How can leaders keep learning and growing?

The importance of the growth of one’s leadership cannot be understated. Leaders need to learn and grow in order to keep up with and maintain their followers. There is an approach to leadership improvement I read on some time ago that suggested for leaders to grow and learn they need to utilize a three-pronged attack:

First, they need to undertake challenging real-life tasks that will require them to step out of their comfort zones. These tasks will require better skills to solve, eventually developing new skills for a leader. An example of such a task is turning around an abandoned project.

Leaders need to engage in activities that create a social environment which facilitates interaction, this will encourage learning within a group by working in teams, sharing ideas, experiences etc. This is also an opportunity for a leader to learn from others and receive feedback and insight on their leadership. Fellow leaders, coaches, and mentors can also provide the insight.

Lastly, leaders can learn and grow via training, seminars, workshops, and courses. These formal methods will assist a leader to change their way of thinking and possibly change their behavior too.