Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm

specializing in activating workplaces, helping leaders bring simplicity, ease, and big giant results

to the forefront. Remember, your questions and curiosities are the fuel behind the show.

So if something, anything workplace related has been on your

mind, then leave me a voicemail with your question at 201-67-8113, and I may just answer it on a future

podcast. So one of those questions I get all the time is some version of, what class should I take to learn X? You know, because I do

learning and development, so obviously I am a walking course catalog. Now, listen, I love a good class

when the context is right. Like if you want to fly a plane or remove a kidney or build a house,

then yes, you should take a class, preferably a very

lot of them, and then take all the tests and do all the things. Absolutely, certain professional

skills rightly require some very real and essential certifications. But in many fields, there are

plenty of jobs and specialties that require us to know things

that don't need to be learned in a classroom or certified by a test.

And in these cases, I think we can and should look beyond the classroom for knowledge building.

Often, conversations and experiences can teach us more than, or at least complement, what we've learned in a class.

So let's talk today about five of my favorite ways to learn, ways that I personally use and

recommend all the time. The first is trade coffee for perspective. Yeah, I'm a bit of a coffee

fiend, but decaf and or adult beverages work just as well.

The perspective, however, is required.

Whatever you want to expand your expertise on, world politics or the history of basketball,

or how to effectively lead a team, or what it's like to move through the world as a trans person,

just find someone with a perspective

...