So, your company loves to shout about its "learning culture" from the rooftops. It's in their mission statements, their CEO speeches, and plastered all over their websites. But let’s get real for a minute. How many of us have actually seen this mythical learning culture in action?

Think about it. Your company talks a big game about continuous learning and innovation. They host hackathons, hothousing sessions, innovation labs, idea competitions—you name it, they do it. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? A weekend of brainstorming or a marathon of coding, all aimed at sparking the next big thing. But here’s the kicker: what happens to all those brilliant ideas after we ceremoniously clap, cheer, and even publicly give awards?

More often than not, absolutely nothing.

Teams pour their hearts into these events, coming up with creative solutions and groundbreaking ideas. And then? Crickets. The ideas gather dust, buried under layers of bureaucracy and indecision. It’s like building a rocket ship and never lighting the fuse. Frustrating, isn’t it?

Your company declares its dedication to continuous learning. Sounds great, right? But then you try to bring a new idea to the table, and what happens? You’re met with a bureaucratic nightmare. Want to experiment with a new approach? Better fill out a dozen forms, run it by five different departments, and wait for a few months. By the time you get the green light, your "innovative" idea is ancient history.

This isn’t a learning culture. It’s a permission-based culture, and it’s a killer of creativity. Leaders love to preach about innovation, but the reality is that we build processes that are heavy and time-consuming, and whether we mean to or not, they end up being all about maintaining the status quo. So, how did we end up here?

In my coaching practice, I see this all the time. The truth is, many companies claim they want to innovate, but their actions say otherwise. Many current leaders are frauds when it comes to building a real learning culture. They talk the talk, but their actions show otherwise. Innovation doesn't need permission. It needs a culture that encourages risk-taking and learning from failure.

That’s why I developed the Six-Step Leadership Challenge. It’s designed to help leaders break free from these restrictive norms and create environments where real learning and innovation can thrive.

Here's how it works:

1. Emerge Phase: Start by building self-awareness. Take a good, hard look at your values, strengths, and weaknesses. Understand how others see you as a leader. This is crucial for recognizing the barriers a permission-based culture imposes.

2. Elevate Phase: Now, strategize your growth. Create a vision and actionable plans to elevate your leadership. This phase is about challenging the status quo and setting the stage for real change.

3. Excel Phase: Time to put your plans into action. Lead by example, continuously learn, and adapt. Celebrate successes and learn from failures. This is how you reinforce a true learning culture.

Now, imagine being a leader who truly embraces these principles. Instead of waiting for permission, you encourage your team to take initiative. Ideas are tested quickly, feedback is immediate, and learning is constant. Failures aren’t seen as career-ending disasters but as valuable lessons. This isn’t just a fantasy. It’s a practical approach that works.

So, which do you want to be? The person who boasts about their fabulous yet nonexistent learning culture, or the one who actually gets it done—the leader everyone else points to and says, "How do they do it?"