Being a good online business leader means not just inspiring other people to do more or showing them the best tools to use to build their own business. A good online business leader also keeps their ears open to other professional business leaders, their team members and even people they believe have nothing to offer.

I’ve been to a few seminars in my time where the speakers were millionaires and they shared with the crowd a time when after they had become successful they had sat through a seminar that cost five to ten thousand dollars. You read that right, five to ten thousand dollars to sit in a meeting and listen to someone else talk.

Sometimes the seminar would be chalk full of information that they could use to boost their business like a rocket ship. Other times the seminar would be an almost complete waste of time, a repeat of education they have already gleamed but on occasion they would hear one statement or one small kernel of knowledge that would make that seminar worth more than what they had paid.

Even rich, successful people never stop learning because they are always on the lookout for ways to keep their business on top.

I’ve also been on team training calls where the leader of the call was discussing a topic and one of their teammates knew more about the topic and shared what they knew. The leader didn’t get angry for being interrupted or condescend their teammate for making them look foolish. Instead, the leader thanked the teammate for sharing their valuable knowledge with the rest of the group and actually dedicated the rest of that call to discussing what the teammate knew on the topic.

The third experience comes from my mentor. Years ago he decided to challenge himself and earn a black belt in martial arts. He knew it would take years of dedication, training and perspiration, but the result would be worth all of it. On his first day in the dojo, he was grouped with all the experienced students as well as the newcomers. The sensei paired every student with someone of equal experience. My mentor, who was 35 at the time, found himself paired with a seven year old girl. At first he felt a little insulted because he thought, What can I possibly learn from a little girl?

That day he learned what it meant to be humble.

Everyone has been given time on this planet to acquire, develop and master certain knowledge and skills that can either mirror, compliment or surpass yours. Just because someone is different from you doesn’t mean they are less than you. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you should take the time to learn from them.

Just remember, the day you stop learning is the day you might as well hang up your apron and retire from life and a good online business leader never stops learning. Be a good business leader by being a lifetime learner.

“An education isn’t how much you committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s about being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t know.” – Anatole France 

Scott Gustafson
E-Business Expert