It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that really counts! (Harry S Truman)

in·sa·tia·ble inˈsāSHəbəl / adjective (of an appetite or desire) impossible to satisfy

Impossible to satisfy, I love that definition. This should be the definition of a leader. It’s definitely included in my definition of a prosperous leader. Someone who is always willing to push harder, go further, and continue the never-ending road to improvement will become the leader they were meant to be. They will create prosperity for themselves and others around them.

The article we look at today is from the Harvard Business Review, based on a 1990 speech by John W. Gardner. Bill Taylor (author) presents us with The Best Leaders are Insatiable Learners [link to article], and uses Gardner’s wisdom, what he called ‘“Personal Renewal,” the urgent need for leaders who wish to make a difference and stay effective to commit themselves to continue learning and growing,” to make his point.

Gardner explained that we should aim to “Be interested. Everyone wants to be interesting, but the vitalizing thing is to be interested…

As someone who is constantly on the journey to become a prosperous leader, I now know that learning is key. Hopefully the pages of The Prosperous Leader will teach you how to become an insatiable learner, but at the very least, it will teach you to become an insatiable educator. Chapter 23: Mentoring the Next Generation teaches us to shape our youth. Even if they grow up to become rocket scientists instead of executives, the basic business principals will still apply to their everyday lives and help them succeed.

Taylor concludes his article by reminding us of this:

We learn the most when we encounter people who are the least like us. It takes a real sense of personal commitment, especially after you’ve arrived at a position of power and responsibility, to push yourself to grow and challenge conventional wisdom.