The Apprentice Mindset: Leading Through Learning
Listening and learning
"We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less."
I can’t be certain of the exact attribution - ancient Greek in origin, possibly Diogenes - and perhaps it says something more about my childhood than anything else, but it’s always been a great reminder of the importance of listening. Not just hearing - that’s the physiological process of detecting sound - but truly listening. Listening to understand, and to learn.
In the early days of my apprenticeship, I stood alongside twenty others who, like me, had successfully navigated the selection process and were eager to shape their futures. Each of us came from different backgrounds and had chosen different trades - Electrical, Mechanical, Fabrication, Joinery, Painting - but we shared the same drive: to learn, to test ourselves, and to enjoy the process.
For the first twenty weeks, those of us in the Electrical and Mechanical group spent long days at the workbench, filing and shaping blocks of metal by hand before moving to the lathes to hone each piece with precision. Our goal was simple: to craft an air-driven engine - small in size, but demanding in the care and skill it required.
Each of us worked individually, refining our own pieces, but collaboration was never far away. We shared notes, traded advice, and helped one another, working as a team to keep moving forward. While there was friendly competition to see whose engine would run the smoothest, and the fastest, there was a deeper, unspoken understanding that we were learning together.
I still have the engine I built in those early months. It’s a quiet reminder of where the journey began - and of the lessons that continue to guide me today: that skills are honed through persistence, that teamwork amplifies individual effort, and that curiosity - the willingness to listen, to learn, to ask, to refine - is what ultimately drives progress.
It’s a simple idea, but one that has shaped how I think about leadership ever since: listening carefully, learning continuously, staying curious.
Over time, these habits became the foundation for how I navigate complexity - and they continue to guide me today. I often find myself remembering the ratio: two ears, one mouth.
