Here's the thing about experience: it can make you confident or it can make you curious. I chose curious.
After 15 years in operations and sales, I pursued certifications in Lean Six Sigma and strategic management. Not because I didn't know my job. But because I knew enough to realize how much I didn't know.
Certifications taught me frameworks I could apply across different contexts. They connected dots I hadn't seen before. They challenged assumptions I'd built over years. Most importantly, they reminded me that the industry keeps evolving, and I needed to evolve with it.
The best leaders I know are perpetual students. They've transcended the "I know my industry" phase and entered the "I'm learning to see my industry differently" phase. That's where real growth happens.
Experience without learning hardens into rigidity. Learning keeps you relevant, adaptable, and dangerous in the best way.