Exploring The University of You
| 02 | May |
| 2013 |
Ferrazzi Greenlight is now putting the final touches on a unique book project
tentatively titled The University of You. An expression of my own journey
as a learner, it offers a rock-solid framework for moving your career into the
passing lane. For the individual, it provides a system for sustainable
self-management that shows you how to make changes in your daily behavior and
career management based on what you do best and want the most.
The book's uniqueness comes in part from our intent to make the content as impactful as possible for organizations who want to move to intentional, self-directed learning for their employees by customizing The University of You with stories and examples drawn from the learning paths of the leaders and individuals in each organization. We'll detail for employees how to get company support for defining their unique learning path to greater success for themselves and their organization.
For 10 years, my firm, Ferrazzi Greenlight, has established a wealth of knowledge about the importance of collaborative relationships. But as a speaker and coach of corporate teams, I was growing ever more aware of a disconnect between the vital goals of corporate training and the reality as all of us were experiencing it.
Formal training was becoming a hostage drama in the workplace, where we would force ourselves away from crammed work schedules and a dozen competing priorities to sit for hours while a speaker delivered a one-size-fits-all presentation that applied to a few but not many of our challenges. The all-too-familiar experience of traditional training was about squirming in your chair while your smart phone shuddered and the queues of voicemail and email mounted.
We began to think about whether the corporate training model was missing something. I asked innovative human resources leaders and training experts at major companies, “What is the ‘state of the art’ of organizational learning today? Does it even exist?”
My firm convened private meetings with the nation’s top corporate practitioners in learning and talent development. At one of these meetings, David Kilby, then director of Intel Learning & Development, said: “I’ve been doing this all wrong. We companies have to get out of the teaching business in the way we are trying to do it today. I’ve been consolidating and centralizing and controlling content in a parental fashion at Intel U for years; it was the moniker of my success. Now, I have to go back and rethink how to democratize the content. I have to let go to move forward.”
David’s moment of candor and humility gave us the inspiration to try a different path, a path that led to our upcoming book.
We soon expanded our investigation to include the contributions of executives at dozens of different companies who have seen up close the challenge of training their workers in an era when resources are thin and everyone is starving for more time. Those executives and my team came to share a big North Star goal: to co-create the first book that offers a much-needed new system for lifelong professional learning and advancement. You’ll read about the failures, the successes and the in-betweens of real people across a spectrum of personalities and job descriptions who have traveled the self-learning path.
Build Your Own University — and Take it With You
Those of you who have read my previous books will find it no surprise that the theoretical basis of the book is built upon developing personal networks — colleagues, friends and mentors — as your most valuable resource for learning. In the always-on world of today, we can’t succeed or learn alone. Our relationships with other people not only enhance our careers —they make our success possible. Nowhere is this more powerfully true than in the imperative of getting the coaching and learning the skills you need to move your career forward.
The Continuous Learning Circle
Let’s preview where this book takes you — through the Continuous Learning Circle, the success plan we’ll be sharing with you. It’s composed of five modules:
It’s a Circle – Not a Straight Line
One doesn't necessarily march through the five Continuous Learning steps just once, which is why it's a circle. You must continually revisit your goals, find the hard and soft skill gaps, rinse them out of your hair and repeat. Or work it both ways: Move across the levels of the concentric circles from the outside in and from the inside out, constantly repeating and refreshing and growing. Go from yourself to your peers, and back again.
In our book, you'll follow some of those circuitous learning paths, just as they happened during someone's real and intentional change to the arc of their life and career. You’ll see people making huge strides toward achieving their career goals after learning how powerful the underlying principles can be. And we'll even revisit how the circle helped turn around my own company.
The book's uniqueness comes in part from our intent to make the content as impactful as possible for organizations who want to move to intentional, self-directed learning for their employees by customizing The University of You with stories and examples drawn from the learning paths of the leaders and individuals in each organization. We'll detail for employees how to get company support for defining their unique learning path to greater success for themselves and their organization.
If you want to learn more, read on and contact us at
info@ferrazzigreenlight.com.
The Network That Gave the SparkFor 10 years, my firm, Ferrazzi Greenlight, has established a wealth of knowledge about the importance of collaborative relationships. But as a speaker and coach of corporate teams, I was growing ever more aware of a disconnect between the vital goals of corporate training and the reality as all of us were experiencing it.
Formal training was becoming a hostage drama in the workplace, where we would force ourselves away from crammed work schedules and a dozen competing priorities to sit for hours while a speaker delivered a one-size-fits-all presentation that applied to a few but not many of our challenges. The all-too-familiar experience of traditional training was about squirming in your chair while your smart phone shuddered and the queues of voicemail and email mounted.
