If you had to walk through a mine field, would you rather be the first or last? I’m not sure about you, but I’m picking last. This is always an interesting way to think about the learning process and the best ways to learn. Throughout our careers we must be constantly learning and growing or else we may always stay at the same level or position in life. As we here at BLASTmedia are always striving to secure national media coverage for our clients, we must always be striving to learn how to become more efficient and proficient at our media relations activities. Yesterday’s monthly group session here at BLAST got me thinking about how much we truly can learn from others, as well as how much we can learn from teaching others.

They say, “experience is the best teacher” – but I beg to differ. Someone else’s experience is the best teacher. So often we trudge through life and our work never taking the time to look around, ask others questions, and learn from those who have experienced more than we have (or at least different experiences than we’ve had). If we take the time to learn from others, we are constantly growing and moving forward in our lives. Nearly every day, I learn another “tip of the trade” or another way to streamline my day by working with others around me.

At BLASTmedia, we don’t believe it should be only the individual’s responsibility to pursue education, but as a company. We take the time to foster learning by having a mentorship program, pairing veteran representatives with junior reps to help guide and teach them every step along the way. We also hold monthly group sessions where we teach on certain topics that pertain to our daily activities, client relations, media outreach, etc. These monthly meetings eventually turn into great discussions where everyone can contribute on how they achieve their daily/weekly/monthly goals. Some of the best ideas don’t always come from the veterans either – which shows you that you can learn from ANYONE!

American humorist, writer and television journalist, Sam Levenson, once said, “you must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.” I believe this to be so very true. We must constantly be learning to move forward in our careers, and in life. What do you do to continue learning your trade?

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