Leadership Development

HOW TO GET DIGITAL LEARNING RESULTS: Pay Attention!

/in Digital Learning, Leadership Development, Trends/by

Neon exclamation point

Would you invest in a digital program that got 93% participation?  What about an 89% completion rate?

And what if it yielded consistently high engagement throughout the program?
‘Great!’ you say, but how?

The answer is simple: pay attention.  

Pay attention to:    #1  the person       #2  what matters      #3  the data

Learn all about this success story by clicking to participate in our 2/27 webinar.

Organizations are moving towards more digital learning. In our global organizations, distributed teams and the need to scale learning, the digital solution seems like the answer. But how can organizations overcome some of the downsides of traditional digital delivery such as lack of participation, engagement and completion?  The answer is to focus on what engages and motivates learning in real life, connection and application to real challenges. I know, because I made it happen.

One of the benefits of digital learning is the vast amount of raw data on usage it provides in real time.  Sadly, broad-scale digital learning gets lackluster results. Academic MOOCs have an abysmal completion rate of 3-15%. Engagement drops 90% by the end of the course. And only 30% of people sign up for another catalogue course. It is therefore not surprising that organizations are hesitant to invest in going digital.

Would you invest in a program that got 93% participation?  What about an 89% completion rate? And maintained consistently high engagement throughout the program? ‘Great!’ you say, but how? The answer is simple: pay attention. What increases engagement and motivation in the digital space is the same thing that matters in life. People want to feel a connection and want to feel what they are doing makes a difference. I recently achieved these results with a client, you can see the results in our case study or watch our webinar.

#1 Pay attention to the person:

The best digital platforms have multiple ways to interact with the user and draw them in. You can use quizzes, polls, discussions, chats, etc. This is critical to keep focus and attention. But it is more important to make them feel that someone is listening to their digital voice. That they are having a conversation and are connecting with others. As an online facilitator, I felt as if I got to know the participants both individually and as a whole. My online interactions had to reflect that. This wasn’t difficult, time consuming or expensive.

  • Answer the person: I found myself using my ‘coach voice’ in conversations and reflecting back what I heard. “You showed great insight about the difficult balance between empathy and being firm in your question.”
  • Reflect group themes: Identify the underlying themes from the group discussions. If everyone is mentioning trust, you should talk about that. You can quickly create a message and put it on the platform. I created several 2 minute ‘pop-up’ videos that started with “Many of you are talking about…”
  • Talk to them: I have emails that go out twice a week. They can easily be customized to real data. “Here are the point leaders.” “To help you prepare for your annual review conversation, use the guide.”

#2 Pay attention to what matters:

Leaders are very busy, and organizations are looking for short, impactful training. Leaders want “snackable” content that is personalized to them. The design has to be focused on meaningful situations they can relate to and activities they can apply immediately. This will be the difference between a generic session that presents a feedback model and one that actually builds capacity and confidence, leading to actual learning transfer into the real world.

  • Allow for personalization: Participants in our program had a Leadership 360, aligned with the program. At the beginning of each module they knew exactly where they needed to focus.
  • Practice, practice, practice: The design had to not only provide exercises, it had to encourage people to actually do them. They could then see how to transfer it to their lives. Digital learning platforms are designed for this. We had more points for missions, we added badges for gamification and completion. If you really want to encourage practice, assign small groups to hold them accountable.

#3 Pay attention to the data:

More than just pay attention. Do something with it. And not at the end, when it is too late, but throughout the program. My client asked for regular engagement updates and then followed up on the data.

  • Participation: I provided content updates to executives so they knew what leaders were learning. They included questions to ask participants about what they were experiencing. Early on, senior leaders followed up with every person who was not participating to encourage them. We achieved the 93% participation rate early on.
  • Engagement: We found out early that not all participants were doing the application missions. We added badges to the program at the midway point so that participants had to complete the application exercises to get a badge (gamification rules!). Emails were reframed to focus on the experience of the application rather than just the content.
  • Completion: How could we get the medium users to greater completion levels? At a town hall, the CEO recognized those who had completed the program. The organization gave digital awards (to put on emails and social media) for completion. We allowed access to the site past the ‘facilitated’ program time. We saw an astounding 89% completion rate 4 months after the end of the program.

