Required Secondary Powers: A Teachable Spirit

Required Secondary Powers
A Teachable Spirit
By Isaiah O'Connor

Today’s core trait, or "Secondary Power", as it were, is to have a teachable spirit. In life and especially business its vital to continue to learn and grow every day. This is not just sitting idle and being willing to learn when lessons come your way, but active pursuit of growth and knowledge. As simple as this may seem, it actually pretty easy to become complacent, and or overconfident about the knowledge you already have.

For an example. I grew up in the relatively small town of South Lake Tahoe in California. As a teen and young adult, I could find my way anywhere, on any backstreet to avoid the crowds of tourists that would flood in during the tourists seasons. I felt rather confident in my ability to find any address. That was until I got a job delivering pizza. The second or third day in I got a delivery that I could not find. I was on the correct street that I knew well and went up and down the whole street and could not find it. I had to drive back to the restaurant and look at the map, and I still could not find it. I had to ask for help to find it. Turns out for some odd reason the street dead ends and skips a full block and then resumes on the other side. I had no idea it did that. The rather large slice of humble pie I ate that day reminded me that you cannot know everything. I then went out and purchased a GPS to use in my own home town. Something I never thought I would need.

Speaking of learning, what is the lesson in all of this. In order to become and remain teachable, you need to become humble.  This is not always an easy thing for an entrepreneur. We tend to become overconfident and that can impede humility. However, we can still be confident and humble. According to the book "Good To Great" by James Collins, the best industry leaders were strong, confident, aggressive, and very humble. Not weak by any measure, but still humble.

So what do I do to keep humble and teachable? I do a few things (not that I always succeed) such as read a lot of non-fiction books. Not just business books but history and biographies as well. These books remind me that I do not know everything, and I learn something every time I read or now days listen to these books. I also hang out in balloon groups on Facebook, where I am constantly amazed by the incredible talent of others, reminding me how much I have to learn. Also, I listen to some podcasts and watch YouTube videos on business and balloons as well.

As it's been said before, the more I learn the more I realize the less I know. This understanding helps me keep humble and helps me learn and grow as a person even more. As I learn and grow as a person, my business grows with me.

If you have made it to the end of this post this is a good sign that you are being teachable. So come along and learn with us with my next post on another key power that helps you use what you learn better. That is a scary word, and that is Discipline.

Until next time, I remain your Friendly Neighborhood Entrepreneur
Isaiah O’Connor