Monday Morning Musings
Volume XXIV, Number 21 (Issue 1172) May 25, 2026
A Teaching Moment
No one can argue that being an effective leader is tough. Among the numerous challenges confronting those in leadership roles today is the need to connect with and motivate a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-faceted workforce. Add to that the need for extensive, near-perpetual training where not every employee learns in the same way, and one has a situation fraught with potential gotchas.
I was reminded of these two speed bumps the other day when one of the young, emerging leaders I was hired to coach shared that she was becoming increasingly frustrated with her firm’s leadership development initiative. As we talked, she stated she learned best by doing (hands-on). However, much of the material being delivered to her and her classmates was composed of prerecorded content that not only precluded interaction with the instructor, it also lacked even a modicum of exercises for the student. In effect, her time and the firm’s training dollars were being misspent. You see, learning by doing is but one of four primary learning styles. The other three are listening, observing, and reading/reflecting. Thus, when educational content is delivered via a single modality and if a student struggles to learn in that way, genuine learning does not happen.
Sure, the student might be capable of passing a test shortly after viewing the program but wait a few days before administering a test and you will discover what was really retained. There is an old proverb – I believe it is Chinese in origin – which states “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” This axiom holds true because any time lesson material can be delivered through all three of the channels mentioned, there is a good chance the content will stick.
If you have been in one of my classes or workshops you may recall I make use of a combination of lecture, video, and classroom exercises so that the concepts I am working to impart have an increased chance of landing. That is not to say I am some sort of master teacher. Rather, I have merely taken to heart and make every effort to practice the concept that learning is best accomplished when the delivery is multi-faceted.
As for leading a diverse workforce, it is simply a reflection of today’s labor pool. Once again, when we expect to motivate, treat/teach everyone the same – as if they are cut from the same bolt of cloth – we are guilty of ignoring reality. The consequence of this and most other simplistic approaches is we miss the mark more often than we hit the target. So why are we surprised when our people struggle to learn and underperform? It is not their fault we did not meet them where they are in the moment. The world and our people are complex. When we ignore that everyone loses.
Soli Deo Gloria
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” Revelation 7:9
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210) 260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
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Copyright 2026 by J. Keith Hughey. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for reproduction and redistribution of this essay as provided under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Recent issues of Musings may be found at www.jkeithhughey.com. Your comments are both welcomed and encouraged.