Stop Being a Dinosaur: Why Education Is the Backbone of Great Leadership
- Dr. Tomi Mitchell
- Sep 4
- 6 min read
We are living in 2025, not 1925. So why are so many people in leadership positions acting like stiff-necked dinosaurs stuck in a tar pit of outdated ideas?
If you’re allergic to growth, terrified of questions, and convinced that your degree from the 1900s makes you untouchable, I’ve got news for you:
You are not leading. You’re just... in the way.
Education Is a Requirement for Leadership—Full Stop.
Education is not a luxury, a phase, or a checkmark on your resume. It’s a non-negotiable foundation for leadership.
But I’m not just talking about degrees. (Though shoutout to my fellow nerds who loved lecture halls more than clubs.)
Let’s talk about what education is—and what it isn’t.
What Education IS:
A lifelong process of discovery and growth
The courage to say, "I don't know, but I want to learn"
The ability to think critically and contextually
An invitation to dialogue, not just download
A strategy for evolving as a human, not just a worker
What Education is NOT:
A dusty diploma sitting in a fancy frame
An echo chamber of yes-men
Groupthink disguised as corporate culture
Memorizing facts and vomiting them up on cue
Some elitist badge of honour that exempts you from evolving
Education doesn’t end when the tassel turns. If anything, that’s when the real work begins.
My Mission: Educate. Empower. Transform.
In everything I do—from coaching CEOs to giving keynotes to running my businesses—my mission is simple:
Educate. Empower. Transform.
Because when you truly understand something, you can’t stay the same. Real education is disruptive. It rattles you. It challenges you. And then? It sets you free.
I don’t teach from theory alone. I teach from life—from heartbreak, burnout, rebuilding, over a decade in medicine, trauma-informed coaching, books, history, and late-night note-taking—just because I love it.
And leaders? That hunger to grow? That willingness to learn even when no one is testing you? That’s where greatness begins.
7 Things That Happen When You Stop Learning and Start Zombie-Leading
You knew this was coming. Buckle up. Because if you're stuck in neutral, here's what could be waiting for you:
1. You Become the Fool Everyone Sees Coming
When you stop learning, you stop evolving—and trust me, everyone around you can tell. You may still hold the title and park in the reserved spot, but the people on your team? They’ve already clocked that you’re outdated, out of touch, and unwilling to adapt. Your decision-making becomes stale, your strategies predictable, and your leadership presence more performative than impactful.
Leaders who don’t educate themselves are like open books with outdated pages. You're easy to read, easy to fool, and ultimately easy to dismiss. In a world where innovation is moving faster than ever, standing still is the same as falling behind. The information gap grows quickly; before you know it, you're the last to the party—and everyone’s already laughing about your outfit.
2. You Become Boring
Let’s be honest: no one wants to follow a leader stuck in a mental beige zone. You know the type—same speech, same “back in my day” stories, same painful meeting cadence.
Curiosity is magnetic. Research from Harvard Business Review found that curiosity in leadership enhances team engagement and trust. It fosters an environment where asking “why not?” becomes just as common as asking “what’s next?”
But when leaders stop asking questions and start assuming they’ve “seen it all,” they lose the ability to energize their teams. You’re no longer the spark. You’re the static.
And when the energy dies, so does innovation.
3. You Get Played
When you're not sharp, emotionally intelligent, or educated about the nuances of human behaviour, you're the first one to get manipulated.
That charming team member who always agrees with your outdated ideas? They’re not loyal—they’re strategic. And because you’ve stopped sharpening your emotional intelligence, you’re easy to manipulate. You mistake flattery for respect. Echoes for alignment.
According to Tasha Eurich’s work on self-awareness, only 10–15% of people are self-aware, despite 95% believing they are. That means most leaders are walking around unaware of their blind spots. If you’re not investing in developing emotional insight, you’re the mark, not the mastermind.
Zombie leaders are easy to control. They’re too proud to ask questions and out of touch to realize they’re being handled.
