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Rutendo Gwatidzo, Changing Perspectives
The Bible, in Proverbs 27 v 17, says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
I really like this scripture, because it forces me to introspect often, especially before offering any mentorship, coaching or teaching, in general.
It takes iron to sharpen iron. In other words, it takes experience to be able to teach others well. Experience can be found in many forms; it can be positive or negative.
Experience can be in doing or not doing. Whichever way one gets experience is good enough to assist in sharing life lessons with others.
The interesting part, though, is that of having many teachers, who like teaching, yet not liking learning. Often, teaching others is easy but, teaching self is usually such a mission if accomplished.
Who corrects your errors?
One author once said, “Everyone can make an error, but that error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.”
Being open to correction is not easy, as it makes one vulnerable. For that reason, a good number of people do not like to be corrected, because they feel like they are showing signs of weakness.
Many people view corrections negatively, yet these are the growth points that are supposed to take us to another level. I remember growing up, I used to hate schoolwork corrections a lot.
Doing corrections sounded like a very bad thing, because those who offered the corrections would make me, along with others, feel inferior and dull.
The situation created unhealthy competition where other learners would cheat or copy from unauthorised materials, which would make the situation worse upon being caught. The effort in doing all that was to avoid corrections.
In most cases, teachers would ask those who would have passed well to teach others on how to get it right. Frequently, it was the same people who used to do better than others, and because of that, they became familiar with teaching others.
The challenge would come on a day that the smart guys would miss it, and then teachers would still ask those who would have done well to teach others. On a number of occasions, some of the smart guys would then find it difficult to listen to those they deemed dull.
The smart guys were usually those that would fall in the top five and top 10. Their attitude of not wanting to learn from others continued to grow, and to make it worse, they would not study with others.
I remember when Grade Seven results came out, we were surprised to learn that six of the pupils, who used to be in the top 10, had been overtaken and were found in the top 20.
That is when I learnt a valuable lesson: no matter how good you are at something, you need others to challenge what you do for the better.
We all need continuous growth, which comes as a result of constant learning. Continuous learning and transforming yourself gives light to the whole world around you.
You need to constantly check on who taught you what you teach others. If you find yourself referring to yourself all the time, then you definitely need to correct some errors.
For many, teaching others sounds easier than being a learner, yet the opposite is true, because as a teacher you will be held accountable and responsible.
In organisations, many employees long to be managers, so that they get to lead, control, guide, and direct others, since from the terraces, leading seems easy and attractive.
Yet, things are not always what they seem. Research I did with five organisations recently, revealed that most managers wish to turn back the hands of time to undo the management positions that they have.
When I asked the reasons why, interestingly, what was mentioned the most is the pain of being responsible and accountable for a team that does not comply with the teachings given. When I dug deeper, I realised that most of the long-serving managers had become redundant over the years. They constantly train and lead others without receiving the same.
I would like to challenge company owners to invest in leadership development programmes, so that managers do not wear out. The same way they teach others, they need to be taught, also.
As they guide others, they need to be guided as well. It takes iron to sharpen iron. For them to produce quality, they have to personify quality.
Therefore, in order to be more effective in what you do, whether as a leader or not, self-introspection is important. Before dishing out anything to anyone, self-check and ask yourself who is feeding you, too.
Be inspired to make it a daily habit to ask yourself questions like: where do I need to improve? And, who can help me improve?
These questions apply to every aspect of your life, and they come along with continuous development. People who self-correct grow faster than those that wait for others to discover that they need to be corrected.
Only iron sharpens iron, hence, before giving wisdom nuggets, be sure to receive some yourself. I encourage you all to have a mentor if you don’t have one yet.
Rutendo Gwatidzo is the managing consultant at The HUB HR Consultancy – as a culture and change management specialist. She is a multi-award-winning leader, consultant, speaker, and coach. She also authored the books “Born to Fight” and “Breaking the Silence”. Contact details: – 0714575805/ [email protected] / Rutendo Gwatidzo_Official fb public page.
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