For more tips and our recent success story, check out our 2/27 webinar.

Measuring Leadership Development ROI is a Fool’s Errand!

/in Digital Learning, Leadership Development, Trends/by

Yes, that’s a provocative statement. But in the 60 years since Kirkpatrick developed his 4-point scale to assess leadership development, we have been chasing an efficient yet effective measure of impact. I actually accomplished this feat recently in one client engagement so I can speak from experience. (click here to sign up for our webinar to hear the full story later this month). We have always had the knowledge and justification for investing in leaders, so why do I, along with everyone else feel the need to measure it?

We’ll do it anyway…

While I was going down a rabbit hole on the internet, I saw an article about the ROI of leadership development programs that said basically “It doesn’t really matter if we can prove ROI, organizations need leadership development. We will do it anyway.”   Following trends over the years reveals the same message.  Organizations need to provide consistent leadership development support to all levels and at critical transition points. Leaders need it during times of challenge/competition; senior leaders need highly tailored development; and everyone needs it during times of change (these day, that’s 24/7 365!).  Newly promoted managers need it the most. According to Ken Blanchard, 60% of new managers don’t achieve performance expectations. Finally, the best results come from “soft skills” training, since those are actually the hardest skills and the ones most important for leaders to master for the future.

“You know it when you see it”

If we aren’t able to analyze ROI easily and effectively, the question becomes what makes impactful leadership development? And who decides? The answer comes from a breakthrough in measurement from studying creativity. Teresa Amabile developed the Consensual Assessment Technique as a way to measure complex ideas. This premise says creativity in any field can only be judged by experts in [each] field…they define what is unique in each case. 

Those of us who have been in leadership development for decades know what good leadership development is. Organizational L&D leaders and other experts can clearly define what is needed and can probably predict the program’s degree of impact. Research shows that:

  • Impact comes from soft skills development that is customized around the work, culture and pain points of the organization.
  • The design must be interactive, engaging, focused on practice and draw participants into the stretch or learning zone.
  • Skilled facilitation is the difference between a generic session that “presents” a feedback model and one that actually builds capacity and confidence, leading to actual learning transfer into the real world.
  • Far-reaching impact is achieved if the organization goes all-in, with sponsorship from executives, support from managers, alignment with HR, and every leader participating in some way in the learning. Our partner/client told me, “If you are learning a new language, you have to practice with other people to reinforce it. All-in was the only option for us, so that we are on the same page.”

The barrier to investment is often that great leadership development is not a one-time event. Doing it right is a heavier lift than programs that check the box. It takes thought, time and experience to achieve that. So LD experts understand that being able to articulate the ROI really becomes the justification for the spend to get it right.

“Yay! It works.” Now what?

Now to the promised results. My company developed a blended digital learning program for new managers with our client/partner and tested the impact of the program. As I was waiting for results, I described the process we went through to a friend at Harvard Executive Education.  Baseline pre-test using a 360 instrument that aligned with the skills taught in the 6-month blended digital learning program, and the retest 15 months later.

“Wow! If that works, that’s the Gold Standard of Leadership Development.”

We did it! The Gold Standard.  We achieved statistically significant behavioral improvement in all success factors from building powerful relationships to conducting tough conversations and building an inclusive team culture.  I am THRILLED! EXCITED!  I am shouting it from the rooftops!

However…..as an expert in the field, I pretty much knew it would have this outcome. When I got the results it was (almost) “Okay so now what?” Truly though, most of my excitement came from the fact that I LOVED being a part of the program.  The content is outstanding since dozens of expert colleagues contributed to it. The program translated key leadership soft skills into digital format and uses a start-of-the-art platform. The client/partner was all-in on their side with support from the top down, and all managers participated, not just in the digital world, but in real-world “wrap arounds” like action learning and other projects.

I grew as much if not more than the participants!  This was leadership development done right! It just took 18 months, coordinated effort, a great program, and a separate evaluation process. Oh, and now I have the ROI and the example for those needing proof!

