Imagine any scenario in which one of your employees needs to learn something, and you might guess that their first instinct will be to search the internet for relevant material. They put keywords into the search bar, hit enter, and instantly receive thousands of hits that might be useful. Yikes! They may start skimming over [...]
There is no doubt that interpersonal connections are critical to growth and innovation. Part of the origin story for Silicon Valley is a belief that many of the groundbreaking innovations born there were made possible by the close proximity of all those tech companies, which enabled employees in separate companies to interact with one another. [...]
As more employees work fully or partially remote on a permanent basis, leaders will need to step up in the ways that they connect people so that learning can thrive. As they say, that’s it – that’s the tweet. But since this is a blog, I’ll expand… One story of many I’m sure you can [...]
When you recall some of the most intense learning experiences of your working life, they are often associated with some big project or assignment that was at the edge of your comfort zone. Challenges are exciting – the work is new, you learn quickly and deeply, and the reward for success is great. But challenges [...]
One of the ways leaders coach others is by example – by demonstrating skills and attitudes. Often, you can show expertise in technical skills to people coming up behind you. But even if you don’t have your team’s full skill set, you can role model many other important skills – being a lifelong learner, acting [...]
I suspect I’m going to regret choosing “coach” as the catch-all title for developmental moves that introduce and hone knowledge and skill. It has a lot of different connotations. For some, coaching has a specific meaning related to providing a one-on-one counseling/consulting service meant to guide senior leaders and organizations. As Josh Bersin pointed out [...]
You know me, I’m all about learning. But in her new book, Julie Winkle Giulioni makes a compelling argument that when employees say they want career growth, there are many possible means to that end – and learning is only one of them. Giulioni’s conceptualization of the dimensions of career development implies that we need [...]
If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. ~ Yogi Berra When setting out to encourage development of a member of your team, moves to clarify are often an important place to start. Clarity is needed in order to contextualize all your developmental moves and keep the your desired [...]
In the wake of all the disruptions and workplace changes precipitated by the pandemic, employees are looking for more from their employers. They want flexibility, of course, but they are also expecting a more humanistic management style. Employees want to contribute in a meaningful way, and they want to grow their knowledge and skill. While [...]
In my work on self-directed learning, I have aimed to support people whose learning projects need a plan. I provide guidance on how to engage a self-directed learning process in a deliberate way so you can efficiently and effectively satisfy your deeper and longer-term learning needs. But (as I have discussed before) that’s not always [...]