Agility Note: We have brought several of our original blogs over to our new site because they continue to spark interest and engagement. These posts were well-received when first published and are still being read today, so we wanted to make sure they remain accessible and easy to find. By including them here, we are preserving valuable insights and conversations while continuing to build on them with fresh content.
Snapshot
BLUF: True leaders don’t just do, they also teach. Mastery comes from sharing knowledge, and teaching strengthens both credibility and capability.
Relevance: In business development and government contracting, teaching within your team ensures lessons learned become repeatable successes and builds a stronger, more resilient organization.
Action: Adopt a “learn it, do it, teach it” mindset: empower your team to share expertise, invest in training, and turn experience into lasting organizational growth.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” As an educator myself, that adage has always rubbed me the wrong way. I am of the belief you can’t truly master a skill until you are able to teach another.
In my elementary classroom, “Learn It, Do It, Teach It” was a regular classroom practice. Our classes were grouped heterogeneously by ability, and challenges arose when students excelled and struggled simultaneously with standards. As an informal assessment of mastery, I often switched roles with my students, making them the “teacher” and me the “student”; telling them if they could teach me the skill I knew they mastered it. This practice was two-fold: first, students that “got it” right away and demonstrated understanding were then sent out to assist struggling students; second, instead of one teacher trying to meet the needs of 25+ students during a lesson, students were supporting each other.
Recently, I came across a blog post that really struck a chord with me, written by Ed Cohen titled: “Those Who Lead, Teach.” Coehn too believes in the, ‘learn it, do it, teach it,’ model. He calls those who ‘can do’ AND ‘teach,’ LEADERS. He states,
Teaching provides the opportunity for further development while at the same time providing a view into the true pulse of the organization. If you believe as I do in the “learn it, do it, teach it” model, then it also expands your credibility, (2015).
I couldn’t agree more. Teachers aren’t teachers because they “can’t,” they are teachers because they CAN! Rather than the insulting saying, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach,” I prefer this ancient Chinese Proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Agility Development Group specializes in supporting companies seeking to win business with the United States Government. We are a learning company that uses an integrated, ‘vested interests’ approach to support the growth of our business partners. Our Learning Services include customized classes centered on sharing our experiences with numerous successful proposal efforts. We translate the ‘tricks of the trade’ into understandable and repeatable process elements so your team is better prepared for future pursuits. The Agility team is a diverse group of dedicated professionals with extensive experience in Government, industry, and education. We provide on-demand services, information, and learning in the areas of business development, capture, and proposal support. Schedule a date to connect with us through the button below.
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-Macaire Eidson
Work Cited
Cohen, E. (2015, February 24). Those Who Lead, Teach. Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.clomedia.com/blogs/9-your-career/post/6106-those-who-lead-teach