We began to think about whether the corporate training model was missing something. I asked innovative human resources leaders and training experts at major companies, “What is the ‘state of the art’ of organizational learning today? Does it even exist?”
My firm convened private meetings with the nation’s top corporate practitioners in learning and talent development. At one of these meetings, David Kilby, then director of Intel Learning & Development, said: “I’ve been doing this all wrong. We companies have to get out of the teaching business in the way we are trying to do it today. I’ve been consolidating and centralizing and controlling content in a parental fashion at Intel U for years; it was the moniker of my success. Now, I have to go back and rethink how to democratize the content. I have to let go to move forward.”
David’s moment of candor and humility gave us the inspiration to try a different path, a path that led to our upcoming book.
We soon expanded our investigation to include the contributions of executives at dozens of different companies who have seen up close the challenge of training their workers in an era when resources are thin and everyone is starving for more time. Those executives and my team came to share a big North Star goal: to co-create the first book that offers a much-needed new system for lifelong professional learning and advancement. You’ll read about the failures, the successes and the in-betweens of real people across a spectrum of personalities and job descriptions who have traveled the self-learning path.
Build Your Own University — and Take it With You
Those of you who have read my previous books will find it no surprise that the theoretical basis of the book is built upon developing personal networks — colleagues, friends and mentors — as your most valuable resource for learning. In the always-on world of today, we can’t succeed or learn alone. Our relationships with other people not only enhance our careers —they make our success possible. Nowhere is this more powerfully true than in the imperative of getting the coaching and learning the skills you need to move your career forward.
The Continuous Learning Circle
Let’s preview where this book takes you — through the Continuous Learning Circle, the success plan we’ll be sharing with you. It’s composed of five modules:
- The Gap Analysis: This three-sided diagnostic tool reveals strengths, needs and goal. Using it, you’ll come up with an initial assessment (relative to where you want to go) of what you’re good at and what aspects of your skills need to be improved. You will also determine your industry's trends, where the company is headed and what that says about your personal strategic opportunities. You’ll ask yourself, “How do my opportunities at work mesh with my talents as well as my likes and dislikes?”
- Learning Curiosity: You've identified what you need to move your career forward. Now, connect to learning and media resources that can help you close the gaps. We’ll show you how to tap associations and groups, as well as online tools, to refine your vision and determine what matters most to achieve the career you’re aiming for. You’ll talk to people who are dealing with the same issues, enroll in formal courses and find the resources to help close the gaps you have targeted.
- The Learning Network: Essentially, forming your learning network is the process of developing your own personal faculty to satisfy your learning goals. You identify and interview individuals who can become informal teachers, mentors and coaches as you push your development. Seek clients widely – clients, vendors, co-workers and even competitors – and really reach out to them to build an authentic learning network.
- The Lifeline Learning Team: This is your “A team,” your small circle of friends and peers who know more about you than anyone else and will tell you the truth and intervene to make sure that you have a solid plan as you navigate the Continuous Learning Circle. Ask them to vet your strategy and challenge your conclusions. They provide the generous candor of friends and the “butt-kicking” accountability you need to sustain your learning effort for the longer term.
- Formal Work Team: Finally, you’ll learn to repurpose an unproductive organizational event such as a scheduled staff meeting into an opportunity to collaborate with a trusted peer team to help each other achieve career and development goals. The result is your roadmap for growing constantly – every day. The Formal Team process can also do the team-building scarce in companies now — where professionals learn together about how to practice higher candor, accountability and collaboration on major initiatives.
It’s a Circle – Not a Straight Line
One doesn't necessarily march through the five Continuous Learning steps just once, which is why it's a circle. You must continually revisit your goals, find the hard and soft skill gaps, rinse them out of your hair and repeat. Or work it both ways: Move across the levels of the concentric circles from the outside in and from the inside out, constantly repeating and refreshing and growing. Go from yourself to your peers, and back again.
In our book, you'll follow some of those circuitous learning paths, just as they happened during someone's real and intentional change to the arc of their life and career. You’ll see people making huge strides toward achieving their career goals after learning how powerful the underlying principles can be. And we'll even revisit how the circle helped turn around my own company.
*This blog draws from the unique, forthcoming
Ferrazzi Greenlight book tentatively titled The University of You. To
make it as impactful as possible for organizations intent on moving to
intentional, self-directed learning for their employees, we plan to customize
the book with stories and examples drawn from the learning paths of the leaders
and individuals in each organization. We'll detail for employees how to get
company support for defining their unique learning path to greater success for
themselves and their organization. Contact us at info@ferrazzigreenlight.com
for more information. Continue to read this blog to grab more of our
insights.
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