Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes
The other day I ran across this article from John Cook where he wrote about the difference between “Just in Case” learning and “Just in Time” learning and I’ve been thinking about how Just in Case and Just in Time relate to leadership development.
Very simply, Cook describes Just in Case learning as the type of learning we do in school; we are learning things just in case we need them sometime in the future. Just in Time learning is the type of learning we do on the job; we are learning things right at the time that we need to, as we are doing them.
In a previous article, I describe the three main ways that we learn leadership as being Learning by Reading, where we learn to lead by reading books and attending workshops on leadership; Learning by Observing, where we observes others leading and try to emulate those who do it well and avoid doing things we see others doing not so well; and Learning by Doing, where we learn to lead by actually doing it.
Just in Case Leadership Development
Much of the foundational work that we do in leadership development needs to be Just in Case. Since so much of what we do on a day-to-day basis is situational, it’s really hard to be prepared for everything. When our leadership development includes foundational learning it gives us the tools to build upon our foundation later as we get into different situations.
This foundational knowledge comes from reading about leadership in books, magazines, journals (even blogs like this one), or taking courses and workshops. While creating a great foundation, learning leadership this way is not only one dimensional but we end up learning a lot and sometimes more than we will ever use. So much of what we are learning in this manner we learn just in case we run into situations where we can use this information.
I think learning by observing others is similar to Just in Case leadership development, but the learning is more experiential. As we experience the leadership of others we hold onto all this information until we are in our own leadership situations and might be able to use the information.
Just in Time Leadership Development
As I’ve stated before, I think the most powerful way to learn leadership is to just do it. Learning leadership by doing can create such lasting effects on our development because we are able to see the effects of our learning in real time. When we learn leadership on the fly, in the thick of our day-to-day lives we are developing our leadership skills just in time as we need them.
But the development that we experience just in time when we learn leadership by doing can only be effective when we have a good foundation under us. I’m convinced that we are most effective as leaders when we spend the time and energy to learn about leadership and develop leadership skills Just in Case then use this knowledge and our learned skills to help us further develop Just in Time as we are doing it.
I don’t think that leadership development Just in Case or Just in Time is an either or proposition. I think we develop our leadership skills over time both just in case and just in time and as we move along in our careers we need to continue our development both ways.
Leader’s Reflection: Leadership development needs to be done both Just in Case and Just in Time. Effective leaders are able to continue to develop their leadership skills both ways through out their careers.
Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best independent business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.
http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2010/03/24/32410-midweek-look-at-the-independent-business-blogs.aspx
Wally Bock
For many leaders, it is just about listening and understanding the behavior of their employer. However, on the other hand their employees most often have a different perspective on their managers. Leadership development training just doesn’t teach them to listen to their employees, rather it educates managers and leaders with the skills to read through the emotional and psychological patterns of employee behavior.
Nice post nevertheless.