Who teaches us to become better persons?

I was recently asked an interesting question:

“From whom or what do you learn and grow more as a person?”

The choices were simple: peers, boss, priest, parents, teachers, millionaires or books.

My answer?

All the above. But it depends on the situation, the stage of life and the lesson we need to learn.

After years of education, public service, business, leadership and community involvement, I have realised that no single

teacher can teach us everything.

Life is a classroom and almost everyone we encounter can become our teacher.

Parents: Our first teachers

Our parents are usually our first teachers.

Before we understand theories, management or leadership, they teach us the fundamentals of life — respect, discipline,

responsibility, perseverance and compassion.

Much of what we become is influenced by what we observe at home.

Sometimes parents teach through words. More often, they teach through sacrifice and example.

As we grow older, we may forget what our parents told us. But we rarely forget what they showed us.

Teachers: Opening the door to knowledge

Teachers taught me another important lesson: education is not merely about collecting qualifications; it is about developing

the capacity to think.

My educational journey from diploma to degree, master’s and eventually a PhD taught me that learning does not end with a

certificate.

In fact, the more we learn, the more we realise how much we do not know.

A good teacher does not simply give us answers.

A good teacher teaches us how to ask better questions.

Bosses: Learning through responsibility

During my years in public service, I learned from bosses and leaders.

Some taught me through their strengths. Others taught me through their weaknesses.

A good boss demonstrates professionalism, fairness, decisiveness and responsibility.

A difficult boss can teach us something equally valuable: what kind of leader we should not become.

Leadership is not learned entirely from books. We learn by observing how people exercise authority, make decisions, treat

others and respond when things go wrong.

Peers: The mirror around us

Our peers are another source of learning.

When we interact with colleagues, friends, business associates and community leaders, we encounter different ways of

thinking and doing things.

Some inspire us. Some challenge us. Some disagree with us. And some frustrate us!

But even disagreement can be educational.

Our peers become a kind of mirror, helping us see our strengths, weaknesses, assumptions and blind spots.

Priests: Teaching us what success cannot buy

There is another kind of learning — the learning of the heart.

Priests and spiritual mentors remind us that life is not measured only by income, position, influence or achievements.

We need values to guide our success.

Faith teaches us humility, forgiveness, compassion, service and responsibility.

We can accumulate wealth and still be poor in spirit. We can hold a high position and still lack wisdom.

Therefore, spiritual guidance reminds us of a fundamental question:

“What kind of person are we becoming?”

Millionaires: Learning the language of possibility

What about millionaires?

I believe there is much we can learn from successful people but we should look beyond their money.

Study their journey.

How did they create value? How did they handle failure? How did they take risks, build teams and recover from setbacks?

We should not simply admire someone’s destination.

We should study the road that brought them there.

Money is not the ultimate measure of success. The lesson is understanding how a person creates value and uses success responsibly.

Books: The teachers we can carry anywhere

And then there are books.

Books allow us to borrow the experiences of people we may never meet.

Through books, we can learn from great thinkers, leaders, scientists and writers. We can learn from their victories and, more

importantly, from their mistakes without repeating them.

A library is essentially a room full of teachers waiting patiently for us.

Books do not demand our attention. We have to choose to open them.

But there is one more teacher

After all these years, I would add one more answer:

Life.

Life has been my most unpredictable teacher.

Public service taught me responsibility.

Business taught me adaptability.

Leadership taught me that people are complex.

Community work taught me that development is not only about infrastructure but also about people.

Challenges taught me resilience.

Failures taught me humility.

Success taught me gratitude.

Difficult experiences taught me that sometimes the greatest lessons come wrapped in circumstances we would never have

chosen.

I have also learned that the same teacher can teach us different lessons at different stages of life.

When we are young, a boss may teach us how to work. Later, leadership may teach us how to lead. Eventually, experience

may teach us how to serve.

The lesson changes because we change.

What do we do with what we learn?

Perhaps we should not only ask, “Who has taught me the most?”

We should also ask:

“What have I done with what I have learned?”

Knowledge becomes meaningful only when it changes the way we think, act and treat others.

There is little value in having certificates without wisdom.

There is little value in wealth if we cannot use it to create value for others.

There is little value in holding a position if we cannot use our influence to serve.

Learning should not merely make us more knowledgeable. It should make us more useful, humble and human.

So, who teaches us the most?

My answer remains:

All the above depends on the situation.

Parents teach us values.

Teachers teach us knowledge.

Bosses teach us responsibility.

Peers teach us through interaction.

Priests teach us spiritual and moral values.

Successful people teach us about possibilities.

Books teach us through accumulated human experience.

And life brings these lessons together.

Perhaps the greatest mistake we can make is to believe that we have already learned enough.

I believe we should remain students throughout our lives.

Every person we meet can teach us something. Every experience can leave a lesson. Every failure can contain wisdom.

Every success can carry responsibility.

So, wherever we are and whatever position we hold, let us keep our minds open.

Because the moment we think we have nothing more to learn from others, we may already have stopped growing.

Perhaps that is the real meaning of lifelong learning:

We don’t simply learn to become more knowledgeable.

We learn to become better human beings.

The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune. The writer can be reached at [email protected]