TRANSFORMING A REGION THROUGH ACTION LEARNING
A central bank is a unique organization and a multi-state central bank even more so, hence the value in having its leadership development program custom-made. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) is the first multi-state central bank in the world, predating the European Central Bank. The major challenge is that the Bank has to coordinate […]
TWO PILLARS OF COACHING – ACTION LEARNING
The reality today changes more dynamically than ever before. Significant changes can be seen in the area of politics and economy. Markets change abruptly and technological progress is so quick that the solutions from yesterday may not be valid today. Strategies that work today may be insufficient tomorrow. Needless to say, these words were valid […]
UNLOCK CREATIVITY USING DESIGN THINKING AND ACTION LEARNING
The first stage, empathize, focuses on the user. Empathy is the foundation of the human-centered design process whereby we observe and engage with users, immerse ourselves to uncover their needs (they may or may not be aware of) and discover their emotions. We can think of empathize as part of the process that guides the […]
USA COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE (COP)
WIAL USA hosted its quarterly virtual Community of Practice (COP) in August. The COP sessions are designed to build community and enhance skills among WIAL Action Learning (AL) coaches and those working towards certification. Feedback from coaches confirms they value coming together to network, share experiences, practice action learning, and learn from speakers and each […]
USING ACTION LEARNING TO DEVELOP PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERS IN SAESFORCE
Why are we here? And why do we do what we do? These are big philosophical questions that have been preoccupying mankind for many years. They are also questions many corporations are now asking themselves in order to provide competitive and relevant workplaces in an age where generations of employees want more meaning from their […]
WE, YOU, OR TEAM
Not so long ago, in a small hotel in the Polish mountains, I was teaching the CALC course and this question came up: Why do we actually say “we” and not “you” while addressing the teams we coach? For example, our script says “What are we doing well?” and not “What are you doing well?” […]
WHAT KILLS ACTION LEARNING?
Biological organisms inherently have defensive reaction to threats in their environment. Given time they learn how to defend against newly emerging challenges. Through evolution, they learn to adapt. However, if the changes in the environment go unnoticed or happen faster than their ability to learn and act, they go extinct. A very common observation from […]
WHEN A FACILITATOR DISCOVERS ACTION LEARNING
I became curious about Action Learning after co-facilitating a three-day leadership training to a group of middle managers in a hierarchical and relationship oriented culture. The material for the leadership training had been developed internally by my client’s European headquarters. During the leadership training the participants were engaged with topics of strategy, individual strengths, diversity, […]
WHEN A SINGLE QUESTION OPENS UP MINDS
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few” – Shunryu SuZuki Last month I conducted a leadership development program for one of the largest manufacturing companies in Thailand. This program was designed for key leaders and supervisors from six plants all over the country. Action learning was one […]
WHY ACTION LEARNING BRINGS TEAMS IN FLOW PART 1
When Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi summarized his many years of research into what makes for an optimum experience and brings enjoyment, he focused mainly on individuals. His work Flow; the psychology of optimal experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) is full of examples of surgeons, mountain climbers or even assembly workers who focus fully on their core activity and get […]