The Leadership Skill We Rarely Teach: Unlearning

Early in my career as an elementary teacher, an unexpected challenge emerged: helping students unlearn strategies that once worked but were no longer effective.  Math lessons often revealed familiar habits such as counting on fingers. That approach helped students build confidence and understand numbers during early arithmetic. Greater complexity in mathematical thinking eventually turned that helpful strategy into a limitation. New strategies appeared in lessons—visual models, number relationships, and mental math. Many students still returned to familiar methods because those approaches felt safe and predictable.

Progress required patience, encouragement, and repeated opportunities to try something new. Gradually, students began experimenting with different ways to think about numbers. Confidence grew not only because new skills developed, but because old habits loosened their grip.

An important lesson emerged from those early experiences.

Teaching is not only about helping people learn.  Teaching also involves helping them unlearn.

Years later, leadership development and organizational coaching revealed the same pattern.  Professional challenges rarely stem from a lack of intelligence or effort. Familiar strategies, assumptions, and routines often persist long after their usefulness fades.  Learning drives progress.  Unlearning creates the space for it.

Rooted in Purpose

Purpose clarifies why unlearning matters.

Clear purpose encourages individuals to question habits that may no longer support their goals. Lack of purpose often leads people to default to familiar routines simply because those routines feel comfortable.  Classroom learning always pointed toward deeper mathematical thinking. Consistent reinforcement of that goal helped students become more open to new strategies.

Organizational environments operate in a similar way. Leaders who anchor teams in a shared purpose—improving outcomes, strengthening collaboration, or serving clients more effectively—help people view change as progress rather than disruption.

Purpose motivates the release of outdated approaches.

Guided by People

Unlearning remains a deeply human process.

Habits, routines, and mental models often connect closely to confidence and identity. Requests for change can therefore feel risky, even when improvement is the goal. Leadership guided by people recognizes this reality. Curiosity replaces criticism when leaders listen carefully and ask thoughtful questions. Dialogue invites reflection, and reflection opens the door to discovery.

Students once needed reassurance that experimenting with a new strategy would not lead to embarrassment or failure. Professionals benefit from the same psychological safety.

Respect and encouragement increase the willingness to reconsider familiar ways of thinking.

Dialogue supports the process of unlearning.

Informed by Data

People drive change, but data provides direction.

Formative assessments once revealed when strategies no longer supported student learning. Patterns in student work highlighted where adjustments were needed and which new approaches improved understanding. Organizational environments benefit from similar signals. Performance indicators, engagement surveys, and feedback loops reveal whether current practices truly support desired outcomes. Data strengthens conversations about improvement.

Evidence reduces defensiveness and shifts focus toward learning. Teams can move away from protecting old approaches and toward discovering more effective ones.

Evidence reinforces the process of unlearning.

Making Space for Growth

Change rarely feels comfortable. Letting go of familiar strategies can introduce uncertainty and hesitation. Growth often begins in that uncomfortable space.

Classrooms and organizations share a common truth. Progress requires releasing what once worked in order to discover what works better now.

Learning moves individuals and teams forward. Unlearning makes that movement possible.

Which habit, assumption, or routine may no longer support your growth or your team’s success?  What new possibilities might appear if you allowed yourself to let it go?