What Education Has Taught Me About Leadership, Learning, and People

This article is part of the journey I am documenting through The Michael Badeon Journal. I shared more about that journey in Leadership Is Not a Position: What Real Leadership Looks Like

For more than 15 years, I have had the privilege of being involved in education in different capacities.

I have taught in various colleges and universities.

I have also experienced vocational education.

I have stood in front of classrooms, prepared lessons, facilitated discussions, assessed learners, and witnessed the different ways students respond to learning.

At another point in my journey, I was entrusted with the responsibility of serving as Faculty President of a department overseeing four academic programs:

Nursing.
Nutrition and Dietetics.
Pharmacy.
Medical Technology.

I have also been part of the management committee of our family-run school, an institution established in 2004 that has continued to serve learners and families through different seasons and challenges.

But my understanding of learning and people development did not come only from the academic environment.

For 14 years, I have also been involved in corporate training and facilitation, working with different companies and organizations through experiential corporate teambuilding, leadership development, people-development programs, communication workshops, and other professional learning experiences.

These different roles have allowed me to see education from several perspectives.

I have been a teacher.

I have been a faculty leader.

I have been involved in institutional management.

I have been a corporate trainer.

I have been a facilitator.

I have designed and facilitated experiential learning experiences for professionals and teams.

And through all these experiences, one realization has become increasingly clear to me:

Education is never simply about delivering lessons.

Education is about developing people.

From the Classroom to the Corporate Training Room

My journey in education began with teaching.

In the classroom, my responsibility was to help students understand concepts, develop skills, and prepare for the next stage of their lives and careers.

But over the years, my work expanded beyond the traditional classroom.

Through corporate training and facilitation, I found myself working with adults who were already professionals, managers, supervisors, entrepreneurs, and organizational leaders.

I facilitated experiential corporate teambuilding programs.

I conducted leadership trainings.

I facilitated people-development workshops.

I worked with teams that needed to strengthen communication, collaboration, trust, leadership, and performance.

And this experience taught me something important:

Learning does not stop when we graduate.

A person may finish college, earn a degree, and enter the workplace, but learning continues.

Professionals need to learn.

Leaders need to learn.

Teachers need to learn.

Managers need to learn.

Organizations need to learn.

In many ways, life itself becomes a classroom.

What Corporate Facilitation Taught Me About Learning

After 14 years of corporate training and facilitation, I have repeatedly observed that people do not learn simply because information is presented to them.

They learn when they can connect the lesson to something meaningful.

They learn when they participate.

They learn when they can ask questions.

They learn when they experience something.

They learn when they are given the opportunity to reflect.

They learn when they can practice.

They learn when they receive feedback.

And sometimes, they learn most powerfully when an experience allows them to discover something about themselves.

This is why experiential learning has become such an important part of my work.

In an experiential corporate teambuilding activity, for example, the activity itself is only part of the learning.

The deeper learning often happens during the reflection afterward.

What happened?

Why did it happen?

How did the team respond?

Who took the lead?

Who remained silent?

How did people communicate?

What could have been done differently?

And most importantly:

How does this experience connect to what happens in the workplace?

That process taught me that meaningful learning is not simply about receiving information.

It is about experience, reflection, understanding, and application.

Teaching Is More Than Knowing Your Subject

My more than 15 years of teaching have reinforced the same principle.

A teacher may be highly knowledgeable about a subject, but knowing the subject is not enough.

The real challenge is helping another person understand it.

Learners are different.

They come from different backgrounds.

They have different levels of readiness.

They have different personalities.

They have different motivations.

They learn at different paces.

And they bring different experiences into the classroom.

Therefore, teaching requires more than expertise.

It requires empathy.

It requires patience.

It requires creativity.

It requires communication.

And sometimes, it requires the humility to change our approach when the first approach isn't working.

A good teacher does not simply ask:

"Did I teach the lesson?"

A better question is:

"Did my students actually learn?"

Those two questions may sound similar, but they are very different.

My Years in Higher and Vocational Education

My experience teaching in colleges and universities, as well as in vocational education, allowed me to work with learners at different stages of development.

Some were preparing for professional careers.

Others were developing technical skills.

Some entered the classroom already confident.

Others were still discovering what they were capable of doing.

Some were highly motivated.

Others needed encouragement before they could fully engage.

These experiences reinforced something I continue to believe:

Education should meet learners where they are while helping them move toward where they need to be.

Teaching is not simply about giving people information.

It is about helping them develop capability.

Becoming a Faculty Leader Changed My Perspective

My experience as a Faculty President gave me another perspective.

I was part of a department responsible for four academic programs:

• Nursing

• Nutrition and Dietetics

• Pharmacy

• Medical Technology

Leadership at the faculty level was different from teaching in the classroom.

As a teacher, I could focus primarily on my students.

