Article Written by Matt Meuleners, FOCUS Group
Organizations and teams today must navigate rapid change to succeed. Leaders at all levels are tasked with adapting quickly, solving problems efficiently, and finding ways to improve continuously. It is easy to feel like we’re constantly firefighting—solving the same problems over and over or scrambling to keep up with new demands. For middle managers, these challenges are particularly pressing. They must guide their teams through uncertainty while also addressing the broader needs of the organization.
When faced with a new challenge, it is easy to focus only on immediate results. However, this reactive approach can lead to the same problems reoccurring, draining time and resources. To avoid this cycle, consider starting with a simple but powerful question:
Is this challenge a one-off, an occasional problem, or the new normal?
Taking a moment to answer this question before problem-solving ensures that the approach aligns with long-term organizational needs. It can help prioritize efforts, create efficiencies, and build agility. Let us explore how this framework works in practice.
Some problems are one-time events. Examples might include a unique request from leadership, an urgent customer issue, or an unexpected logistical hiccup like a week-long delay in delivery of a new machine for your manufacturing line.
For these challenges, the focus should be on quick execution. Solve the problem efficiently and invest minimal time in documentation apart from what is required for accountability. There is no need to create elaborate systems or processes for problems that are unlikely to happen again.
That said, it is important to track trends. If a “one-off” begins to repeat, it may signal a shift in needs and could require reclassification.
Some problems occur rarely but predictably. These might include quarterly reporting, onboarding a new employee, or addressing a certain type of issue with a vendor or customer. The threshold here is situational – it may be uncommon for your team to experience delayed flights when traveling to visit clients, but is the likelihood high enough to warrant investing time?
For challenges that are likely to recur periodically, a template is the most effective solution.
Rather than starting from scratch each time, document the essential steps to create a reusable framework. This could take the form of:
Templates reduce time and effort while ensuring consistency and quality. They also help others in the organization handle similar tasks efficiently. For example, if you resolve a specific type of customer complaint, create a guide or script that can streamline the process in the future.
Finally, some challenges reflect a fundamental shift in the way work is done. This might include adapting to new regulations, integrating a new technology, or addressing evolving customer expectations. For these situations, it is essential to build a process rather than rely on ad hoc solutions. This also applies to problems or gaps identified in your existing processes.
A process is a documented, validated set of repeatable steps that produce consistent results. Developing processes requires collaboration with team members to ensure they are clear, practical, and actionable. Effective processes also include detailed documentation that can be refined over time.
By investing in robust processes, organizations build resilience and empower teams to respond effectively to ongoing challenges.
Asking, “Is this a one-off, an occasional problem, or the new normal?” helps leaders focus their time and energy where it will have the greatest impact. This simple framework ensures that:
Middle managers are well positioned to embed this habit into their teams’ workflows. Their unique role allows them to balance operational demands with strategic thinking. By encouraging teams to pause and reflect before diving into action, they help build organizational agility and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
The next time you face a new challenge, resist the urge to react immediately. Instead, take a moment to consider whether the problem is a one-off, an occasional occurrence, or the new normal. The answer will guide your approach and ensure the solution works not only for today, but for the future.
By Teresa Pappas, The CARA Group
Massive shifts in the labor market aren’t slowing down. By 2030, an estimated 12 million job transitions will reshape the workforce. Employees are making it clear why they’re leaving—and what they need to stay.
McKinsey reports that workers in lower-wage jobs are 14 times more likely to switch careers than those in higher-wage roles, with many requiring new skills to succeed. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum predicts a 44% shift in required skills over the next five years, driven by technology.
But here’s the opportunity: Organizations that embrace flexible learning paths will not only future-proof their workforce but also enhance engagement and retention. Today’s employees expect development opportunities that meet them where they are. In fact, 76% want to work for a company that supports continuous learning.
Personalized learning isn’t just a perk—it’s a strategic advantage. Companies that invest in tailored, adaptable development programs empower employees, build resilience, and gain a competitive edge.
Read more on how flexible learning drives retention → https://www.thecaragroup.com/flexible-learning-paths/
It’s time for our annual board elections!
Chapter members will be receiving a direct email invitation to vote for open Board of Director roles. There are four open positions, including President Elect, Co VP’s of Professional Development, VP of Sponsorships and VP of Volunteers.
Candidates have been approved by the Nominating Committee and are now put forth to the entire membership. These nominees include Kari Bogdan (President Elect), Christina Moore & Katerina Ekonomou (Co VP’s Professional Development), Cecilia Lillegard (VP of Sponsorships) and Shelli Kanter (VP of Volunteers). In addition to the nominated individuals, members may vote for write-in candidates.