To hear the full story, join me and my colleague Rebecca Matthews for a webinar hosted by Intrepid.  https://blog.intrepidlearning.com/resources/enact-leadership-webinar-2-27

Living your Purpose: How to pause and reset for 2020

/in Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Development/by

Already out of the starting blocks and racing full throttle into 2020??  You might want to slow that roll since research from both Harvard and Quartz show that retrospection and reflection are key to personal/professional growth and happiness. Use the following steps and the simple but powerful downloadable IKIGAI tool to integrate your path with your purpose.

1. Reflect back on accomplishments as a great way to bring a practice of gratitude and appreciation. Your stories of accomplishment can also fuel your performance review, development planning, perhaps even build a case for your own advancement and promotion. 

2. Think back on 2019, what was a challenge you were able to face? What skill did you master, what relationship were you able to strengthen?  What impact did this accomplishment have on your life/work/team? 

3. What 3 small wins and/or new behaviors contributed to this accomplishment? 

4. Who was instrumental in supporting you?  Consider writing a note of appreciation to the people who advocated, mentored, and coached you in this past year.

As you project your energy and plan for goals in this new year decade, what is motivating you right now?  Do your 2020 goals align with:  your strengths?  Your passion?  Organizational needs?  Your well-being?

As you launch into this new decade, consider spending energy and time getting clear on your purpose, which is also known in Japan as your IKIGAI or reason for being:

The Japanese IKIGAI is this beautiful venn-diagram of overlapping circles.  The intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for are IKIGAI or what we would call our purpose, or reason for being.

Consider carving out the time to think about yourself and your life through each of these larger circles to build awareness of what is really important for you right now.  When you are clear about your strengths, preferences, and values you are likely to make better decisions about your work, life, and goals.

The more you can live and work in alignment with your IKIGAI, the closer you will be to your purpose, or reason for being.

Click here to download your own DIY IKIGAI template to explore your reason for being.

 

Gearing up for a tough conversation as the year winds down?

/in Leadership Development/by

This time of year can bring potentially difficult conversations. After all, this is usually when we tackle high-stakes discussions like: end of year reviews, budgeting, and giving feedback. Have you ever avoided having tough conversations?

What gets in your way? Is it the potential relationship impact, fear it won’t make a difference or that you’ll learn something or get some feedback you’d rather not hear?

Can you relate to this leader’s story?

Here are 3 ways to build your skill and will to conduct tough conversations:

 

  1. What triggers you? Build self-awareness by understanding and identifying situations and behaviors that cause you to react. Why does this happen?  What are the deeper values and experiences that can get in the way for you?  By better understanding your own emotions, values and triggers, you can work on preparing yourself to respond with intention when your emotions get triggered.

 

  1. Learn to evaluate emotions in others by reading cues in body language and facial expressions.

Take this free facial expression recognition quiz from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and test your skills at noticing emotions in others.

(Note that learning to recognize emotions is not an invitation to label someone’s feelings, but rather an opportunity to ask about what might be going on for them.  A best practice is to ask, don’t assume.)

 

  1. Learn how to de-fuse defensive behaviors. Download this handy set of tips to add to your toolbox.

Above all, don’t put off tough conversations, even though they may never be completely easy for you. The reason they are tough is that they are often really important! Delaying the discussion means the issue goes unresolved, may get worse, or taint the relationships through lingering feelings and thoughts. Instead, consider putting your energy into building on strategies to strengthen ability to conduct tough conversations with competence and confidence.

My Bright Idea: ‘Tis the Season…for Gratitude!

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“Gratitude is more than recognition and compliments” said Cherie Salonga, Project Coordinator at Enact.

You can think of it as building a pathway to deeper and more trusting relationships. Gratitude works because it is not exclusively about the tangible contributions people make, but also about who they are and their intrinsic value as a person. This drives deeper commitment between team members and a willingness to go the extra mile to support each other’s success. It also builds resilience for those tough conversations that need to happen periodically.

In our executive coaching practice at Enact Leadership, we have seen many leaders derail because they weren’t able to feel or express honest gratitude for the contributions of those around them. If you are a manager/leader looking to build a culture of gratitude in your team or organization, you can avoid pitfalls by focusing on the following 3 keys.

#1 Gratitude is not a program. The best way to generate a gratitude-based way of operating is to model it. Sincerely, often, and when it matters.

