How understanding my personal learning style revolutionised my leadership

I’ve sat through countless training sessions where I knew within ten minutes that nothing would stick as it was another facilitator with slides that meant another day of fighting to stay focused while my brain screamed ‘just let me try it!’ I spent years thinking I was a poor student before realising, it wasn’t me, it was how I was being taught.

I’m a hands-on learner. I need to get stuck in, make mistakes, pivot, and figure things out in real time. That’s when concepts actually sink in. And interestingly, as soon as I realised this about myself, it didn’t just change how I learn, it transformed my leadership.

Over the years, I’ve watched organisations pour money into training programs that prioritise theory over practice. We sit people in classrooms, give them manuals, show them presentations and then act surprised when they struggle to apply any of it. So I do things differently.

My own non-traditional learning journey

I find sitting in a classroom tedious. After completing my GCSE and GNVQ in business, I studied hotel management at university, however after two months in a classroom, with people telling me how to manage awkward customers (I’d been working with awkward customers since I was 16!) and against my parents wishes, I packed my bags and went home to find the job of my dreams. Four weeks later, I did just that. 

Despite not enjoying traditional education, I do enjoy learning and I relish opportunities to expand my knowledge. A forward-thinking general manager approved day release to college to complete HCIMA and later, another very supportive boss, sponsored me through a three year MBA.

I describe my learning style as being like ascending a grand staircase. Sometimes, I learn a lot quickly, taking three quick steep steps up. Then I pause, embedding the knowledge and revisiting things I’m unsure about. I may rest on that step for a while until I’m ready to learn and develop again. Other times I look back and realise that I’ve moved up four steps without even realising it – explaining why self-reflection is good in order to realise how far I’ve travelled.

Once I accepted that this is how I learn best, I stopped apologising for it. Today, when faced with new technology, I don’t read the manual. I open it up and click around until I understand it. When entering a new market, I read the consultant’s report but I also get out there and talk to customers, test assumptions, and make plans based on what actually happens.

How my personal learning style has shaped my leadership approach

I believe it’s better to throw people in the deep end (safely), let them experiment, allow them to fail, and create space for them to adjust their approach. Some of my strongest team members are the ones who need to touch the work, not just read about it. They’re the people who’ll volunteer for the challenging project, stumble a bit, recalibrate, and emerge truly competent.

This approach has shaped my leadership philosophy. I build learning opportunities around real challenges, not simulations. I encourage calculated risk-taking and treat mistakes as opportunities. When someone on my team says ‘I’m not sure how to do this’, my response is usually, ‘Great, what are you going to do first?’ helping them break down the issue and make a plan.

Of course, not everyone learns this way. Some people genuinely need the classroom time to process information before they’re comfortable applying it. Others want comprehensive documentation they can study. That’s fine. We’re all different and effective leadership means recognising that your learning style isn’t universal and that the best learning happens when we stop forcing everyone into the same mould.

Teach me more – how do you learn?

My official education finished at the age of 26 – but I’m still learning! I genuinely relish the importance of continual development as a senior leader even though it’s not always easy to find the time as I balance a business role, busy life, rest and holidays. Whilst I don’t go into the classroom these days (unless it’s to mentor students!), there are many opportunities to learn and I’ve listed out some of the things that work for me. 

Podcasts – I love podcasts about HR, finance and wellbeing matters and listen to these when travelling to work when my brain is most alert. I skip around and listen to those episodes that I am most interested in, which normally includes themes about people and supporting teams. I love the Squiggly careers podcasts, a local team who talk about all things HR and self development.

Audio books – I’ve recently downloaded the Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters, a fantastic way to understand how your mind works, which I am applying to my sports performance in the gym, when my chimp mind tells me I should stay in bed. I’m trying to rewire my brain to make this an automatic habit!

Over my career I have experienced some real challenges in business and have worked with business coaches to develop my thinking, habits and learning as to achieve goals or next steps best. Alli Spargo worked with me post-Covid to think about the future of the business and helped me develop stakeholder management skills.

I have a wonderful and supportive peer group of business leaders that are not involved with my current role. We meet up individually over dinner, a coffee or at an event, and just 20 minutes of sharing a current challenge usually provides me with a menu of actions that are usually spot on!

Books – I love to read, although as a child I really struggled. Today, I enjoy a mix of fiction and non-fiction and have developed a real book habit, worse than chocolate! I love self-help books; they just inspire me to be a better person, whether in business, relationships, health and fitness, there is no full stop on self-development. 

I’m currently reading ‘The Edge’. It gives me a gentle nudge to make a small difference each day that over time can evolve into great things, giving me ‘an edge’.

My mind works at great speed so when I’m presenting a lot of information, sometimes the key messages get lost. I’m working on slowing down and being more present with help from ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle.

Events – I often attend events and conferences just to sit and listen. When I am there to learn, I make sure I am not there to speak or network thus giving myself space to listen to ideas. I find this stimulating and I often go back to work with multiple ideas!  A great example of this is the local TEDx St Albans conference and The Global Innovation Forum – such a wide variety of topics and speakers makes it a really invigorating event.

I’d love to learn from you. What’s your learning style? How do you help others learn? And do you have any books or podcasts you can recommend?