This week I welcomed Shelley Osborne to the podcast, and we talked through some of the core concepts of her book The Upskilling Imperative.

The thing that stood out to me this week was the importance of mentors, and in particular of feedback. Shelley and the crew at Udemy are big on feedback and are heavily invested in the idea that feedback is fuel.

This made me think about the reason we need feedback.

In order to learn and grow, we need to become aware of the things that need work. We need to know what needs improvement.

Sometimes we figure that out ourselves, but often we need some outside input to help us move in the right direction.

That made me think about a book I would like to highly recommend – Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code.

This book is relevant here for two reasons – first, that talent and ability is not a mystical power fixed at birth, but that it can be created and nurtured.

Second, that simple wisdom (or feedback) from master coaches, or mentors, can be the catalyst for great change and powerful learning.

He talks about the various approaches of what he calls talent whisperers, teachers, coaches, and parents who figure out how to say the right thing at just the right time to ignite a fire within their mentees.

As we have talked about before, we all have a responsibility to inspire each other – so check it out!

I think about his ideas in terms of how I communicate with people in general and how I communicate with my kids as I try to help them grow and develop their passions.

This episode was also the final episode of our first season, and I want to thank all of my incredible guests for their time and their wisdom.

We will be back after Christmas with more of the Learn to Grow Podcast – thank you for taking the time to listen!