#2 It really does start with you. Adopt your own set of gratitude practices, which often means retraining your mind from its workplace socialization. We’ve been taught to be results-focused, problem-obsessed, and competitive in our business cultures. A simple starting point is keeping a “gratitude journal”, starting/ending your day with a gratitude reflection (to balance out the “what went wrong today” script most of us have internalized)

#3 Start small and sincere. A great first step with your team is to use a check-in process at the beginning of team meetings. Encourage everyone to spend about 3 minutes sharing how they are doing and something they are grateful for. Ask the team for ideas that promote a gratitude culture.

As an added bonus, research shows that practicing gratitude produces a more joyful life. So what are YOU grateful for?

Leadership Lessons from Youth Climate Activists

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Want to make BIG change? Take a page from the youth leadership playbook.

“A couple of years ago, I was walking with my baby cousin and saw a bunch of smoke and clouds coming out of a building…then I noticed all this trash, then cars spewing stuff. I thought about my little cousin and how the world should be better for her. I started picking up trash, then started talking to neighbors about cleaning up and advocating against the pollution we live in. It’s not OK that life expectancy varies by where you live!”

This story comes from Ra’Mauri, 12 years old and a leader at Youth vs Apocalypse. His insight to start local and make change personal, is echoed by youth climate leaders around the world. Any leader who is driven by the vision of a better world, whether inside an organization or in communities, has much to learn from the playbook these young leaders are creating.  In interviews with several leaders ranging from 12 to 16, these key lessons emerged.

Get fueled by the future: As Hannah, age 15 put it, “It feels like no one is fighting for our future, so we have to fight for it ourselves. We need to wake people up from denial.” As the old adage has it, nothing motivates like a deadline, and the pivotal “deadline” of 11 years to decisively cut emissions, is motivating huge numbers of youth to get involved across the globe. By vividly painting the picture of both the possibilities and dangers of the future, these young leaders are connecting emotionally and motivating commitment. Their clarity about how high the stakes are if nothing changes is seeing them through a lot of challenge and adversity.

Tap into your own superpower: Samara, age 12, is a self-described introvert. Rather than treating that as a barrier to being on the front lines of this movement, she says: “I tapped into the power of the community and its unity to feel comfortable putting my voice out there.” And she uses her strength of building deep, personal relationships to get more people involved.

Youth leaders described  a whole host of partnerships and alliances across like-minded individuals and organizations. Samara and Ra’Mauri talked about being “co-Presidentes” for the climate strike food detail and leaning on each other’s complementary skills. The result? Being able to navigate group conflict on BBQ vs. sandwiches and serving BBQ sandwiches for the win!

The lesson? Assess your own assets and match them up to the challenges at hand. Then honestly catalog and communicate your weaker areas as a change leader…but don’t spend a ton of time trying to improve those. Be humble enough to accept help and support.

Apply systems-thinking. Ariella (16) described actions during the climate strike. “We stopped at ICE and some of my friends didn’t get why. But the immigrant crisis around the world is only going to get worse through climate change.” Understanding interconnections, especially subtle ones, is an advanced leadership skill and means you can create holistic, sophisticated plans and solutions that will work in the real world.  Another powerful practice is mapping your own ecosystem for like-minded teams, organizations and/or individuals. Who is out there and how can you leverage the system, not just the parts?

It may have to be you. Youth leaders expressed sadness and anger at having their childhoods “taken from us.” As one leader put it, “Honestly, making this important and sometimes skipping school is hard. I want to do well at school, and I want to have fun with friends, really I just want to be a kid. But this issue is too important and too many people are in denial. I can’t just pretend things are OK.” Look around you. Are you waiting for someone else to step in and make positive change towards something you care about? Maybe who you are waiting for is actually…you.

Keep hope alive. Young people are supposed to be hopeful and future-oriented. After all, they have their whole lives in front of them, right? But many Gen Z’ers find themselves leaning on each other to generate the hope they need to keep going in the face of our climate crisis. Sharing personal stories of struggle and success, playing music together, potlucks, costume/art parties, and bringing different organizations together to feel camaraderie and shared purpose are all ways youth are staying inspired and energized for the long fight.

Let’s give Ra’Mauri the last word: “Work with other organizations and make common cause. Share information and wisdom to learn from each other. Make friends because that’s what will keep you going.”

