Chief Learning Officer  Snider, Andrew

Organizations must now be accustomed to constant change, but traditional learning strategies are no longer effective for most leaders. Many companies are taking a more hands-on approach to executive training, using experiential learning combined with focused business facilitation. Successful leadership training programs take people outside of their comfort zones and use an emotional component and hands-on experience that are applicable directly to the workplace. Legal Sea Foods, which operates 30 restaurants across the country, brought executives up to speed to successfully launch a new restaurant concept by having them participate in an off-site, extensive adaptive leadership program. The program included exercises like high-rope challenges and structured group meetings, keeping the team engaged and aligned throughout the launch process. Custom toy company Ridemakerz experienced stalled growth and so attempted to align the whole organization behind significant shifts. An executive team of 10 people participated in a focused, off-site retreat for two days, engaging in outdoor team-building and cooking together between intense facilitated sessions. Here, the company could pinpoint weak areas and find gaps in how the team was functioning. Any successful program must have a structured process that aligns people on common ground and appeals to them on a more emotional level. Change is then facilitated when there is engaged leadership, a commitment to developing people, the ability to learn from difficulties, and clear 90-day plans.

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EDSI Commentary

Leaders by definition are not followers and mus be willingto try ‘new’ things and challenges.