A very important quality that everyone should possess is the ability to be teachable. In this present times, a lot of people appear knowledgeable, experienced, and competent, so much that they do not see the need to learn from others. But what they fail to understand is that those who remain teachable tend to grow faster, achieve bigger things, and even adapt better than those who claim that they already know everything. The truth is that no matter how much you think you have known, there are many more things that you still need to know. So you have to seek for more knowledge, and remain teachable.
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There was a young employee that join a particular company, and she believed that she had already known everything that needs to be known for the job because of her academic qualifications and her former job experiences. This made her, whenever her supervisor gives instructions or directions, she will ignore them and continue doing things in the way she has been doing them. This always leads her to making repeated and avoidable mistakes, and also made her to struggle to improve. She thought that her academic qualifications and the experiences she had gotten before the job will be all that is required. What she did not take into consideration is that things evolve, and so also should learning.
Yet in the same company, there was another employee that had a similar qualification like him, but with a different attitude. He would always listen carefully to instructions, ask questions when in doubt, he was humble to learn even from his juniors, accepted feedbacks, and understood that he does not know everything. Even when he made mistakes, he saw it as an opportunity to improve and learn new things. Within a short period of time, his performance greatly increased, and he became more productive. When they took the appraisal of staff, they found that he is the most productive, so he won the "staff of the year" in the company. They also gave him double promotion the next year. This shows the benefits and blessedness of being teachable.
In order to be teachable, you have to be open-minded, and always willing to learn new things, improve on yourself, and accept guidance. This does not mean that you do not have confidence, nor does it mean that you should doubt yourself. Rather it means that you have recognised that no matter how much you know, there will still be a lot of othes new things to learn. It is when you are teachable that you will understand that growth will require humility and a readiness to gather new information. You have to be willing to learn before you learn. This is because learning starts with a willingness to learn.
One of the reasons why being teachable is valuable is because it leads to personal growth. It creates the avenue whereby you will grow both personally and in other aspects of your life. If you want to learn everything entirely from personal experience, it may take you a lot of time and you may make some avoidable mistakes. But when you are willing to learn from mentors, teachers, from books, and from experiences of others, you will gain valuable insight, and you will do it much faster. Having a teachable attitude will make you to benefit from the knowledge that other people have already acquired.
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Being teachable also helps you to adapt to changes. You will agree with me that the world is constantly and continuously evolving, and as such, changes come everytime. The changes can come in a lot of fields; like technology, ideas, science, etc. People who refuse to learn will find it difficult to adapt to the changes that happen in life. But the people who remain teachable will remain flexible, will easily adapt, and will be open to improvements. It is your willingness to learn new things that will help you to stay relevant and effective even when times and situations change.
When you are teachable, it will also help you to maintain good relationships. People are generally drawn to those who are willing to learn. Mentors will be ready to invest their time in you if they know that you will value their guidance. You will be surprised how a lot of opportunities can be open to you, not because of your qualifications nor because of your possessions, but because of being humble and teachable.
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