6 ways continuous learning can advance your career

The start of a new year brings many resolutions, including the desire to improve personal knowledge and skills. Data suggests that lifelong learning this is a resolution you’ll want to keep.

Harvard Business Review suggests that Skills-based hiring is becoming increasingly important corporate recruitment strategy. In an era of constant change, professionals who acquire new knowledge become more chances to climb the career ladder.

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So how can you focus on lifelong learning? Six business leaders share their top tips.

1. Keep your eyes open

Dave Moyes, information and digital systems partner at SimpsonHaugh Architects, said the best way to learn something new is to remain curious.

“Be that five-year-old who wants to stick his finger in the hole,” he said.

However, acting like a child as a senior professional is easier said than done. Moyes said the key to success is to remain humble.

“You have to look at everything with open eyes,” he said. “Someone always knows more about something than you, no matter what it is.”

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Moyes told ZDNET that regular students don’t assume anything and eliminate any sense of arrogance.

“You know a lot about what you know, but someone else knows a lot too,” he said. “Just learn from them. Talk to them. The world is huge.”

2. Set tough goals.

Carrie Jordan, global director of program delivery at Microsoft, described herself as an avid learner and said:continuous personal development is critical to career success.

“I try to read two books at the same time: one in audio format and one in paper format,” she said. “So I have no excuse, no matter where I am, to continue studying. This approach helps me stay fresh and learn new things.”

Jordan told ZDNET that she sets a goal to read as many books as she turns one.

“This goal wasn’t that difficult when I was in my early twenties and thirties,” she said. “Every year it becomes more and more difficult. However, purpose forces me to read rather than scroll through social media or do other things that don’t continually add to my knowledge base.”

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Jordan has been appointed to the position of “learning czar” at Microsoft, which requires her to disseminate the knowledge she has acquired. She also hosts a training week for her team.

“For one week each quarter, we cancel all internal meetings and reallocate that time to studying, reading books, listening to podcasts and more,” she said.

“And this approach has been very successful in getting people to refocus their time on learning.”

3. Find a fun place to work

Raymond Boyle, vice president of data and analytics at Hyatt Hotels, said working in an exciting and fast-changing field ensures your knowledge stays fresh.

“Data is everywhere and on everyone, and the organization needs to function as a whole in a very flexible and independent way, but with a clear alignment of core principles,” he said.

“I think the data space is a fascinating and interesting place, and I’ve always been interested in working in it.”

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Boyle told ZDNET that any professional who wants to help their organization use data to stay ahead must keep learning new things.

“Data has a big impact and is changing the way the world works. The innovation and pace of change in this area is quite extensive,” he said.

“The way an organization interacts with data can become a powerful competitive advantage. Get it right and your business can grow faster, be more innovative and embrace these changes safely.”

4. Be critical of new ideas

Roger Joyce, vice president of enterprise cloud platforms at Alaskan telecommunications company GCI, is a lifelong learner: “Give me something new and I’ll want to learn.”

Joyce told ZDNET that several approaches have benefited him over the course of his career.

“Read and pay attention,” he said. “And think critically. There are millions of blog posts where someone says, “This is bright and shiny.” You need to look and ask, ‘Is this good for the company?'”

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Joyce said that critical thinking is the study of how a new idea or innovation can be implemented in the current organizational context.

“At the end of the day, the company writes your paycheck,” he said. “Think about how new things create value for the business.”

Joyce said professionals also need to ensure that the benefits of what they implement in training are monitored and tracked.

“It’s about measuring those efforts so you can say, ‘Here’s a new technology. This is how we will measure how this technology aligns with our corporate strategy and vision.”

5. Find problems to solve

Phil Worsley, head of identity and access management (IAM) at the University of Leeds, said he learns best when exposed to a new area.

This situation occurred in his role at Leeds, when he took charge of IAM after developing a solution for virtual work requirements during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m new to identity. I find the work we do interesting. There’s always something new coming up. There’s always a problem that needs to be fixed,” he said.

“I enjoy getting things done and seeing the benefits of our work, and this desire motivates me to improve my knowledge.”

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Worsley told ZDNET that he enjoys learning on the job rather than gaining new knowledge in the classroom.

“I’m not a bookish person. I don’t go and read. I realize that I need to study specific things because I need to solve a problem,” he said.

“I will find out about it, talk to the right people and start looking for solutions. Tell me something is impossible and I will tell you it is not.”

6. Treat your work like a hobby.

Keith Woolley, director of digital and information technology at the University of Bristol, said the great thing about his job is that it is something of a hobby.

“I am naturally interested in what I do. So I read things around me without realizing that I am consuming other information,” he said.

“If you enjoy what you do, learning happens naturally because it is a genuine interest. Then learning happens when you don’t expect it.”

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Woolley told ZDNET that he expands his knowledge by attending industry events, keeping in touch with people in his trusted network, and tracking IT trends in business publications.

“You have to constantly look for innovation,” he said. “And I’m very lucky with the place where I work. It’s a learning environment, so it’s one of those places where you’re always seeing something new.”