American Association for Physician Leadership

Team Building and Teamwork

Four Ways That Leaders Can Create a Learning Culture for Employees

Harvard Business Review

September 19, 2018


Summary:

Here are four recommendations to help physician leaders create a learning culture on their teams.





As technology drives disruption in health care and other industries, what team members know is less relevant than what they may learn.

One of the main career implications of the digital revolution is a shift in demand for human expertise. There is now a premium on intellectual curiosity and learnability, the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one’s skill set to remain employable.

True learning cultures, however, are still the exception rather than the norm.

Here are four recommendations to help physician leaders create a learning culture on their teams:

Reward continuous learning: It is impossible to trigger deliberate changes in your team’s culture unless you put in place formal reward systems to entice them. Rewarding curiosity is not just about praising and promoting those who display an effort to learn and develop; it’s also about creating a climate that nurtures critical thinking and where challenging authority and speaking up are encouraged, even if it means creating discord.

RELATED: Lifelong Learning Is Good for Your Health and Career

Give meaningful and constructive feedback: In an age where many organizations focus their developmental interventions on “strengths” and feel-good approaches to management, it is easy to forget the value of negative feedback. However, it is hard to improve on anything when you are unaware of your limitations, fully satisfied with your potential or unjustifiably pleased with yourself.

RELATED: Four Techniques to Help You Learn

Lead by example: Leaders’ behaviors have a strong influence on the behavior and performance of their teams. Accordingly, if you want to nurture your team’s curiosity or unlock learning in your organization, you should practice what you preach.

Hire curious people: If you hire people who are naturally curious and maximize the fit between their interests and the role they are in, you will not have to worry so much about their willingness to learn.

Copyright 2018 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.

Harvard Business Review

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For over 45 years.

The American Association for Physician Leadership has helped physicians develop their leadership skills through education, career development, thought leadership and community building.

The American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) changed its name from the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) in 2014. We may have changed our name, but we are the same organization that has been serving physician leaders since 1975.

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