Articles-Thought Leadership 7 Ways to Shift Your Approach to Training | Page 2

“As educational leaders we cannot be ‘all things to all people,’
so it is our responsibility to consult, advise, and offer solutions
that genuinely produce improved performance.”
That’s the advice of Andrew Lawrence, the Vice President of Enterprise Learning and Personal
Development at SCL Health in Broomfield, Colorado. SCL Health is a faith-based, not-for-profit
health network serving communities in Colorado, Kansas, and Montana. Lawrence, who has over 30
years of experience in corporate education both inside and outside of healthcare, leads the learning
and development efforts for SCL Health’s 17,000 associates. In a recent Second Opinions podcast,
Lawrence identified the ideas and concepts that have shaped his perspective on learning and
development in healthcare.
1
It’s all about relationships.
Discussing various training experiences, Lawrence
stresses the importance of developing open
relationships among team members and with
executive leaders. He suggests that with a strong
relationship comes a willingness to have
meaningful conversations, where gaps in learning
can be easily identified, feedback can be easily
accepted, and solutions can be created to close
those gaps.
2
Practice reflection.
The concept of reflection or ‘reflective practice’
is a key component of transformative learning
theory, which has become increasingly important
across healthcare disciplines. Researchers say
that reflection is more than just thoughtful
practice; it is the process of turning practice into
potential learning situations. Equipping staff with
these skills will make them more confident and
autonomous. Lawrence considers reflection to
be the catalyst that caused him to begin viewing
learning and development from a different
perspective.
2
Lawrence suggests, “Healthy relationships and
conversations position an organization to start
focusing on deeper gaps, on systems that are
beyond the initial focus. Then, as a learning
organization we can get back to our core belief
that at the end of the day, training is about
teaching people how to do their job. We can’t
be selective or exclusive in that approach—we
have to be inclusive and all encompassing.”
“Reflection can come in the form of self-
reflection, organizational reflection, or cultural
reflection,” Lawrence explains. “One way I have
found success is to reflect on our existing cultural
aspects. We must take organizational culture
into consideration and realize that as educators
we cannot build barriers, but instead, we must
build upon the cultural foundation. At SCL
Health there is a unified desire for engagement
and an emphasis on building upon culture,
building on relationships, tapping into our
front-line educators, and ensuring that we listen
to the voice of the customer.”
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