Wake Your Sleeping Learning and Performance Giants

There is a complex web of subtle and often hidden learning and performance challenges that affects everyone’s workday. Regardless of title or tenure, no one is immune to the barriers it puts up between you and your coworkers and between you and your goals. And there are no shortcuts to navigating your way safely through it. However, your capacity to recognize these challenges and take deliberate steps to manage them can create a distinctive competitive advantage. I call these challenges the hidden curriculum of work because it is this unspoken, unwritten work that doesn’t show up in your job description, yet determines your ability to stand out. Learning to navigate it is a business imperative with significant untapped human-capital potential. And just like any other form of capital — social, political, financial — a leader can either squander it or leverage it.