Voting will open Tuesday, September 10th and end Tuesday, September 24th. All members in good standing are eligible to vote. Renew or join to be eligible to vote. If you didn’t receive a direct election invitation email, or experience any difficulties while submitting your vote, please contact our chapter administrator at admin@sewi-atd.org.
Thank you for your time,
Michelle Dable
President-Elect
Happy New Year and Welcome to 2024!
What a difference a week makes! We hope everyone is safe and warm after the recent snowstorm.
As we embark on a new year, filled with opportunities for connection, learning, and growth, we're excited about the fast start with our upcoming events.
First, join us on January 18th for a virtual event, "Performing at Your Best," where we'll explore new ways to manage our environment, reduce stress, and operate at our optimal levels.
On February 2nd, the Performance Improvement PDN will delve into Process Improvement, analyzing the processes employees use to ensure we are addressing the right problems.
Then, on February 8th, Molson Coors will share insights into living their company's value of "Learn Every Day." Join us at Fred's Pub afterward, where Molson Coors will generously provide refreshments and snacks.
Mark your calendars for our Winter Social on March 6th, a time to connect and celebrate our volunteers. Additionally, the Training Delivery PDN group is finalizing details for another outstanding program in March.
Anticipating an incredible year ahead!
Your President Team,
Susan Davies, President
Michelle Dable, President-Elect
Kristin Derwinski, Past President
We are proud to announce the results of the election for the 2024 board openings! Please join us in congratulating the following new board members-elect:
These new members will officially begin their terms in January. Over the next several months, they will be collaborating with the existing board to transition responsibilities and contribute to our operating strategy for 2024.
Thank you to our out-going current board members who will continue to serve the chapter through the year:
Finally, a special thank you to Nikki Palmer-Quade who is finishing up her time on the Presidency tract.
Thank you to all for your support of the chapter!
Chapter members will be receiving a direct email invitation to vote for our open Board of Director roles. There are four open positions including: President Elect, VP Marketing & Communications, VP Community Relations and VP-Digital Experience.
Candidates have been approved by the Nominating Committee for presentation to membership. Voting will open Wednesday, August 30, 2023 and end Thursday September 7, 2023. All members in good standing are eligible to vote. Renew or join to be eligible to vote.
If you do not receive a direct election invitation email or experience any difficulties while submitting your vote, please contact our chapter administrator at admin@sewi-atd.org.
Thank you for your participation!
Susan Davies, President-Elect
By Teresa Pappas, Ph.D., Consultant, The CARA Group
Welcome back learner persona enthusiasts! In the previous article (How Learner Personas Can Enhance your Instructional Design Approach, Part 1) we showed you how five personas captured the core learning motivations of our healthcare emerging leader program population. We described our research process and how we identified participants’ core learning preferences and goals, along with how to best reach them in support of their leadership development needs. Through our analysis, we identified key ways that individuals tended to show up as learners: Champions, Change Agents, Achievers, Connectors, or Troubleshooters.
“Where our learner personas made the biggest difference was in enhancing our design to include instruction and activities that were essential to enhance the learning experience of our participants.”
As a reminder, here is how these five learner personas were defined based on our research:
Champions: Individuals who, above all else, are passionate about making a positive impact on peoples’ lives, providing exceptional above-and-beyond service, and demonstrating a calm and positive approach when working through challenge and conflict.
Change Agents: Individuals who are proactively forward-focused on improvements and see themselves as advocates for positive change within their role and the organization at large. Those individuals who pride themselves, above all else, on being flexible, agile, and resourceful when adapting to change—both incremental & breakthrough.
Achievers: Self-motivated individuals who set a high bar on their personal performance and engage in a relentless pursuit of their ongoing growth and improvement. Those who are driven to be best-in-class in their area of expertise and continually push themselves outside of their comfort zone.
Connectors: Individuals who are focused on making an authentic and personal connection with others (both colleagues and patients alike), model what it means to foster a collaborative team environment and strive to do what is needed in the service of achieving the highest-performing team possible.
Troubleshooters: Individuals who are driven to leverage their skills, knowledge, experience, and creativity when addressing challenges and solving problems. Those who are motivated in demonstrating the initiative to explore creative and out-of-the-box solutions, while building a reputation for being a “go to” resource within their specific area of expertise.
Through our research, we also obtained the following data to describe the goals that different individuals desire as part of their learning experiences:
Apply Skills & Knowledge: Having an opportunity to incorporate their technical/functional knowledge and expertise; staying up-to-date on best practices in their field; observing and learning from others who demonstrate expertise.
