Why and how communicators should be lifelong learners

I have a friend who, at 4 p.m. every day, shuts down what she is working on and opens some sort of learning.

It may be a course on Coursera or Lynda. It could be an article she’s been meaning to read. It might be a webinar she downloaded but hasn’t been able to watch yet. Or it could be some sort of hands-on training that helps her do her job more efficiently.

It’s for only 30 minutes, but she does this every single day. She has an appointment in her calendar and nothing—and I mean nothing—prevents her from “attending” that meeting.

Though it’s only half an hour a day, I’ve watched her grow in many ways because of it.

Here’s the other thing about her: She’s the leader of a very successful, multi-billion-dollar company. From the outside perspective, you’d think she has it made. She doesn’t have to keep learning. She’s already where most of us yearn to be and never get.