Mining for knowledge nuggets

I started this week at a conference for CEOs in my industry. The conference happens every year about this time and for the most part I find it to be valuable. Everytime I think about attending a conference there is a balance of time away from my work and my family and whether or not I will find a nugget of knowledge. I never expect ever moment at a conference will be valuable, but I tend to find a small nugget here and there that makes it worth my time.

It is important for leaders to get away and spend time with other leaders. If we are not careful we can become complancent in our continuing education and over time become less of an effective leader. Although there is another challenge in that if we spend too much time only learning along veins of knowledge that we agree with, we become short sighted. I have been attending board meetings in some capacity for over decade and I remember one board meeting where the attigating board member challenged the other board members to spend some time reading things that was contrary to their positions. I took this to heart and made it a part of my routinue to read articles around topics that came from all different sides. Even to this day I make it a point to digest my news from not just one network but all of them. Yes there are times when I find myself disagreeing with what is being said, but it is these moments that remind me to be careful not to stay in an echo chamber. 

About a year after this board member challenged his fellow board members, I was giving a presention to the entire board. When I cited a resource that aligned with his beliefs and not the majority opinion, he was surprised. During one of the breaks he and I talked about how I heard him. During that discussion, I found he did not really follow his own advice, but it didn’t really matter to me. He and I had a good relationship and over the years we challenged each other by providing nuggets of knowledge.

Good leaders should allows be looking to continue and expand their own knowledge of topics in their industry and around the ideas of leadership.