Meet Challenges: Having ways to apply their learning experientially while practicing while doing; troubleshooting solutions to refine their approach.
Set & Achieve Goals: Establishing structured learning goals with an opportunity to assess their progress; ensuring a clear understanding of, and alignment with, the “why.”
Flexibility & Independence: Acquiring learning in a flexible manner, including using blended methods and an opportunity to access on-demand content.
Build Relationships: Working with others to solidify their understanding and exchange insights gathered from topics to reinforce content learning.
Innovation & Creativity: Ideating and iterating when solving problems and identifying new opportunities.
Reflective Introspection: Reflecting upon concepts, new insights, and how to apply them; taking practical and tangible next steps to reinforce their learning.
With these foundational elements in place, we were then able to assess how the personas aligned across two distinct and equally important learning spectrums—key learning drivers (short- vs long-term) and overarching leadership interests (intrinsic vs extrinsic). As illustrated below, Champions tend to be intrinsically motivated based on the satisfaction they obtain from helping others and demonstrating leadership in-the-moment. Conversely, intrinsically motivated Achievers are focused on how actions they take today position them to achieve their long-term leadership development goals. While Change Agents are extrinsically motivated toward immediate ways they can influence and lead proactive change, Connectors are guided by the synergy obtained from maintaining network relationships as a way to achieve goals together. Finally, Troubleshooters are agile and flexible, leveraging both short- and long-term opportunities to solve problems and demonstrate leadership in their roles.
Learner Persona Spectrums
You may be thinking, “This all sounds great, but exactly how did this help you to design your leadership development program?” Great question. Let’s get to it. In short, we leveraged these learner personas by including training methods and topics that we knew were critical to our participants. Where our learner personas made the biggest difference was in enhancing our design to include instruction and activities that were essential to enhance the learning experience of our participants. We listened to the powerful examples of learner personas brought to life based on how individuals engaged with their colleagues and patients. Through these examples, we understood how to best tap into individuals’ leadership and learning interests, from their own words. The following table captures a summary of participants' key motivators, mottos that guide their work (from their direct quotes), learning goals, preferences, how to reach them, barriers to learning, and leadership interests.
When combined, these key learner persona elements are provided below and highlight critical aspects addressed in the development of the emerging leader program.
Learner Persona Instructional Design Dimensions
In the end, the Emerging Leader Program was designed to meet the needs of all five learner personas, as described above. The program objectives were to implement an interactive learning experience that provided participants with practical concepts, tools, and techniques to develop their leadership skills. The program target audience included employees of color who were ‘ready now’ for, or recently promoted to, a first-time leadership role. It was our goal that by completing the emerging leader program, individuals would not only solidify their readiness to take on a leadership role but also shorten their learning curve and increase their probability of success in the process. One key factor in achieving this was aligning our learner persona details throughout the program’s design.
We also developed an Emerging Leader Learning Journey map to demonstrate how individuals would progress through the program components. The learning journey illustrated the pathway through the program, following a Leading Self, Leading Others, and Leading the Business framework. This included specific learning content that began with fundamental concepts for transitioning to leadership, involved content on leading teams and creating an inclusive team culture, as well as content on developing business acumen and understanding compliance, laws, and policies relevant to a leadership role. The learning journey also described specific milestones through the 12-week program, along with delivery method (which was a blend of online a-synchronous self-study combined with virtual instructor led weekly sessions.). We were intentional in designing the program to leverage their technical skills and comfort in working with technology, ensuring flexibility (with structure) to focus their learning, and providing a ‘sandbox’ with multiple experiential opportunities to practice new skills while working together.
We hope you found this case study example both interesting and informative. It was a fascinating opportunity for us to incorporate learner personas into our design approach. As instructional design and learning professionals, we are always looking for new ways to enhance our process and end results for our clients. This article series shows how learner personas provide an important tool to add to our toolkit to help us achieve this goal.
When was the last time you've created a development program wondering "How well will this align with the audiences' inherent learning needs...really?" If this is a question you've asked yourself, this blog issue is for you! In this article we present a case study introducing the concept of 'learner personas,' which can make sure you're tapping into individuals' underlying learning needs, interests, and motivations. We will also show how knowing this information helped to design and develop a powerful leadership development program, based on a recent client example. But first, some background.
"One thing that worked particularly well was taking a thorough, thoughtful, and customized approach by incorporating learner personas as a foundational instructional design element."
