What makes a Learning & Development (L&D) practitioner a leader in the eyes of business leaders?<\/p>\n
Positioning yourself as a \u201cthought leader\u201d is a first step. Many see thought leaders as people with some type of expertise. But broadening the definition, it also applies to those working in a learning role. In essence, within your organization, your leadership is literally as a thought leader.<\/p>\n
Another definition of thought leader is \u201csomeone who presents new thoughts or, more specifically, new ideas or ways of doing things.\u201d In a \u201cme, too\u201d product\/service world, business leaders know that getting a leg up is more than simply tweaking their offerings. The only way to competitively differentiate themselves is leveraging what their employees know, or need to know. Once again, this puts you front and center in your business leaders\u2019 minds.<\/p>\n
So step up and lead the charge by cultivating knowledge in people and developing unique and innovative ways to realize organizational goals. Here are three quick ways to help live up to your business leaders\u2019 expectations and become your organization\u2019s thought leader:<\/p>\n
1. Don’t share the recipe to the secret sauce. <\/strong>You never go to your favorite fast-food restaurant and ask how they make the burger\u2019s special sauce; you just want the burger. But L&D practitioners often seek \u201cparental\u201d approval from business leaders, trying to prove that what they do adds value. Thought leaders just add value in what they do.<\/p>\n Think about it. No other internal business function shares \u201chow\u201d they do what they do. Finance doesn\u2019t wax poetic about how they create financial statements; they just produce accurate financial statements. Marketing doesn\u2019t ramble on about how they create awareness; they just create awareness. So why is L&D so desperate to show how they train people when all they should do is train employees to perform effectively?<\/p>\n Keep the L&D secret sauce recipe to yourself and deliver results with people who perform to, and possibly exceed, expectations. This will get your leaders\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n 2. Realize it’s about improving performance, not improving learning. <\/strong>The saying, \u201cKnowledge is power,\u201d is a half-truth. For business leaders, possessing knowledge is only as good as it contributes to achieving business objectives. Regretfully, practitioners often get stuck ensuring that people are \u201clearning\u201d stuff (knowledge) rather than actually using the stuff to improve their abilities.<\/p>\n We expect a lot of feedback on this point, but understand that we\u2019re not discounting the learning process. We simply want you to stop using \u201clearning\u201d to prove validity and instead use it to improve performance.<\/p>\n 3. Be proactive and disruptive.<\/strong> True thought leaders purposefully venture into areas that challenge existing preconceptions. You must do the same. Get out of that cubicle and talk to your internal clients requiring guidance. Focus on their needs by following this sales advice: \u201cIt\u2019s better to sell what others want to buy and not what you want to sell.\u201d Become their business partner. Use your L&D expertise to \u201cpro-act\u201d in their best interest rather than reacting to their demands.<\/p>\n Next, stop accepting how learning is done and reimagine it. Your business leaders call this being \u201cdisruptive.\u201d This means that if it\u2019s not broken, break it and then rethink or improve upon the original. For example, if a client can\u2019t have downtime, don\u2019t force a learning solution that takes employees away from their work. Instead, collaborate with them to discover new ways for employees to gain the skills such as offering real-time tools, micro-learning apps, or something completely different. It\u2019s never about finding the problem that fits the solution but rather about developing an appropriate solution to solve the problem.<\/p>\n Being a leader, especially a thought leader, is more than being the smartest person in the room. Business leaders desperately need L&D to step up and provide the knowledge they can apply that will improve the organization\u2019s performance. This is L&D\u2019s calling. This is your thought leadership calling, as well.<\/p>\n Ajay M. Pangarkar, CTDP CPA, CMA, and Teresa Kirkwood, CTDP are founders of CentralKnowledge.com<\/a> and LearningSourceonline.com<\/a>. They are employee performance management experts and three-time authors, most recently publishing \u201cThe Trainer\u2019s Balanced Scorecard: A Complete Resource for Linking Learning to Organizational Strategy” (Wiley). Help them start a \u201cWorkplace Revolution” at blog.centralknowledge.com or contact ajayp@centralknowledge.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cultivate knowledge in people and develop innovative ways to realize organizational goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[24],"class_list":{"0":"post-10445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-magazine","7":"tag-last-word","8":"magazine_issues-may-2016"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n