4. You Destroy Morale Without Even Trying
Culture flows from the top down. When the person at the top stops growing, everyone else coasts. The message? “Staying the same is good enough here.” That message is cultural poison.
A Gallup report on employee engagement found that managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. Translation? Your mindset matters more than your mission statement. If you stop modelling growth, your team stops believing in progress. And the silent exodus begins: first in motivation, then productivity, then in actual resignations.
Pizza parties won’t fix what your stagnation broke. Morale isn't about perks—it’s about purpose. And purpose dies in a learning vacuum.
5. Your Health Takes a Hit
Think it’s just about your team? Think again.
Mental stagnation isn’t just bad for business—it’s bad for your brain. Studies show that ongoing intellectual stimulation supports cognitive health, reduces stress, and protects against neurodegenerative disease. Leaders who stop learning often experience burnout, not because of the workload, but because of the monotony and lack of challenge.
When you stop challenging yourself intellectually, you don’t just get bored—you get tired. Not physically, but existentially. That creeping feeling of burnout, the sense of being “stuck,” the midlife fog—it’s not always about working too much. Sometimes, it’s about not learning enough.
Your brain is built for growth. When you deprive it of stimulation, it starts sending distress signals—in the form of fatigue, anxiety, insomnia, and even physical illness.
6. You Miss the Future
Let me be blunt: the future will not pause while you get comfortable.
Everything is moving: new tech, shifting values, AI, and generational workforce changes. Continuous reinvention is not just a competitive edge—it’s a survival skill.
Still relying on leadership playbooks from 2015? That’s like trying to stream Netflix on a flip phone. You’re not leading in the present—you’re clinging to a past that no longer exists.
Learning is the only way to keep up. You don’t need to be a futurist. But you must be a student of technology, people, markets, and most of all, yourself. Otherwise, you become a well-dressed liability.
7. You Become the Cautionary Tale
We’ve all met that leader. You know the one. Once brilliant, now bitter. Used to command rooms—now people roll their eyes when they speak. Still clinging to their corner office while the organization tiptoes around them.
At one point, they mattered. But then they stopped evolving. They thought experience was a replacement for learning. They confused tenure with relevance. And now? They’re being gently phased out—if not by leadership, then by reality.
You don’t want to be the lesson. You want to be the legacy. But that means staying relevant, informed, and—yes—humble. The minute you think you’ve arrived is when you start your decline. Don’t become the case study people use in leadership workshops about what not to do.
Be Bold, Not Bitter. Be Evolving, Not Extinct.
If this article is making you squirm—good.
Discomfort is the prelude to growth. And growth is what the best leaders do every single day.
So, how do you stay sharp?
Listen to audiobooks and podcasts while commuting or working out
Read widely—not just leadership books, but memoirs, history, science, philosophy
Take online or in-person courses
Join mastermind groups or communities that challenge your thinking
Hire a coach who won’t let you coast (yes, I do that)
Mentor and be mentored—both ways stretch you
Seek conversations with people who disagree with you
Do whatever it takes to keep that brain alive.
And for the love of everything, stop leading like you already know it all. You don’t. I don’t. Nobody does.
Final Thoughts from Your Favourite No-Fluff Leadership Strategist
Look, I don’t write this to be harsh. I write this because I care.
We need better leaders. Not louder ones. Not more credentialed ones. Wiser ones. Reflective ones. Brave enough to say, “I don’t know—but I want to learn.”
The best leaders are learners first. The best cultures are built by people who are growing, not coasting. The best organizations are led by people who read, reflect, and respond to the world as it changes.
So, education isn't optional if you want to future-proof your leadership, impact, and sanity. It’s non-negotiable.
And if you want someone who can help you stay sharp, cut the fluff, and lead with real emotional intelligence? Let’s talk. I offer individual and team coaching, with flexible support tiers.
Because guess what? You can evolve without losing your edge.
That’s how you keep it.
Keep strong. Keep learning. And for the love of leadership, stop being a dinosaur.
With sass, strategy, and smarts,
Dr. Tomi Mitchell
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