The learner personas you'll see come to life in this article were developed as part of an initiative involving a consortium of three health systems in the Chicago area. The consortium shared the collective goal of positively influencing and enhancing the diversity of the local labor market. The mission was to remove barriers and create avenues for nontraditional workforce populations to further develop their employment opportunities.
As a result, an emerging leader program was designed to support people of color in developing skills that will position them to advance into leadership roles within the healthcare sector. Ultimately, the program rests upon the fact that diversity in leadership is not only the right thing to do, but it's also good for business—as inclusive organizations have demonstrated themselves to be more profitable, innovative, and agile than others. The opportunity in creating this leadership development program was to truly understand individuals' unique learning styles and preferences so that program customization would be aligned with participant needs across critical dimensions.
LEARNER PERSONAS
Enter the learner persona. Ultimately, the objective of learner personas is to appropriately represent the individuals you are trying to develop. In doing so, personas highlight individuals' skills, motivations, and learning preferences—as well as the challenges and struggles that may impact their work and learning experience. According to Harvard Business Review (Peter Merholz, 2009) "A persona is the single most effective way to generate and spread empathy throughout an organization." Indeed, the process of creating personas shows a desire to tap into the core needs of a learner group so you can best customize your program content and approach. This was important, as the leadership development program was designed to rectify the fact that current leadership development initiatives do not typically address some of the most critical challenges, behaviors, and skill gaps that nontraditional participants faced within their communities.
To ensure that our personas were appropriately reflective of our population of learners, we embarked upon a structured interview process with a sample of 24 high-performing individuals across the organizations represented. During the interviews we collected a variety of information, including targeted questions across the following areas: Current role and work dynamics, work experiences and approach toward learning and development, opportunities to demonstrate leadership, future work and leadership interests, as well as learning interests and motivations.
Data were analyzed and themes extracted that identified individuals' work and learning style preferences, learning goals, barriers to accessing learning, how to best reach them, as well as their leadership interests. Important to note is that each interview was conducted by a member of two consulting organizations working in partnership. This ensured that interview questions reflected the cultural needs of the target audience and provided a consistent interpretation of interview responses.
Results of our thematic analysis produced five distinct learner personas, described below:
We also administered a brief online survey to augment the resulting interview themes, by providing participants with additional time to reflect upon their: Key motivations, learning style, learning approach, and current technical skill levels. The resulting survey responses reinforced certain aspects of the learning environment that would best facilitate participants' learning experience. For example, individuals stated preferring a balanced learning approach, including both an interest in learning as part of a group as well as taking time independently to reinforce content learning on their own. The vast majority of participants also reported their current technical level as skilled, being able to work with different technologies with little help. This was critical information to validate, as the leadership development program was designed to be delivered using a virtual format.
In the end, the emerging leader program was designed to meet the needs of all five learner personas. Specifically, the development of learner personas was based upon who the program was designed for as its key audience. Based on interview comments obtained, we developed a high-level program content framework including what skills and behaviors were demonstrated by the most effective emerging leaders. We then developed an emerging leader program journey map to demonstrate how individuals would progress through the program components.
As with any case study, it becomes important to reflect upon lessons-learned. One thing that worked particularly well was taking a thorough, thoughtful, and customized approach by incorporating learner personas as a foundational instructional design element. This provided an opportunity to later customize learning content and methods in a way that met participants where they were. It was also helpful to take a targeted needs assessment approach across the three involved organizations as part of developing the local community. One challenge that was addressed involved the timing and scope of an initiative of this magnitude. When it became clear that adjustments needed to be made to further reinforce the time-phased implementation of the action learning project during the 12-week program, the consulting and internal healthcare project team met and adapted the approach, as needed.
Now, stay tuned for Part 2! This is where we'll show how we leveraged these personas in the development of the emerging leader program itself. Specifically, in our next article you'll see how we leveraged these learner personas to customize our instructional design and development efforts—as well as the impact it has on program content and approach.
By: Daniel Stewart, President & Executive Consultant
Every group has a culture of some sort. Families, communities, affinity groups—anywhere people gather for any length of time and purpose; culture will form. The workplace is no different, and everyone benefits when employees align with company culture.
Your company culture is the totality of your processes, practices, values, and expectations as expressed across the organization. It often develops organically, at least in part, as founders and early employees bring their perspectives and preferences to the organization. If a culture is intentional, it may only be developed partly or as a secondary effect of writing out specific values or practices.
