Digital transformation: what does it take to become a digital leader?
Digital transformation is not just about investing in the right technology – it’s also about harnessing the right skills and encouraging employees to think in new ways. Digital disruption is changing the workplace as we know it but people’s skills and thinking aren’t necessarily keeping pace. It’s a big challenge for employees — who […]
Video: great leaders guide rather than direct
What makes a great leader, asks John Wagner? He shares an example of a great boss who has shaped his leadership style. “Reflect back on the good bosses you’ve had and why they were good: why did you feel you really wanted to go to work and work harder and do the right job for […]
Business after Brexit: four leadership lessons for uncertain times from military and sporting heroes
The tumultuous trading environment that Brexit has created means strong leadership is more important than ever before. Business leaders should look to the worlds of sport and the military for lessons on how to keep a level head in times of uncertainty. It is a difficult time to be a business leader and, as Brexit […]
Leadership: why effective change management requires a new leadership structure
Most people say they love to change but hate doing so. In order to facilitate effective change, leadership teams need to step up and be the change they want to see. Change is constant in business life. No longer can people or organisations prepare for change, make a special effort then return to previous norms. […]
Tuesday Insight: Treat me like a child and…
I’ll behave like one. One of the most useful tools for reviewing behaviours, particularly our own, is perhaps Transactional Analysis. It’s a beautifully simple model that learners can grasp quickly and easily relate to. In very simple terms, it identifies behaviours we adopt as Parent, Adult or Child. Parent behaviour can be Controlling or Nurturing, […]
Getting Your Team Stoked for L&D Success
As a leader and guiding force of your company, you likely have all the usual sound reasons for implementing programs of learning and development. For the health of your business, a focus on training rather than hiring employees is key. When you consider that it can cost up to nine months of an employee’s salary […]
The Leadership Contract: developing inspirational leaders through accountability
Why are so many mediocre leaders running businesses today? And how can we transform these ineffective leaders into highly accountable, driven and inspirational powerhouses? We spoke to business strategist and CrossKnowledge faculty member Vince Molinaro about how his ‘Leadership Contract’ seeks to achieve this mission. To begin, could you tell us where your passion and […]
Skills training: why the distinction between soft and hard skills no longer matters
The line is blurring between soft and hard skills, so is it time we came up with a new way of thinking about how we train employees? Appreciation for soft skills always lagged behind the status of technical qualifications and, in the past, those who specialised in the training of soft skills might not have […]
How to become a new learning leader through stakeholder support
What does it take to be an effective leader in an evolving learning organisation? And how can Heads of L&D truly flourish through stakeholder support? It has been over 30 years since I had a career change and entered the mesmerising world of L&D. Back then I was a VM Instructor for IBM, working in […]
Stories, Leadership and Trust
Amongst the brilliant sessions at our first Discovery Day in London was one from Andrew Kitton about creating compelling stories. My action point from the session was to use the approach to write this week’s blog. So, here goes. The point I wanted to make is that leadership is about letting go and trusting others. […]
Three benefits of peer-to-peer learning
Employee-to-employee – or peer-to-peer learning – is something that’s increasingly important in today’s workforce. It’s a great way of developing skillsets, and can be done in-house with all the necessary tools to hand. But, why are more organisations still not utilising its power? Given the ‘war for talent’ is a never-ending fight, businesses have to […]
How to get businesses on board with learning and development
Many businesses are failing to invest in employee training for a variety of reasons, but this can prove a costly mistake. Here are the four most common objections to investing in learning and development and how to challenge them. A third of businesses in the UK do not offer their employees any time for training […]
Learning at work: can procrastination ever be a good thing?
Procrastination is often viewed as a negative thing – an obstacle to effective working – but that’s because many people aren’t doing it right. Done properly, procrastination has the potential to actually make your work better. In our ‘always on’ world, we have super-fast internet, time-savings apps and intelligent tech that helps businesses streamline processes and cut […]
Featured content
What can L&D professionals learn from the world of branding to help develop great leaders?
How can L&D support leaders with building a strong, authentic brand? Lisa Gillespie, Head of Learning & Development Services at Make Business, explores four key marketing principles to ensure branding success. Picture the scene. You’re dealing with yet another iteration of change. And with this comes the demand from the top. We need our leaders […]
Selecting training providers: why pilots don’t teach medicine to doctors
Too many organisations prioritise cost when selecting training providers, but there are many other factors to take into account when assessing suitability. Ignore them at your peril… Difficult though it may be for those around me to believe (since I have no six-pack or beach volleyball prowess like Tom Cruise in Top Gun), I was […]
Video: putting John Adair’s leadership theory into action
John O’Brien says using an Action Centred Leadership approach to focus on the team, the task and the individual is as relevant today as it’s always been. In this video John O’Brien explains how using John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership model helped him turn a failing business around: “About 30 years ago, when I was […]
The new dawn for L&D: from catalogues to consultancy, programmes to partnership
As an L&D profession, we seem to be having a bit of an identity crisis. The conversation has not moved on from an all too familiar theme of perceived relevance or otherwise of L&D functions in the workplace. These discussions are not only about how we are relevant, but if we are relevant. Aspects of […]
The bare necessities of business: animal instincts and leadership success
The old saying goes ‘it’s a jungle out there’ – but can we really learn more about leadership in business from nature documentaries? David Attenborough’s latest five-part BBC documentary series, Dynasties followed the lives of five of the world’s most extraordinary and endangered species – chimpanzees, emperor penguins, lions, painted wolves and tigers. The show’s […]
Look upwards! Why L&D must shift its focus towards building the right learning environment
In 1936 the psychologist Kurt Lewin published a simple formula that became known as Lewin’s equation. He stated that B = f(P,E). What did Lewin mean by this? It is so simple, yet so profound. What he is saying is that behaviour is a function of both the individual’s performance and the environment in which […]
