An example of this is when I attended a four-year program called Institute for Organizational Management. I now understand that this old thought pattern comes from a desire to please everyone, a drive for perfection, and the belief that nothing is ever good enough. It was a rotten attitude that had me believing I was good as I was and that I shouldn’t be a student, but instead always the teacher. When I was in my phase of being better than learning, I am ashamed to admit that my attitude didn’t allow me to learn. Most importantly, I have also learned that attitude matters. To find deeper meaning and connection, it is important to be an effective listener – listen to understand, not to reply. I’ve learned how important good listening is when it comes to learning. I learned that it is good to be proud of your work, but there is always more to learn. I started learning again but this time from a new perspective. And never would be, even when things were going well and I was driving success. I re-focused and realized that I wasn’t done learning, growing and changing. But I lost view of the necessity of continuous learning in order to grow success of the organization. I was in a place where I felt like I knew what I was doing, and for a brief period, I was in a place where I felt invincible in my job. It boosted my ego, left people impressed with my work, and quickly put me in a position of leadership. This led to some initial success which lasted several years. This also meant the appropriate actions were also easy to identify. When I first started at the Chamber of Commerce in Alpena, continual learning was not difficult because there was a lot to learn and a lot of lessons. For many years I fought those distractions but there was a brief period when I let that thought go. I did well learning all through school but once out of school, continual learning was constantly being attacked by other distractions and responsibilities. I can also identify a point in my life when I allowed a lapse in my belief that I should never stop learning. Reflecting on myself, I realize my ability to learn has grown, and my style of learning has changed. Even after he was well into his professional career in the arts, he still knew how important it was to continue to learn. It really stood out to me and sounded beautiful so I did some research and learned that until the end of his life, Michelangelo often used that phrase and talked about still being a student of the arts. I was at a seminar when I first heard, “ancora imparo.” It is Italian and means, “I am still learning.” You may have heard it explained as life is a learning curve or, “and still I learn.” The presenter at the seminar shared the quote, “Ancora imparo,” by Michelangelo (the artist, not the Ninja Turtle).
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