The most interesting take-aways I gathered from these conversations were comments that revealed a lot about the new kinds of customers salespeople are trying to access and the new business climate in which leaders are trying to inspire higher levels of performance. A representative sample of these comments are shared below, most of them in response to my question, “What is your top training and development priority between now and the end of the year?”

• “Given the new economic pressures, tighter client budgets, and additional layers and levels of approval needed for signature, our sales training needs to prepare salespeople to add value at the customer interface, differentiate beyond our product features, and sell customized solutions that include a mix of offerings and services rather than individual products. This new kind of customer and more challenging sales environment requires a new set of skills in our salesforce, and we are not quite sure what that will look like.”
• “Due to budget cuts, and higher expectations on the part of shareholders, my boss and the executive team are demanding measurable results and specific business impact from all of our leadership development initiatives. It is not enough to merely offer high-quality training courses; we must strategically rethink what courses we offer to be sure we have the right curriculum over different levels of leadership, to be sure we are preparing leaders to execute our company’s strategy—and in a way that is consistent with our values.”
• “Because our revenue has declined and customers are more cautious with their spending, we need more help from our sales support staff and subject matter experts to develop skills with building trust with customers, uncovering their underlying business issues, and overcoming objections with the right kind of technical information directly linked with their concerns and sources of pain. So I guess what I am saying is that I need sales training for people who don’t consider themselves salespeople. How can we do that with our engineers, scientists, and top experts in our company? They would certainly reject the notion of sending them to traditional sales training since their professional education prepared them to make technical decisions, not influence customers.”
• “My problem is that managers are too busy to coach around the skills that their direct reports are learning during training. In some cases, they are too busy to attend the training, and therefore aren’t even familiar with what is covered in training. How can we find a cost-effective way to engage managers in supporting training, and encouraging their people to apply skills on the job?”
• “Our budget is temporarily frozen due to an upcoming merger. What are some no-cost or low-cost ways we can provide on-the-job learning experiences for our leaders?”
• “For the past 18 months, we have been able to do very little training due to budget cuts. Now that things are starting to turn around, we have more than a year of overdue training requests. What do you recommend for prioritizing training needs since we can’t take all of this on at the same time?”

How would you answer the question, “What are your top training and development priorities between now and the end of the year?” How is your situation the same as or different from the comments I heard at recent conferences? We want to hear from you.

Richardson says: “He didn’t listen; he never listened… he treated colleagues with total disdain.”

Richardson further describes Rudd as “… a law unto himself… he would listen to no-one.” This says a lot about why Rudd’s caucus turned on him, and highlights a key component necessary for successful leadership—engagement.

How many times have we heard similar mutterings from employees exhausted by an autocratic style of leadership; a leader incapable of truly engaging his or her people?

So was Kevin Rudd a Leader or an Individual Contributor? Wilson Learning’s research shows that a key distinction between a leader and an individual contributor is the accomplishment of goals by engaging others. To achieve targeted business results, leaders need not only to direct, but also inspire and harness others’ talents toward an exciting vision.

Many ineffective leaders aspire to a leadership position because they yearn for power, control, and the authority to do things their own way. Does this sound familiar?

Yet, as Mr. Rudd has painfully discovered, it is not enough for leaders to merely gain compliance. A true leader generates a passion that fuels the highest level of commitment and loyalty. In return, employees receive what they need to grow and gain professional fulfilment.

Wilson Learning’s view is that for any organisation to thrive—whether a political party, a government, or a public or private company—all stakeholders need to feel valued, and in return feel they have added value to the organisation. Wilson Learning describes this as the “being” and the “doing” of any leadership role. The accomplishment of goals by engaging others is a key distinction between a Leader and an Individual Contributor. What other examples do you have of a Leader versus an Individual Contributor?

—
* (The Australian, 29 June 2010) http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/fear-and-loathing-of-rudd-was-his-own-doing/story-e6frg6zo-1225885406376

The blinding-glimpse-of-the-obvious is that things are different – depending on how you look at them. Take Coaching, for example.

What’s the difference between a Coach, a Counselor or an Advisor? Many folks might tell you there’s little difference, but I beg to differ.

Our work on coaching suggests that a counselor, advisor and others of this ilk need to respond to very specific expectations from people who use their services. These folks expect experts and answers.

However, coaches are different. While coaches may be experts and do provide answers, a good coach, more often than not, helps us learn how to find the answer or do something for ourselves by challenging us with questions or activities. Working from this premise, we’ve come up with a few guidelines for good coaching.

