Learning: doing what you've never done before

Learning doesn't take place in the absence of mistakes. Leaders are simply great learners. They have, to begin with, a great sense of humility about their own sense of skills and abilities, and many leaders, despite what may objectively be "extraordinary" achievements are loath to attribute them to some extraordinary competency on their part. Think about which people in your organization are the most likely to voluntarily sign up and participate in leadership development programs.

The only way people can learn is by doing what they've never done before. Those who do only what they already know how to do never learn anything new. Promoting learning requires building in a tolerance for error and a framework for forgiveness.

Source: James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
Photo: Marquis Bureau, Virginia Beach