Who will be your next teacher?

Teacher and students

Originally uploaded by Obi-Akpere

If you have truly committed to the concept of life-long learning, of continuing to sharpen the saw - where are you going to look for your next teacher?  Will you be getting your information from books, online, or have you considered making contact with live role models and/or instructors? 

We could talk about life-long learning in general terms, but you know as well as I do that nothing significant in the way of progress happens until you get more specific. Do you have an idea about a path you want to pursue right now along that line?  Answer these questions:

• What interests me right now?
• What are the strengths I want to strengthen?
• What are the skill or knowledge niches that would be assets to my performance in my role?
• Who is already doing that really well?  Do I know who the gurus are?
• Is there someone who is not generally well-known yet, but who I think could be a good teacher for me?
• How could I go about making contact with them?
• How committed am I to learning it? (That's going to be a factor in determining what the relationship or arrangements might be.)
• How quickly do I want to or need to learn it?

Of course these questions are only a starting point - the tip of the iceberg for you.  The point is that you can choose to acquire knowledge by happenstance (the proverbial bolt of lightening,) or you can instead choose to engineer and accelerate your learning process by intention and action.    Who will be your next teacher?