• Coaching needs a Context…
  Individuals and organizations don’t just go out and find a coach for no reason. They seek out a coach because something in their environment has changed, and they need to respond. A good coach asks “Why do you want to work on this now?  What’s changed?” The answer becomes the context for the relationship.
• It’s about the Client’s goals, not the Coach’s goals…
  With the context set, the good coach cannot set goals for the client. The client has to define and ultimately own his/her own goals. The coach works with the client to build goals that inspire success and align with what the client defines as valuable to themselves and to their organization.
• Protect the relationship
  A good coach understands that a strong relationship is founded on Trust. If a coaching client thinks that the coach will report back to management, the client will only do what is safe. Growth will be limited. A good coach works for the coaching client and keeps information privileged.
• Provide feedback, not judgment…
  Coaching is about growing and doing better. It is not about appraisal. Good coaches don’t grade clients – they offer information, not judgment, about current performance. When clients fail, they need to know what influenced their performance and what they can do to be better.

Coaches are not mentors or consultants or advisors. They are experts in the process of helping people learn to do things better in an independent way. Good coaches set a context; they focus on the client, protect the relationship and offer valuable, practical information that helps people grow.

By the way, I live in Atlanta now and barbecue is definitely a noun.

In discussing virtual learning, I have observed various terms used interchangeably—terms like webcast, webinar, web-seminar, web-shop, and virtual learning. If you have a group of people on the web at the same time, experiencing the same material, you will use one of these terms. However, not all experiences are the same; and without shared understanding, often confusion occurs and expectations are missed. I believe it is time to adopt some common terminology that clarifies what is what. To that end, I offer the following suggestions.

Webcast: A webcast is delivered to hundreds or even thousands of people. Think “-cast” like in “broadcast.” The purpose of a webcast is for a presenter (or group of presenters) to communicate to a very large audience. Interactive technology is limited; think of quick polls as analogous to asking a live audience to respond in unison. But you would never get 1000 people into breakout rooms.

Webinar: A few years ago, I cringed every time I heard this term, but over the years have learned to accept it (okay, I have learned to tolerate it). But, a webinar is different from a webcast and different from virtual learning. A webinar is delivered to a small group. The focus is still on the presenter/instructor. If 70 to 80% of the time is focused on the presenter, and 20 to 30% involves polls, Q&A, whiteboards, etc. with participants, then it is a webinar.

Virtual Learning: True virtual learning is only now starting to emerge. Virtual learning differs from webcasts and webinars in two critical ways. First, the objective of virtual learning is to provide participants with new skills or behaviors. While webcasts and webinars are mostly about information, virtual learning is about behavior. Second, virtual learning is at most 50% presentation. At least half of the time in virtual learning should be participant focused. The leader is truly a facilitator of learning, not a presenter.

Well, I have set a stake in the ground. What do you think? Do you share my belief that we need more consistent language to describe these different types of events? Do you agree with my terminology?

I welcome your thoughts.

So, if you want to deliver great virtual learning experiences, what does it take?

First, let’s distinguish true virtual learning from other types of web-delivered presentations such as webinars, web meetings, or webcasts. A virtual learning session is an interactive experience for a small group, with the objective of learning new skills and behaviors. To ensure this objective is met, there are two critical factors necessary for the delivery of high-impact, truly effective virtual learning.

Those are:

• Excellent design, adapted specifically for the virtual classroom
• Expert facilitation, using techniques appropriate for unique virtual learning requirements

Let’s take design. You need to keep people from tuning out when they are sitting in an office in front of a computer. This is a much bigger problem than in a traditional classroom. Your design needs to build in a continuous flow of engaging, interactive activities that keep people on their toes, involved, and challenged. If they’re busy with relevant work, they won’t even think of dropping out to multi-task on something else. Include applications and practice in your design. One advantage of the virtual environment is that you can deliver learning in smaller chunks, allowing people to practice and apply their new skills on the job in between sessions.

What about facilitation? How is that different in a virtual environment? Keep in mind that you need a true facilitator, not a presenter. A successful facilitator of virtual learning sessions understands the nuances of keeping participants involved even though they are in dispersed locations and can’t visually connect with the session leader and their fellow learners.

Expert facilitators use all the technologies available in the contemporary virtual classroom—interactive white boards, breakout rooms, quick polls, and “hand raising”—to get people interacting with each other and with the facilitator throughout the session. This facilitator also has the experience to notice when someone is not engaged and is able to re-engage him or her. Keeping a fast pace and continuously changing types of activities also helps to keep participants from checking out.

What has your experience been with virtual classrooms? What questions or misperceptions have you heard about virtual learning? What tips would you share with someone beginning to explore virtual learning in his or her organization?