Leadership
At the bottom:
How can you capitalise on existing practices to create groundswell that cannot be ignored? For example, if you’re looking to launch a social learning initiative, who’s doing this well already?
In a pocket:
As with my Career Management example, find a pocket of people in your business that are readier than others - ideally with an influential figurehead - who is happy to front it to their group (but not necessarily the leader).
From the level below:
Who is well regarded in the level below your board? Who has the ears of board members and is hungry to make a difference whilst enhancing their own profile? Buy them a coffee and find out what’s important to them about People Development.
From a place of expertise:
If you're launching a new tech platform to support your L&OD efforts, how about approaching influential figures in the IT/online department for their help?
From within:
Pull together a steering committee from various parts of the business and whilst working on your solution, task them with spreading the word and gaining agreement and participation from the inside rather than the top.
So come on L&D, let’s not rely on our leaders to make the change happen. Accept your role as the L&D leader and develop yourself to play this role with sophistication and authority.
And just remember, your initiative starts where it starts and it continues where there's momentum.
Sometimes it does start at the top and sometimes it starts with you and you just need to find a way.
David is former-Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company EMEA. David left Disney, to pursue a passion for positively impacting the learning profession by launching WeCommend.com.
The aim of WeCommend is to improve transparency and openness in the L&D provider market – making it easier for in-company L&D professionals to search and discover providers who are recommended by their clients in other companies.