All of us are on a roller-coaster ride of change. The world is transitioning. It’s not just a bad economy; it’s a new economy. It’s not just the loss of jobs; it’s the loss of sectors and segments of services and products. How do we respond to this current chaos creatively?
One of the ways is to stay teachable. And yet the very challenge in times of crisis and change is to actually be open and learn something new, to re-enter your world at a new place, to recognize that there are still major opportunities, new products and services to be discovered and offered that no one dreamed of even five years ago.
Those who are going to be leading the way in the new wave of wealth-creation in the years ahead will be those who are teachable. The question is, are you? Here are seven signs that you and your staff are not teachable.
- You don’t read, and you brag about it.
- You won’t listen to the insight of other significant people in your life. You dismiss them as negative and disloyal.
- You reject change even when the signs point to the fact that you will die if you continue on this course of action.
- You turn preferences into principles.
- Your fear of failure overrides the need to change while you still can.
- You’re still nursing old slights and wrongs done to you by people both inside and outside of your movement, organization, and family.
- Your conversation is more about the past and the achievements and glory that you enjoyed rather than conversations of faith and vision about the hopes and dreams of the future and the things that can be accomplished.
You could probably add to this list. But sit down with your wife , your family, or your staff and walk through these seven and ask yourself, “Do any of these apply to us?” And if they do, “how can we change and become teachable in this brand new, wall-less, wireless world in which we live?”