My last article about the four lessons HR and L&D professionals can learn from the military sparked a flurry of emails requesting more information on the notion of learning agility. So here it is.
The basic idea is this: while it is true that people develop into better leaders over time, some people are inherently better learners than others. These agile learners learn faster and learn more than most of their colleagues. This is quite different from the ‘Pollyanna-ish’ notion of learning styles, which implicitly suggests that we can all learn equally well, provided we are each taught according to our own, preferred learning style. The concept of learning agility does not assume that great leaders all show the same competencies and traits, but rather asserts that a key asset of great leaders is a better ability to adapt to the shifting demands of leadership than others.
By now, you may be asking yourself what separates an agile learner from the rest of the pack. This is a relatively new field, but some of the initial research suggests that it is a combination of one’s cognitive abilities, personality and motive profile.
Cognitive Abilities
Traditional measures of cognitive ability, such as IQ, are useful predictors of both learning propensity and leadership potential. In fact, IQ tests were originally designed to predict children’s subsequent success at school. Yet, the cognitive abilities associated with learning agility are more specific and more dependent on your style of thinking than on your IQ score. Agile learners are insightful, analytical and able to see things from a variety of perspectives.
Personality
Learning agility is associated with one of the ‘big five’ personality traits, openness to experience. Agile learners are curious people who adapt their thinking and their behaviour in response to their emerging understanding of the situations they find themselves in. They are committed to personal growth, they believe in their own ability to learn how to lead well, they are courageous enough to take personal risks and they are confident enough to take setbacks in stride.
Motive Profile
We all have inner needs or desires that drive how we act. These include the need to be in control, the need to achieve well and the need to have harmonious relationships with others. However, the relative strength of each of these needs varies from person to person, and this variance accounts for much of one’s habitual ways of acting. For example, if a person has a high desire to be liked and a low need for power, they are likely to act in accommodating rather than assertive ways. Learning agility is higher when the desire to learn and improve coexists with—but outstrips—the desire to achieve.
When you have limited funds to invest, you want to put your money into the people most likely to show a decent return on your investment. By systematically assessing the learning agility of potential participants, you can make more informed investments. You can also enhance the impact of any initiative by spending some time nurturing the learning agility of whoever is attending.
Further Reading
Bandura, A. (1997), Self Efficacy: The Exercise of Control, Freeman.
Branden, N. (1998), Self-Esteem At Work, Jossey-Bass.
McCall, M. (1998), High Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders, Harvard Business School Press.
Lombardo, M. & Eichinger, R. (2004), ‘Learning Agility As A Prime Indicator of Potential’, Human Resource Planning.
Snyder, M. (1987), Public Appearances/Private Realities: The Psychology of Self Monitoring, Freeman.
Spector, P. (1982), ‘Behaviour In Organisations As A Function of Employee’s Locus of Control’, Psychological Bulletin.
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