“I’m not ready,” “I lack the experience,” “I’m just not good enough.” These phrases are classic examples of self-limiting beliefs, deeply toxic ideas that restrict us from achieving our goals in both work and life. But what are self-limiting beliefs? At their core, they’re negative perceptions we hold about ourselves, shaped by past experiences, societal expectations, family values, or even messages we absorb through media and social platforms.

Fail fast. Fail forward. It’s a strategy and approach many leaders take.

But many leaders talk a big game about failing fast, but undermine themselves (and their teams) when failure does occur.

AI and massive technology-driven change is upon us. It’s not slowing down. It’s upending every part of how we work and what we work on.

The only way to survive, and dare I say thrive is to continue to learn and grow.

But, how do we find time to learn and grow when free time is non-existent? Time has become a nearly extinct resource.

“Darren, you're all replaceable,” I was once told by a very senior executive at a previous corporate job. It was a blunt reality check early in my career. The comment stunned me, but it taught me the importance of not letting others control my career.

So I started doing things differently with the goal of becoming irreplaceable.

Most of us are cogs in a hyper-optimized business machine. I know I was early in my career. I needed my colleagues in product, marketing, and technology to deliver any real business impact.

So how can individuals and companies avoid the trap of becoming and building a workforce of cogs? Below are some of the themes and focus areas we infuse into our manager training programs.

Much in business is out of our control. Creating a culture of learning can help your team and company take control back and adapt to changes that take place—both internally and externally.

I recently interviewed Amy Crum, senior director of commercial sales at Proofpoint, for my next book, The Savage Manager. One of the areas we explored was how to create a culture of learning with your team. Below are a few “how to” tips that were inspired by our conversation.