Quote-A-Day: Day 344

"Talk amongst yourselves" isn't just an @nbcsnl sound bite, it's a way of life for #leaders + #learners. #QuoteADay #Day344 #edchat #ASCDL2L

This morning I had the chance to participate in an episode of the ASCD Whole Child Podcast.  A number of Emerging Leaders from the 2012 class were together on the call to talk about what they learned from the Emerging Leaders grant program that ASCD started last year.

The podcast will be available on Thursday, and I'll tweet out the link to it, but beyond the learning I took from what everyone had to say, I also thought deeply about the power of communication.

If you were a fan of Saturday Night Live back in the eighties and nineties, at some point, you would have come across Mike Meyer's hysterical role-play of Linda Richman, the host of Coffee Talk, and the show that is all Barbra Streisand, all the time.  Linda (Mike) coined the phrase "Talk amongst yourselves" as an opportunity for the audience and guests to talk, often when she (he) is too awed/choked up/amazed to say anything.  While we've all had these types of moments (though for me, rarely about Barbra Streisand, if truth be told), there's also a deep connection to leadership we can take from this statement.

The idea of talking together, and doing so with no preconceived need to "get somewhere" or "solve something" is very powerful.

Sometimes we just need to talk.

And that's where today's podcast recording comes in.  I learned so much from just speaking with and listening to my colleagues on the other end of the line.

And the best part?

That learning didn't have to be tied to anything.

It was just learning that could be grabbed out of the air, processed on my time, and done with as I please.

Sometimes, we need a bit of "free-form" learning, learning that isn't tied to a benchmark or goal that we've set for ourselves (or that is set for us).  And often, to experience that free-form learning, we have to be willing to talk amongst ourselves, and truly learn from each other.