The above is a quote from legendary UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden. Great leaders in any field are constantly learning and growing. I also firmly believe that “Learners are not always leaders, but leaders are always learners.” The origin of that quote is unknown, so I suggest we all claim it as our own and begin applying that practice to our daily lives.

You see, I believe, if you are not continually learning, you are not leading to your full potential.

A short time ago, after delivering a keynote on, Leaders are Lifelong Learners, an attendee approached me with this question,” Bob as a new leader, what do you think I should work on improving?” She added, “I am pretty good at strategy, should I move to something else?” After asking her a few questions I said to her, “Well it doesn’t matter if you’re new or a seasoned leader –  the answer is always people.”

Work on improving your people skills. Work on listening better. Work on asking better questions. Work on connecting more. Work on learning more about your people. I reminded her, that being good with strategy is fine, however, it is the people who execute the strategy. It is always about people.

Keep learning: identify one way you can improve your people skills, and put it into action.