This week, we dig into why it's often just as important to learn wisdom and insight from your peers, as it is from more "seasoned resources.
We focus so much on learning from external experts and those senior to us – but there is so much untapped wisdom and insight hiding right in our peer networks. Here are some strategies you can use to unlock all that’s there.
Modern Mentor is hosted by Rachel Cooke. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Hey, it’s Rachel Cooke, your Modern Mentor. I’m the founder of Lead Above Noise—a firm specializing in helping leaders and organizations fully activate their teams – driving both engagement and performance.
So, I run a lot of leadership programs in service of activating teams. I’ve been doing it for years, and I’ve picked up a lot of trade secrets along the way.
One of my favorites? It’s not just knowing – but actually celebrating the fact that I am never the smartest one in the room. I don’t say that with false humility. I mean that as a facilitator, I know one of my greatest strengths is tapping the collective intelligence of everyone present.
I love creating spaces in which peers can learn with and from each other. Teach and be taught by their equals.
We tend to over-index on the importance of formal training. On learning from the “experts.” The pros.
And yet, as my personal hero, organizational psychologist Adam Grant says in his latest book, Hidden Potential, “In the U.S. intelligence agencies, if you want to predict which teams will produce the best work, the most important factor to consider is how often colleagues teach and coach each other. In medical schools, students learn as much when they’re taught by peers as by faculty.”
In other words, as we all strive to learn and grow, we should be paying way more attention than we are to the collective genius we and our colleagues are all carrying.
When I run group leadership programs, I always build in peer-learning and coaching components. Exercises and conversations that make us all teachers, coaches, students, mentors, and more.
Peer learning offers a number of advantages that teacher-led experiences don’t.
So let’s talk about some strategies you can employ to start tapping into all the learning and development just waiting to happen between you and your peers!
Peer Coaching Circles
These are a fan favorite. Both in their impact and their simplicity.
Peer coaching requires only a handful of colleagues (2 – 4) and some trust and vulnerability. That’s all. It’s an amazing way to work through a challenge, repair a bad situation, or explore a set of options when your path forward is unclear.
Everyone in the circle takes a turn being coached, while the others act as coaches. Every 15 minutes or so, you switch.
The person being coached presents a challenging situation. The role of the coaches is to ask questions designed to help that person find their own path to clarity. The value of the coaches is that they share your language and your context. They know the politics of your company. They see the imperfections in your leaders. They get you.
It’s amazing how much clarity your colleagues can help you find in just 15 minutes.
If you want to give this a try I’ve got a free guide on my website you’re welcome to grab. It’s at leadabovenoise.com/resources. You won’t regret it.
Best Practice Sharing Forums
OK. So coaching is a great way to have a colleague help you tap into your own wisdom.
Best practice sharing? That is straight up about finding other people’s wisdom.
It pains me to see how often we are all – me definitely included – reinventing the wheel every day. There are so many things we all do, but we all do them differently.
Now there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’ve figured out an amazing way to onboard a new client, or to display new inventory in your store, or to collect patient feedback – your peers wanna know about it! And vice versa.
So give best practice sharing a try. Maybe once a month for an hour you pull a peer group together on a certain topic – can be customer service, research, writing, inventory management. Whatever you have in common. Come together and share what’s been working well. You’ll teach, you’ll learn, you’ll find efficiencies. You don’t need an outside expert teaching you how to do your thing.
After Action Reviews
Another great way to learn is by dissecting a project once it’s been completed.
This is not meant to be evaluative – it’s not about scoring your performance. It’s about extracting insights on what went well (that perhaps you should repeat), what didn’t go well (to avoid next time), and what could have been added to make it even better.
Maybe, for example, you pitched a new client and won a big piece of business. Congrats! Now the goal is to figure out what was in the secret sauce.
So bring together the whole team – everyone who touched this work from start to finish. And ask some key questions. From planning to research to design, to execution, to follow up – what served you? What felt different or unique in this pitch? What didn’t work out so well? What do you wish you’d done?
There are no right or wrong answers – it’s about tapping into that good old collective intelligence.
Document your insights and share for next time.
Oh – and also this works if you pitched the client and didn’t win the business. Win or lose, there’s always something to learn.
OK. There you have just a few of my favorite ways to drive peer-to-peer learning and development. But there are so many more. Sharing favorite books and TED talks. Hosting lunch-and-learns. Inviting members of other teams to your team meetings. Being an active cross-functional networker. Having a mentor. And on and on.
Any and all of these tactics are wonderful ways to amplify your growth, development, and learning. So if you’ve been waiting around for the nomination or invitation to join that formal leadership program? Stop waiting. And start learning.
Join me next week for another great episode. Until then, visit my website at leadabovenoise.com if your organization is looking to dial up its Employee Experience or deliver some leadership development that activates change. You can follow Modern Mentor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Find and follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks so much for listening and have a successful week.
Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. It's audio-engineered by Dan Feirabend. Our Director of Podcasts is Brannan Goetschius. Our Podcast and Advertising Operations Specialist is Morgan Christianson. Our Digital Operations Specialist is Holly Hutchings. Our Marketing and Publicity Assistant is Davina Tomlin, and Kamryn Lacy is our marketing contractor.