BECOMING A MORE VERSATILE LEARNER

Almost all managers regard job experiences and the lessons they provide essential for their development as leaders. But not all of those managers are successful at learning those lessons. That difficulty is often related to a manager ’s relying too much on one preferred learning tactic—a tactic that might not be suited for gleaning the lessons of a particular job experience. By increasing the number of learning tactics and becoming a more versatile learner, managers can better position themselves to take advantage of the lessons that job experiences offer and contribute to their leadership development.

This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has generated, since its inception in 1970, through its research and educational activity conducted in partnership with hundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared-in a way that is distinct from the typical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individual experts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its members holding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today's leadership and organizational challenges.
The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL's mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide.
Maxine A. Dalton is a research scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership and program manager of the Tools for Developing Successful Executives program. Her research interests include adult development and learning in domestic and international organizations. Dalton has published widely, including “Best Practices: Five Rationales for Using 360-Degree Feedback in Organizations” in Maximizing the Value of 360-Degree Feedback: A Process for Successful Individual and Organizational Development (Jossey-Bass, 1998). She holds a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of South Florida.