“Formal education is a walk through the zoo, informal learning is a walk through the savannah.” ―Stephen W Hart
People acquire knowledge from multiple sources, including reading, teaching, training, interaction, experience, and observation. Some people acquire leadership skills through formal learning, while others acquire them through informal learning. We will discuss and differentiate between them.
Formal versus Informal Learning
The formal learning method equips people with basic concepts and aspects and offers a blueprint for them to learn leadership. The informal learning method teaches several lessons because it involves lots of practical challenges. People ask me which is more important? Both are essential to learning the ropes of leadership―one teaches theory while the other trains practically. The learning ratio can be divided into 25 percent formal learning and 75 percent informal learning, approximately. When you look at inspiring leaders, including Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela, they excelled as leaders mostly through informal learning. Informal learning matters more than formal learning in acquiring leadership skills and abilities.
Having theoretical knowledge helps people make fewer mistakes and provides a mental blueprint to build leadership skills. When you practice, you understand the real challenges. You adapt and take some deviations to learn the ropes of leadership. If the challenges are more, the journey to leadership learning is more effective. Hardships offer valuable development experiences to excel as an effective leader. To excel as a resilient and effective leader, you must accept challenging roles and responsibilities; and to grow as a successful leader, you must accept line roles and responsibilities instead of staff roles and responsibilities in the workplace.
Formal learning happens consciously, while informal learning happens unconsciously through observation, interactions, and experiences. Formal learning equips you with knowledge, skills, and abilities, while informal learning helps you test them practically. In formal training, there are tests to ensure takeaways and feedback to improve, whereas in informal training, there is no such feedback except intrapersonal feedback, which may not be effective. Formal learning gives you a scholarly perspective, while informal learning gives you a practitioner perspective.
Informal Learning in My Personal Life
My inspiration is Abraham Lincoln, who was self-taught and excelled as an inspiring leader through his informal learning rather than formal learning. In a Lincoln style, I learned several aspects through informal learning after I joined the Indian Air Force when I was 18 years old. I continued my education through private courses and self-study in the military and acquired several qualifications, including DME, BSc, MA, PGDCLL, PGDBM, and MBA. I finally acquired my Ph.D. in Soft Skills in 2011 after I left the Indian Air Force. I acquired leadership skills mostly from reading books; synthesizing knowledge, observing others, and overcoming challenges through grit and determination.
Leadership is mostly learned rather than taught. It requires immense passion to excel as a leader. The adversities and challenges help people evolve into great leaders. Remember, you cannot become a crack shot unless you lose some ammunition.
Formal learning and informal learning methods bring forth the debate about whether leaders are born or bred. Leaders are born and bred because some are inborn talents, while some are acquired skills. Similarly, both formal and informal methods of learning help excel as effective and successful leaders. To conclude, formal learning helps acquire leadership skills to a minor extent, and informal learning helps acquire leadership skills to a major extent.
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