September starts a new school year in the Northern Hemisphere. Perhaps you or people close to you are entering a new phase of academic life this month. It’s often a time of stress and excitement, anticipation and trepidation, or of endings and new beginnings.

Our education systems are tiered with steps and stages that lead to diplomas, degrees, or credentials. Once we’ve finished climbing the academic ladder and are stamped with our qualifications, there’s a tendency to put our learning phase behind us and head “out to the real world” of work.

As our working years slip by, many former students silently sink into the trap of confusing years of experience repeated over and over again with years of stretching, growing, and developing. Busyness is often a part of the problem. We’re so actively “on the go” that we don’t invest the time to keep ourselves “on the grow.”

A number of my August blog posts focused on learning, education, and development – both our own and others (click here for our blog archives.) You can also go to Personal Growth and Continuous Improvement for a large selection of short articles. 

Now’s a great time for reflecting on our personal, team, and organizational learning habits. Are we leaders on the grow? Is constant improvement a way of life?