Knowledge, understanding, wisdom

The newly promoted boss is aggressive and intimidating. He wanted to create a mark in the factory and show the rest that he meant business. He is entirely determined to rid the factory of slackers.

On a tour of the facilities, he notices a guy leaning against a wall. The room was full of workers. Seeing a chance to show he meant business, he says to the guy, “How much money do you make in a month?”

A little surprised, the young man says, “I make P16,000 every month. Why?”

The boss says, “Wait right here.” He walks back to his office and comes back in two minutes. He hands the guy P16,000 in cash and says, “Here’s your one-month pay. Now GET OUT and don’t come back.”

Feeling like a boss now, he looks around and says, “Does anyone want to tell me what that lazy slacker’s job was around here?”

From across the room, a voice says, “He is the pizza delivery guy.”

The new boss did not even take the time to learn about the place, learn about the people, and end up humiliated. Making decisions without the support of knowledge and understanding is not admirable. It can be disastrous.

There is a need to acquire knowledge, and we must continue to learn. Businesses survive and thrive because the leaders running them continue to learn, discover, and apply new things.

You are probably saying, “But I am not the boss in my company, so would this apply to me?” Of course, it does. Every boss and leader started somewhere, but they “Learned Their Way Up.”

Life-long learning is a prerequisite for success. But, unfortunately, many consider learning and the acquisition of knowledge as additional work to be done. Instead, they would prefer to be entertained by movies or distracted by video games. Others sincerely want to learn but they find learning difficult. They have read books, consulted mentors, attended seminars and webinars but cannot retain the information and quickly forget what they have learned. It does not have to be the case. Therefore, allow me to present ideas that can help one become a lifelong learner and maximize the knowledge and information they derive.

1. Take down notes

Take notes. Do not trust your memory. I have my pen and a small notebook (while my phone is away from me charging) beside my bed and on my office table. When an idea pops up, I will write the ideas down – review them. Re-read them and best, apply them, and it has helped me tremendously with my business decisions and life matters.

2. Transfer the notes

I use Evernote as a storage for all my ideas and thoughts, and I organized, classified, and categorized the materials in terms of subject matters for easy retrieval when the time required me to look for them.

3. Apply the knowledge

It has been said that information gives you knowledge, but application gives you skills. And while information gives you knowledge, application and repetition provide you with skill!

So now, let me level this up a little bit. Through the years, I have observed that the Scriptures repetitively feature three words: KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING, and WISDOM. However, they may not refer to the same thing. Knowledge is the accumulation of data or information. Understanding is the processing of the data subjecting it through a process of critical thinking and reflection. Finally, wisdom is the correct use or even the none-use of the data that has been processed.

I find immense joy in learning new things because I feel the excitement of processing it and then sharing it with my audiences, hoping to use the information to grow their business or career and live life better. I love training, and I also love speaking. But “The Ilocana” (a term of endearment I have assigned to my wife of many years) would attest; what I love more is preparing lessons. It is where I can express the knowledge and the processed data. Presenting them as materials for the training program and sharing them with the participants and audiences, hoping that they would find them helpful.

It is essential to be a life-long learner for this simple reason. We continue learning because life continues teaching.

(Francis Kong will run his Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class online on April 20, 21 and 22. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)