Being A Boss Doesn’t Make You A Know-it-All

This is a contributed post to JMLalonde.com. For more information on contributing a post, please see our contributing policies.

Nobody knows everything. Even the most accomplished business leaders are always learning. Here are just some of the ways in which you can further your knowledge as a business leader.

Read books and blogs

There are plenty of books and blogs (such as this one) dedicated to niche topics in business. Such reading material is great for digesting in your own time if you don’t have the time to attend courses and workshops. Of course, you should always make sure that you’re taking advice from a reliable source. For instance, books and blog posts written fifteen years ago may not always be relevant today.

Take courses

Courses are great for building business skills. You may decide to take an MBA degree program to help you expand your knowledge of all areas of business. Alternatively, you could try courses in individual areas of business such as accounting or leadership or marketing. There are online courses that you can study around your business.

Attend seminars and workshops

Seminars and workshops are shorter than courses. While you may not get a qualification out of them, it’s much easier to find the time to attend these events. They can be great events for developing more niche skills such as tricks on how to use Excel or SEO tactics. Seminars and workshops also tend to be more hands-on.

Learn from your employees

Your employees may be subordinate to you and less experienced, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still turn to them for advice. They may still have knowledge gained from their own experiences that they can bring to the table. If anything, they may be able to point out problems with the inner workings of your business. Some of the best employers deliberately handpick employees who can bring new skills to their business. Such employees end up being more valuable as a result.  

Learn from your customers

The customer isn’t always right. However, there are times when they do know best. Customer feedback can teach business owners a lot about what they are doing right and where they need to improve. This could include online reviews, testimonials or in-person feedback. You can also conduct research such as surveys to learn from your customers and find out what they want from a business such as yours.

Learn from your competitors

Your competitors may also be able to teach you new tricks. By observing what your competition is doing, you can borrow successful ideas and avoid ideas that you don’t think work. Competitor research may even help you to identify gaps in the market and potentially find your USP. 

Follow Me

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.