Teachability

One of my first assignments for the school year (yes I started another year of college, yay!) was to go through a leadership inventory and pick the characteristics that most fit us. I have done this kind of thing before, ranking things like responsibility and respect and organization, but this one had some very interesting leadership characteristics. One that particularly caught my attention was one that my professor listed as "teachability." It was described as the ability to learn and grow, listening to others and considering other possibilities. I'm paraphrasing a little, but you get the gist.

I think that this is a very important characteristic that a lot of people under-appreciate or grow out of. Even I feel like an expert on something and feel almost threatened if someone challenges the way I think about something. But it is so good for me. It can be really simple things. Sometimes I'll rant to my roommate about something or someone and she'll challenge me by asking me to think of it from another perspective. If I do, I usually feel a lot better about the situation. Sometimes it feels even better to learn something new or think differently about something than to be "right." Although I am always looking to be right haha.

I also read a book recently called In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez that talked about dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. It mentioned Fidel Castro a few times in the book and it had a completely different perspective on him than I had got from history books in high school, as a revolutionary that inspired others instead of a communist dictator. It prodded me to look more in depth into this historical figure in order to form my own opinions. This learning moment was really cool for me.

So I guess that's just my own food for thought of the day. I hope by jotting this down that maybe I'll look back someday and my future self will read this: Don't ever let yourself get to the point where you aren't still learning or listening. Always consider other possibilities. Your way isn't always the right way, even if you really want it to be. If you're unsure, explore. 

Hope everyone else that is starting a school year is having a great start. Thanks to all my readers. Maybe I'll have something more exciting to write about next week :)