus stopping and reflecting about what’s in front of you.

Ask yourself  'Is this worth doing?' or 'Should it be reconsidered?’

Instead of labelling your employees as task-completers, imagine them as problem-solvers. Most people like to be involved in finding a solution to a problem. It is stimulating for the brain and it fuels a sense of accomplishment.

Challenging your current methods of how you invite others to give their perspectives and listening to what they have to say will lead to an expanded sense of awareness of yourself and others.

You teach best what you most need to learn.

Richard Bach

If you develop the patience and take the time to teach others at work, your employees will feel more engaged and committed in the work they do. We are often so busy and impatient that we simply expect people to come to work and just know what to do and how to do it.

If you take a step back and consider your expectations, and how you need and want things accomplished, you will become more aware. This awareness can help you see past daily distractions and instead look to the future, enhancing the potential of any venture.

Increasing awareness will undoubtedly enable you to act with more wisdom and insight. This is a critical skill if you want to improve your leadership agility and respond quickly and effectively to today’s work demands, where things can change in the blink of an eye.