It's always fun to dive back into old content and to rediscover new aspects. It's even better when you take the old knowledge and connect it to new knowledge. It is the intersection of getting better at what you know and testing yourself with something new that sets the stage for better performance.

That was one of my takeaways when a new book I'm reading ("Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change") bumped into an old book we were recently teaching.

One interesting takeaway from "Influencer" is what separates good performers from great performers.

Great performers perfect standard aspects of their work through repetition and critique -- basketball players shooting free throws who stop every few shots to evaluate their form become better free throw shooters than those who just stand at the line and take shot after shot without thought.

Great performers also integrate new learning into their repertoire. Great ice skaters push themselves with new jumps, turns and techniques. Good ones spend all of their time on the ice perfecting what they're already good at.

So, Theran and I spent a half-day with a small team of fundraising professionals from Virginia Commonwealth University. The participants had just read the book "Leadership and Self-Deception" and we were taking them through a fast-paced exploration of the eye-opening book.

We framed the day around three core concepts, two of which were built on the book:

1. Effective leadership is about self-awareness and effective influencing.
2. Your way of being has a direct impact on your ability to effectively influence.
3. Where you spend your leadership (time and energy) will either hold you back or propel you forward.

In our collective examination of the book and its key metaphors, new perspectives emerged on material I thought I knew well. Just blowing through the content without thought would help us be good performers -- it is only by deepening our understanding of what we think we already know that we become more expert, more excellent.

Being resistant to new learning, especially around things we already believe we know, is a hidden theme in "Leadership and Self-Deception". It's called living with your heart at war. It's corollary is to live with a heart at peace, being open to others and to deepening your understanding.

Living with a heart at peace is hard work. But it sure beats living with a heart at war, always in conflict and acting in clear betrayal to what we know is right. Or denying ourselves the opportunity to be great.