We all know that as leaders we have a responsibility to help those we lead develop and grow. More often than not, our lessons just happen. We may have no idea that we are teaching something until the new behavior manifests itself. Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing this in action at my son’s guitar recital. His instructor primarily teaches piano, so when she arrived at the venue to find a strategic piano key broken, she was quite upset. Her students range from the very young performing for the first time to high school students ready to study music at the university level. She was uncertain whether they would be able to have the recital.
“Those who can, do. Those who can’t do, teach.” I have always hated that expression. It belittles one of the most noble professions anyone could choose. However, I have recently come to see that there is a kernel of truth buried within it. That truth isn’t that teachers are unable to do things. Rather, it is that teaching requires an objectivity and perspective that is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve while we are consumed with doing that thing.