As a faculty leader, I had to think about people, programs, standards, coordination, responsibilities, and the larger direction of the academic unit.

I began to understand that good educational leadership requires the ability to look at both the individual learner and the larger system.

A decision that benefits one group may create challenges for another.

A change that appears simple from an administrative perspective may have a significant impact on teachers and students.

And a program can only succeed when the people implementing it understand the purpose behind it.

That experience taught me that educational leadership requires more than authority.

It requires collaboration.

It requires communication.

It requires listening.

And it requires the ability to bring people together around a common purpose.

Leading Programs That Prepare People for Professional Responsibility

Having responsibility within an academic environment involving Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics, Pharmacy, and Medical Technology also reinforced the importance of standards.

These programs prepare students for professions where competence, responsibility, ethics, accuracy, and service matter.

Students cannot simply memorize information.

They must eventually apply what they learn.

They must develop professional judgment.

They must communicate.

They must work with others.

They must understand responsibility.

And they must recognize that their future profession will involve real people and real consequences.

This strengthened my belief that education should always connect knowledge with application.

What students learn should eventually help them do something meaningful.

Then Came Institutional Leadership

My involvement in the management committee of our family-run school gave me an even broader perspective.

I began to see education not only from the classroom or faculty level, but from the perspective of an entire institution.

A school is a complex community.

It involves students.

Teachers.

Administrators.

Staff.

Parents.

Policies.

Programs.

Resources.

Operations.

And countless decisions that must be made every day.

The school was established in 2004, and I have personally witnessed the challenges, changes, and seasons it has experienced.

There have been periods of growth.

There have been difficult seasons.

There have been moments when decisions had to be made despite uncertainty.

Those experiences taught me that educational institutions survive not simply because of buildings, programs, or policies.

They survive because people continue to believe in the mission.

Education and Corporate Training Are More Connected Than We Think

Some people may see my work in education and my work in corporate training as two completely different professional worlds.

I don't.

To me, they are deeply connected.

A classroom and a corporate training room may look different.

A student and a corporate professional may have different responsibilities.

A school curriculum and a leadership workshop may have different objectives.

But underneath these differences is the same fundamental reality:

People are learning.

And whenever people are learning, we need to understand people.

How do they learn?

What motivates them?

What makes them participate?

What makes them disengage?

What helps them remember?

What helps them apply?

What makes them confident enough to try?

These questions have followed me from the classroom into the corporate training room and back again.

Leadership Is Also Education

My experience facilitating leadership trainings has also strengthened another belief:

Leadership is a form of education.

A leader develops people.

A leader creates opportunities for learning.

A leader coaches.

A leader provides feedback.

A leader helps people understand their strengths and blind spots.

A leader creates experiences from which people can learn.

This is why I believe educational leadership and corporate leadership have more similarities than differences.

Both require us to understand people.

Both require communication.

Both require patience.

Both require accountability.

Both require continuous learning.

And both require leaders who are willing to develop themselves before expecting others to develop.

Experiential Learning Can Change People

One of the things I value most in corporate facilitation is the power of experience.

Sometimes you can explain teamwork for an hour, and people will understand the concept intellectually.

But put the same people into an experiential activity where they have to communicate, trust one another, solve a problem, and make decisions under pressure—and suddenly the lesson becomes real.

They don't just hear about teamwork.

They experience it.

Then comes the reflection.

And that is where the deeper learning often happens.

The same principle can apply to education.

Students should not only be told what to think.

They should be given opportunities to explore, question, experiment, collaborate, create, solve problems, and reflect.

Because sometimes the most powerful lesson is not the one we explain.

It is the one people experience and discover for themselves.

Education Is a People Business

This is perhaps one of the most important lessons my journey has taught me.

Education is a people business.

The teacher matters.

The learner matters.

The administrator matters.

The parent matters.

The support staff matters.

The facilitator matters.

The leader matters.

Every person contributes to the learning environment.

This is why I believe leaders should never become so focused on systems that they forget the people who operate them.

Policies are important.

Processes are important.

Technology is important.

Curriculum is important.

Training programs are important.

But behind every one of these are people.

And if we want an educational institution or organization to become better, we must develop the people within it.

What Teaching and Training Have Taught Me About Leadership

My experiences as a teacher and corporate facilitator have shaped the way I lead.

When you teach, you quickly learn that people don't respond to exactly the same approach.

One learner may understand immediately.

Another may need another explanation.

Another may need an example.

Another may need encouragement.

Another may need someone to believe in them before they believe in themselves.

Leadership is often the same.

People don't all need the same kind of leadership.

Some need direction.

Some need coaching.

Some need encouragement.

Some need accountability.

Some need opportunities.

Some simply need to be heard.

This is why I believe that good leadership begins with understanding people.

A Leader Must Know When to Teach, Coach, Facilitate, and Listen

My years in education and corporate facilitation have taught me that leadership requires different approaches at different moments.

