Page 208 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Leading Yourself 197

Participating in university programs or other research-oriented in-
stitutions (think tanks, business consortium institutes, etc.) can help build
your knowledge and awareness of future trends in industry, society, global
economics, and similar areas, critical inputs to inform your compa- ny’s
strategy. Most forward-looking leaders also find time to participate in
selected industry or media-sponsored conferences that bring together
thought leaders, pace-setting executives, and key policy makers to hear
their visions of major emerging issues, emerging innovation, and the shape
of leading practice. These, too, can help you shape strategies, performance
benchmarks, and plans for your own business.

Informal or on-the-job learning
Despite the potential benefits of formal learning, most of your development
as a leader will come—as it should—more informally, from experience you
gain on the job. We generally share the bias of learning by doing voiced by the
many successful executives we’ve spoken with for this book. Gary Rodkin,
former CEO of ConAgra Foods, attributed his professional rise not to “the
thousands of books” on leadership that he was exposed to, but rather specific
experiences in which he had to stretch himself, starting early in his career.
While classroom and book learning are particularly effective for ac-
quiring codified information, facts, and well-established practice, we
believe that leadership requires something different: more nuanced and
contingent skills, judgment, and situation-specific agility that leaders must
bring to complex and often unique challenges. This kind of know-how is
best honed through personal experience, observation, and reflection.
Learning by doing will be best, for example, in helping you discover—
as you articulate and explain to others or must demonstrate through ac-
tion—your own values and purpose. People will see and you will affirm
different aspects of your character for them and yourself. You’ll test, refine,
and confirm, through practice and reflection, the behaviors and habits that
seem to be the most effective for you and that you want to model to others
around you.
Similarly, only through trial and application will you appreciate the
differences between book-explained versions of a particular strategy or