by Chris Cade
“We teach that which we most need to learn.” ~ David Bach
Some version of that quote has been used by leaders for as long as I can remember, and for good reason. While it’s wonderful when we learn something new, the best way to integrate new knowledge and make it stick in our lives is to teach it.
This is because teaching challenges us to really understand what we’re learning.
It challenges us to understand it with such clarity that we can effectively communicate it to others.
Teaching also exposes us to feedback from others, and that feedback is helpful (and sometimes even necessary) for us to understand something deeply enough to integrate it into our lives.
Those are just a few of the benefits you get by teaching something. Studies have shown that when you are first learning something, that if you teach it to somebody shortly thereafter, you’ll remember what you learn more effectively and understand it more thoroughly.
In fact, some teaching methods ~ ironically ~ require students to immediately turn around and teach others what they learn.
The beauty of this approach is that it doesn’t only deepen learning; it also creates more effective leaders in the world.
And it’s no mystery that one of my favorite aspects of teaching is that it’s a means by which I can work with you to co-create an increasingly more amazing world… one email, one video, one person, one step at a time.
So next time you want to learn a new skill, remember that one of the best things you can do is to try and teach it to somebody else.
And even if you don’t want to “teach” it, at the very least, discuss it candidly with somebody else to explore your new knowledge more deeply. Even the process of sharing what you know with somebody else will help you immensely.
Your Partner In Transformation,
Chris Cade
Liberate Your Life
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I had attended, been a graduate assistant, to many Dale Carnegie Courses. I used every opportunity to stretch and expand my ability to speak, communicate, relate, etc. They suggested they wanted me to become an instructor … even before the age you were officially “allowed.”
I declined thinking though I had gained much from my participation, I was nowhere near good enough to “teach.” They worked on that objection with no success. Then, someone suggested I should consider that if I did accept the offer to “teach” … I would become three times better than I had become as a student. I asked yes? They said, yes … so I became an instructor.
They were right.