How Leaders Learn

Chapter 2

Unstuck Yourself

Learn from new environments

Throughout my career, even if I didn’t always know where I was headed, I did know that I wanted to keep growing, to keep improving. Usually, that meant seeking out new environments. I recognize that my unique upbringing—moving into a new town and new school every few months until I was twelve—probably made me more comfortable with this kind of change than many, but in my experience, most active learners follow a similar pattern, because not moving means not growing.

New environments bring uncertainty and risk, two things humans really don’t like. The brain weighs threats of loss heavier than it does opportunities for gain. Whether it’s a move to a new city or a move to a new company, we ...