The countdown is on!
I can’t believe that my book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning will be available in less than a month!
You may be surprised that simultaneously while I’m talking about the book through podcasts, webinars, and more – I’m in the thick of the final edits! One more week and it’s off to typesetting and one more final review. It’s a joy to talk about all that I’ve learned from Mr. Yoshino, my own practices, and from spending time in Japan and around the world.
Becoming wiser
During my weekly conversation with Mr. Yoshino last week, he shared with me how much he values our partnership of working together on the book: âIf I didnât join you on this writing journey, Iâd just be an old man. But now Iâm a wiser old man because I keep learning.” It was a prescient comment as I was in the middle of writing an article on LinkedIn about the concept of Wisdom.
Mr. Yoshino has taught me so much, and I’m honored that I’ve been able to help him learn too. And it’s my honor to share them with you!
Reflection, wisdom, learning, and people-centered leadership
But now to the purpose of this post! Last week I had a delightful conversation with Graham Canning and Mike Dennison of People Centered Excellence in the UK, as a follow up from the webinar I led with them the prior week titled, ” Leading to Learn: People Centered Practices to Develop a Culture of Learning”.
Attendees asked so many questions during the webinar that we decided to schedule a follow-up session where Mike (who worked at Toyota for many years), Graham, and I could have a conversation together and respond to the questions.
I’ve included links both the webinar and follow-up discussion recordings below, plus links to additional resources that supplement some of the concepts we discussed.
Thank you everyone for attending the webinar and for the excellent questions that sparked our follow-up conversation.
Original webinar – “Leading to Learn: People Centered Practices to Develop a Culture of Learning”
If you missed here is a link the webinar recorded live on June 9, 2020. I shared some inside stories from the book that I hadn’t yet discussed in previous forums. With every webinar I do related to the book, I bring in some new stories, quotes, and ideas!
Follow-up Discussion – Going Deeper and Answering Your Questions
Check out our follow-up chat where we went deep on topics ranging from reflection and wisdom to happiness. Below I’ve included links to other articles and media related to our conversations.
Some of the topics we discuss include:
- Reflection and hansei – including some suggestions for how you can develop a habit of reflection
- Moving from expert to people-manager
- How we can develop learning and capability in our organizations
- Wisdom and actionable knowledge (fitting as my article coming out days later was all about wisdom)
- How Japanese culture relates to Toyota culture (or not)
- Toyota’s precepts
- How Toyota invests in communityÂ
- Happiness is our Purpose
Other sessions – past and future
To listen to some other webinars/podcasts about the book and conversations with Isao Yoshino, check out these sessions below. Future webinars, podcasts, and other learning experiences can be found on my Public Events page (and I’m always open to custom events for your organization!).
Join me to learn and practice
If you are looking for ways to practice your leadership and coaching skills, I regularly offer coaching communities of practice with my friend Karyn Ross (which we call K2C2 – Katie and Karyn’s Coaching Communities), and other workshops and webinars.
Visit my Public Events page for up-to-date listing of upcoming publicly offered learning experiences.
Visit the K2C2 Eventbrite page for upcoming dates and registration for K2C2 cohorts and workshops. Our next cohort starts August 27 (registration coming soon). We practice “right-sized pricing”, which means pay what you can (even if nothing at all). Community is our first priority!
It’s all about learning
And remember, people-centered leadership is all about learning to lead – and leading to learn!Â
As Mr. Yoshino once told me, “The only secret to Toyota is its attitude towards learning.” It’s what we do to learn and to support the learning in others that is fundamentally how we will create a people-centered culture – one person at a time.