Sometimes people need to be taught.

Sometimes they need to be coached.

Sometimes they need to be challenged.

Sometimes they need to experience something for themselves.

And sometimes they simply need someone to listen.

A leader who only knows how to give instructions will eventually create dependence.

A leader who knows how to develop people creates capability.

A leader who facilitates discovery allows people to take ownership of their own learning.

That is the kind of leadership I want to practice.

I don't want people to succeed only because I gave them the answer.

I want them to become capable of finding answers themselves.

The Lesson of More Than 15 Years in Education and 14 Years in Training

Looking back, I realize that I have learned at least as much from my students, colleagues, clients, and participants as I have taught them.

Teaching taught me patience.

Facilitation taught me adaptability.

Experiential teambuilding taught me the power of reflection.

Leadership training taught me that people cannot be developed through information alone.

Academic leadership taught me responsibility.

Institutional management taught me stewardship.

And the challenges along the way taught me humility.

Education has continually reminded me that learning is never one-directional.

The teacher learns from the student.

The facilitator learns from the participants.

The leader learns from the people he leads.

The institution learns from the community it serves.

And if we are willing to remain open, every experience becomes part of our education.

What Should Our Schools and Organizations Develop?

After more than 15 years in teaching and education, and 14 years in corporate training and facilitation, I believe we should aim for more than simply transferring knowledge.

We should develop:

Competence.

Character.

Confidence.

Critical thinking.

Communication.

Collaboration.

Resilience.

Adaptability.

Leadership.

Purpose.

These qualities matter in classrooms.

They matter in workplaces.

They matter in organizations.

And they matter in life.

What Educational and Organizational Leaders Should Ask

I believe leaders should regularly ask several questions.

1. Are people truly learning?

Not simply completing requirements.

Not simply attending seminars.

Not simply passing examinations.

But genuinely understanding and applying what they learn.

2. Are we developing our teachers and employees?

We cannot expect people to continually develop others if we do not provide opportunities for them to develop themselves.

3. Are we creating meaningful learning experiences?

Are people simply receiving information, or are they being given opportunities to think, practice, experience, reflect, and apply?

4. Are we listening to our people?

Students, teachers, employees, parents, clients, and team members all see different sides of an organization.

Their perspectives can reveal blind spots that leaders may not see.

5. Are we developing leaders?

Leadership should not be reserved for people who already hold titles.

Organizations should help people develop the confidence, competence, and character to lead.

6. Are we preparing people for real life?

Knowledge is important.

But application, judgment, character, resilience, collaboration, and responsibility are equally important.

A Leader Is Also a Learner

Perhaps one of the most important lessons my years in both education and corporate training have taught me is this:

A leader who stops learning eventually limits the people he or she leads.

We cannot ask teachers to embrace lifelong learning if we are unwilling to do it ourselves.

We cannot ask employees to adapt if we refuse to adapt.

We cannot ask students to be curious if we have stopped asking questions.

We cannot ask our organizations to improve if we are unwilling to examine our own practices.

Leaders need to remain curious.

We need to listen.

We need to seek feedback.

We need to recognize our blind spots.

We need to learn from experience.

And sometimes, we need to say:

"I don't know yet, but I'm willing to learn."

There is strength in that statement.

Education Does Not End With Graduation

Perhaps this is the most important realization my journey has given me.

Education does not end when a student receives a diploma.

Learning continues in the workplace.

It continues in leadership.

It continues in relationships.

It continues through failure.

It continues through travel.

It continues through responsibility.

It continues through every new experience that challenges us to become better.

A classroom may be one place where learning begins.

But life becomes the larger classroom.

And perhaps our responsibility as educators, trainers, facilitators, and leaders is to help people become lifelong learners.

What Education Has Taught Me

After more than 15 years of teaching in colleges, universities, and vocational education, after serving as a Faculty President overseeing Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics, Pharmacy, and Medical Technology, after being involved in the management of our family-run school, and after 14 years of corporate training and facilitation—including experiential corporate teambuilding and leadership development—I have come to see all these experiences as connected.

They have all taught me about people.

People who teach.

People who learn.

People who lead.

People who struggle.

People who discover their potential.

People who need encouragement.

People who need someone to believe in them.

And people who, given the right environment, can become far more capable than they initially believed themselves to be.

That is why education continues to be one of the most meaningful parts of my professional journey.

Because every classroom represents a possibility.

Every training room represents an opportunity.

Every teacher represents an influence.

Every facilitator can create a moment of discovery.

Every leader represents a responsibility.

And every learner represents a future that has not yet been fully written.

Our responsibility is not simply to fill that future with information.

Our responsibility is to help people develop the knowledge, skills, character, confidence, and purpose to write that future themselves.

That, to me, is the deeper purpose of education.

Learn. Lead. Grow. Live.

— Michael Badeon

The Michael Badeon Journal