Bright Idea: Lessons in Leadership from Ariella, a 16 Year old climate activist

/in Change & Innovation, Leadership Development/by

Everything is connected

“Everything is connected…and everyone can lead.”

At first, I didn’t really understand the science. I wasn’t as passionate about climate issues. But I was interested in inequities across communities within the criminal justice system. I suddenly realized that all the volunteering I did on that didn’t matter if we don’t have a planet we can live on. My moment was realizing what an emergency this is, and that the impact of climate change on poor and marginalized communities is also a matter of social justice.

I’ve been shy, but this has put me in a place where I have to come out of my shell. I’m not someone who gets on a mic and shouts. So a friend and I started voices4planet, an Instagram account to educate and inspire our friends and other teenagers. I have started to find my voice and realize that there’s a place for quieter people to make a difference in our own way.

Connecting with people has helped me deal with the sadness I feel about the planet and how it’s hard to be young and just wanting to have a fun life and do well in school. But with so many people in denial, I know the most important thing I can do is persist and inspire others in my generation to take action.

Bright Idea: Cindy Gillespie of Amy’s Kitchen

/in Leadership Development/by

“How did you convince your leaders to invest money in leadership development?”

“I didn’t have to.”   said Cindy Gillespie, VP of HR at Amy’s Kitchen.

This was in response to a question I
received when accepting the LEAD award
for the #1 Corporate University on behalf of Amy’s Leadership Academy.  Andy and Rachel Berliner, the founders and leaders of our family-run company have always
fostered a strong company culture and a community that takes care of each other (one of Amy’s values). Investing in growing our leaders is just one way we take care
of our employees and is critical to the future
of Amy’s.

During Amy’s early days of crazy rapid growth, we saw the need for more leaders, so we hired talent from other big food manufacturers.  Many of these external hires struggled to quickly learn and appreciate the complexities and culture of our company. We also recognized we needed to develop more of our existing employees into strong leaders that would drive continued strong growth, but also protect and role-model our equally important company culture

At that time, I was personally participating in a Community-Leadership training program.  I was inspired and motivated by the high level of engagement, motivation, and on-going connection with fellow participants.  In partnership with Enact Leadership, we incorporated this community approach into Amy’s Leadership Academy (ALA), which is headed into its 7th year this fall.

ALA combines building a leadership foundation with key business capabilities.  Employees from across the organization have the opportunity to apply.  We select a cross section of HiPos and current leaders to participate in the program, to create a leadership cohort with different backgrounds and experiences.   This emphasis on leadership skills anchored in our strong company culture is creating value not only from external recognition, but also in our internal engagement efforts.

Contact us at Enact Leadership if you want support in co-creating customized leadership development solutions of any size (in-person AND online) that incorporate your organization’s values and drive tangible business results.

Leap… Don’t Fall!

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As the leaves turn and the new year looms, are you looking for high-impact development solutions to set the stage for success in 2020? Enact is pleased to offer a special promotion on four of the most in-demand topics our clients request, taught in a half-day interactive workshop formats (or via webinar).
  • Power of Feedback
  • Foundations of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • Create Accountability
  • Increase Self-Awareness
We are offering a significant discount if these are booked/scheduled by December 31, 2019.
Click on this link for additional details.

 

Act quickly to benefit your employees with new skills for the new year!

Tune In: Sindri Anderson to be Featured on CUTV News Radio | May 28th

/in Leadership Development/by

Please join us to hear Sindri Anderson, co-founder of Enact Leadership, interviewed on CUTV News Radio as part of its Empowered Women Series program. During the interview, Sindri will discuss why:

  • Leadership is not for the faint of heart, and how, even at the first level of leadership, people can be negatively impacted if a leader is unskilled or not self-aware.
  • No matter what kind of an organization, leaders have to figure out how to lift up and unleash the talent of all of their people
  • If we want parity and true inclusion for the under-represented and marginalized in our leadership ranks, we have to commit to culture, policy, and leadership mindset changes

When? Tuesday, May 28 at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET
Where? Listen in live on Blog Talk Radio here.
Can’t join live? Listen in later here.

Eager to participate in the conversation? If you have any questions for Sindri while on air, please call (347) 996-3389.

We hope you’ll listen in!