I was on the escalator at the Dallas Convention Center when my phone buzzed. This time of the year, I am generally preoccupied with ASTD’s International Conference and Expo (ICE). And this year was no exception. For me, ICE is an opportunity to recharge my occupational batteries, network with colleagues, and tap into the latest thinking on organizational learning, as well as share through my own presentations.

So, as the escalator descended to the lower floor, I whipped the phone out of my pocket to see a cheery message from my wife: “Happy birthday!” Oops, I’d forgotten it was my birthday.

I do actually forget my birthday a lot. And many years it falls in the middle of ICE, which is kind of appropriate.

We Get Old When We Stop Learning

Early in my broadcasting career, a sprightly man of 83 with sparkling eyes said to me, “You only get old when you stop learning.” Attending the world’s premier learning event on my birthday seemed just right if I didn’t want to get old.

One of the challenges we as learning professionals continue to face is the demand to keep learning. Even for those of us who love to learn, it’s kind of like a marathon. Exhilarating, but hard work.

Indeed, learning takes and energy and focus. Especially when so much in our world is changing and we have to be up on the latest trends, technologies, cultural shifts, and mindsets. Our roles—within our organizations and with clients—demands that we lead much of that change. And this requires a combination of learning and innovation skills. These are skills not everyone has.

Learning Professionals Must Be Professional Learners

As learning professionals, however, we’re well equipped. As much as we use our skills to help others learn, we also need to use those same skills to ensure we keep learning. I tell my staff that back when I was a learning executive, “learning professionals were considered professional learners.”

So, my wife’s text message got me thinking. How professional am I? As a learning professional, what am I learning right now? What am I doing to exercise the “learning muscle?”

This year is a “little” birthday year whereas last year was a “big” one. And believe it or not, I was ICE and I did remember it. We celebrated at my favorite Maryland crab shack by the water in the sunshine. And on that “big” birthday I vowed to re-learn the piano—an instrument I hadn’t played seriously since I was 18. My personal pledge was to re-learn some Chopin and Mozart.

Are We Using Our Toolkit for Ourselves?

So far, I’m doing well. Exercising my brain to reconnect to old memories. Had I not had good music teachers in my youth, I would not be able to re-learn as much as I had. But had I not learned to learn, I am certain I would be struggling. But now, as a professional learner, I have a toolkit to process the learning and take steps to remember and apply it.

As I think about the young man of 83 who told me that you only get old when you stop learning, I wonder how we as learning professional inspire the people we serve...our organizations and clients. More important, how often do we use our own toolkit on ourselves?

Do We Model Learning?

Do our clients see us continuing to learn? Or do they just seeing us getting older? Do we show them that it’s safe to learn and actually necessary to keep learning to shape the future?

Modeling the skills of learning is perhaps one of the best gifts we can give to our organizations. Not in a self-indulgent way in which looks like we’re never in the office and others think we’re always at fancy conferences in exotic locations. I mean modeling learning a more dynamic and practical way that shows how our own learning helps drive the organization. Demonstrating that we are vulnerable and ready to learn like tomorrow’s workforce needs to be.

I can’t help but wonder if in our workplaces we set ourselves up as the learned rather than the learners. And if we do, we’re going to get old really fast. For our organizations and clients to grow, we must make our personal learning a priority as we help our colleagues learn too.

You know, I’m guest blogging this month on ASTD’s Learning Technologies Community blog. So, you may be wondering what this blog post has to do with technology. I suppose I’m simply using my birthday to celebrate learning—because, first and foremost, I’m a learning professional who uses technology to help people learn. I am not a technologist who uses learning as an excuse to foist technology on people. (OK, that’s hyperbolic but you know what I mean.)

It’s my hope that despite another year rolling over, I’m not getting older—for my sake, for my clients, and for the profession.