I was actually drawn to teaching and training because I enjoyed helping others. I liked making the complex simple and seeing others grow or understand. I felt that leadership would be an avenue to help others to develop and grow--to lead more meaningful lives through moving past a fixed mindset and engaging in meaningful, authentic learning opportunities.
One of my biggest takeaways from this process is that it shouldn't just be about others, it has to be about growing myself too. To be an effective leader, I have a lot of learning and development to do. I have to take off the lenses of a Fixed Mindset, that keep from the meaningful experiences where I will learn the most and lean into the learning opportunities that failures, set backs and risks afford. My why is to keep learning, growing, stretching. I don't want to settle. I also want to help others embrace a growth mindset. That is how I structured this ePortfolio. While I know it about our own growth, I wrote it so it is directed to others and hopefully can help them too.
This approach has inspired me as I think about new approaches to traditional Corporate Training. It also inspires me as I think about the culture I want to create with my group and those who work for me.
Click here to read more about my experiences in working towards a growth mindset.
Leadership Vision, A Learning Manifesto: Lifelong Learning
My role is in corporate learning and capability building. I think corporations can play an incredibly valuable role in contributing to life-long learning that not only benefits them, but also society. Creating and sharing knowledge, especially if companies will support knowledge, development and training BEYOND just the myopic scope of the current role/ job, it can be a huge benefit to the employee, improving retention; and it can benefit the company through knowledge transfer, and innovation.
Lastly, I think both parties, companies and education can work together in the efforts they can make towards life-long learning. Companies can contribute to meaningful educational experiences, not only through funding, but also through community and school engagement and offering hands-on learning opportunities through their resources and infrastructure. They can help parents have passion and curiosity that they can pass to their children. In turn, schools can facilitate a view at an early age of learning as a life-long pursuit that extends beyond formal schooling. It can teach learners to find opportunities and ways to learns outside the classroom through critical thinking and questioning. It can support a love of learning and curiosity.
Empowering Learners to be Leaders of Their Own Education :
I believe, that effective leadership is more than the leader themselves, but their ability to empower others.
One goal in my training practice, is to make each Learner a Leader of their own education. To empower them to own their own Learner Journey and make content and tools accessible to them. Additionally, we created networks so that those who sought to Learn could connect with others who wanted to learn or experts who could teach informally. These additional avenues and some of the elements of Learner Choice and Ownership we implemented created an opportunity and is starting to move the needle on a culture of Leading oneself in Learning and Development, and not waiting for someone else (like a boss or the company) to do it for you. Otherwise, you could miss valuable opportunities.
Another way we accomplished this was by leveraging Learner Personas to help better define potential Learner Needs and help them better understand their options. These Personas also made it easier to develop a knowledge sharing community where people knew to whom they could turn when they sought additional insight, guidance or help.