Amazon has conditioned us in unexpected ways. Heightening our expectations for instant gratification and seamless transactions. This extends beyond retail—we’ve been trained to be consumers of learning.
We purchase degrees, certifications, and training programs as if knowledge, skills, and abilities were off-the-shelf products. In doing so, we approach education as a transactional experience: buy the credential, qualify for the job, and advance the career. But personal and leadership development do not truly function this way.
The Spirit of Will: A Commitment to Growth
True leadership growth demands more than passive consumption; it requires active engagement. Set Godin refers to this as “putting yourself on the hook” — an intentional commitment to learning through experience, mistakes, and continuous practice. This aligns with the research on deliberate practice (Ericsson, 1993), which shows that meaningful skill development isn’t achieved through passive learning but through targeted, effortful engagement with real-world challenges. (a.k.a. practice).
The Pitfall of the Consumer Mindset
Memorizing leadership principles, parroting back academic theories, or collecting certificates does not equate to transformation. This is the consumer mindset—accumulating knowledge without applying it. Leadership, however, is not an abstract product; it is a dynamic process that requires self-awareness, action, and adaptation.
Consider the difference between buying a frying pan on Amazon and mastering the art of cooking. The frying pan is an inanimate object—you purchase it, it arrives, and it exists. But becoming a skilled cook requires practice, failure, and refinement. The same principle applies to leadership: consuming knowledge is passive, application is active and transformative.
Adaptive Leadership: A Mindset Shift
The Adaptive Leadership Framework (Heifetz, Linsky, & Grashow, 2009) highlights that real leadership is about embracing uncertainty, experimenting with new approaches, and learning from setbacks. Leaders who thrive are those who integrate their will, creativity, and persistence into daily practice.
If you want to grow, you must shift from consumer to practitioner. Leadership is not about acquiring knowledge—it’s about using it. It’s about making mistakes, refining your approach, and lowering the human entropy (waste) in how you interact with and influence others.
The next time you think about developing as a leader, ask yourself: Am I merely consuming information, or am I actively engaging in my own transformation?
Consider: Momentum is created – Moment by Moment
Sources
- Ericsson, K. A. (1993). The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406.
- Supports the idea that meaningful skill development requires intentional, effortful engagement rather than passive consumption.
- Heifetz, R., Linsky, M., & Grashow, A. (2009). The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World. Harvard Business Press.
- Explores how leaders must develop adaptive capacities rather than rely on static knowledge.
- Godin, S. (2018). This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See. Portfolio.
- Discusses the importance of commitment, learning through experience, and the pitfalls of a consumer mindset in personal growth.