Any culture has nuance and depth that makes it unique. We’ve identified the Eight Dimensions of Culture, and within each dimension, most companies fall somewhere between two ends of a spectrum. In most cases, neither end of the spectrum is good or bad—it’s just an aspect of culture. There is one exception—on the dimension of engagement, morale, and dedication, a company culture on the “committed” end of the spectrum is preferable to one on the “indifferent” side. Employees can’t be aligned to the other seven dimensions if they are indifferent!
Culture is sometimes tricky to define in its entirety. For many employees, aligning with company culture can feel almost as challenging as moving to a foreign country. Employees may be able to identify one aspect of the culture, such as leadership transparency and openness. Or they may be drawn to the company by specific policies, such as flexible schedules and practices that reveal a family-oriented culture.
Cultural alignment is the idea that employees know not only how to define the culture but also how to practice it. They know the unspoken rules and preferences, and ideally, they believe in the culture and become champions of it.
When employees align with the culture, business outcomes improve. Gartner found that when employees and workplace culture are aligned, there is up to a 9% improvement in revenue goals, 8% in talent management goals, and 22% in employee performance.
The first step in achieving cultural alignment is to define your culture. At this point, a cultural assessment performed by someone outside your organization can be valuable. Someone with an outsider’s perspective can more objectively identify strengths and areas for improvement.
Next, with this information in hand, make a plan to address areas of improvement to strengthen the culture. This plan could include everything from the practical, such as reorganizing people to make teams more aligned with your organizational culture, to the more amorphous, such as encouraging transparency. While behaviors are associated with the areas targeted for improvement, changing something that’s more of a soft skill will likely take considerably longer than some practical, hard-skill-oriented shifts.
Consider employing a guide to help you align your employees with your company culture. If you were traveling to a foreign country, you might hire a local guide at first—someone who can help you navigate challenging scenarios and improve your interactions. Stewart Leadership’s experts can serve as your guides to help implement changes and improve alignment.
As you implement your plan, remember—aligning employees with your culture takes time, patience, and a lot of practice. Leaders may need to build trust with employees, and employees may need time to “learn a new language,” metaphorically speaking.
Focusing on aligning employees with your culture may be challenging, but the results can make the effort worthwhile. Just as someone who has become immersed in another culture comes away richer and more fulfilled as a result, your employees and your organization both can find great personal satisfaction and improved business outcomes by improving cultural alignment.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel Stewart - President & Executive Consultant
Daniel Stewart is a sought-after talent management and leadership development consultant and coach with proven experience advising senior leaders, leading change, and designing leadership-rich organizations. He leads Stewart Leadership’s extensive consulting practice, business development, and international partnerships.
By: Daniel Stewart - President & Executive Consultant
No one steps into a leadership role with every skill necessary to lead a team successfully. In fact, no one steps into any role completely prepared to excel in the position. Part of becoming excellent is learning, growing, and maturing over time.
An Individual Action Plan can make the difference between struggling to fully develop and thriving through the process while preparing to take on roles of greater responsibility. When creating your Individual Action Plan (IAP) with your boss, make sure your plan includes three kinds of learning: experiential, relationship, and formal.
Experiential learning is precisely what it sounds like—learning through experience and practice. It will include the obvious forms of learning, such as on-the-job practice, but it can also involve rotational and special assignments, such as projects or committee roles. This kind of learning should constitute about 70% of development.
Just because it’s experience-based doesn’t mean your experiential learning should be haphazard or disorganized. You should track your experiential learning in tandem with other types of learning so that you approach it intentionally and with a focus on holistic development. With the help of your boss, mentor, coach, or colleagues, identify and target specific areas for improvement. Identify metrics that can be tracked and measured to guide your progress and evaluate the overall effort at the end of a defined period.
Types of experiential learning could include:
Approximately 20% of your development should be focused around relationships. This type of learning falls into one of two groups. The first type of learning involves personal, one-on-one development through coaching, mentoring, advising, or relationships with colleagues, peers, or associates. Those personal connections might involve formal or informal feedback, but they’ll also involve ample opportunities for connection, discussion, and real-time problem-solving.
The second type of relationship-based learning comes through assessments and formal feedback tools such as 360° Feedback, Personality, EQ, leadership, or work-style assessments. This kind of learning is still based in relationships, but assessments provide the framework for feedback. Once information is collected, the assessment or feedback can be applied to the IAP for specific areas of development. Assessments can also be used as part of a mentoring or coaching arrangement.
Relationship learning can include:
Formal learning can include obvious avenues such as college coursework, technical certifications, or continuing education, but it may also include the kind of pursuits that don’t result in a degree or certificate. Reading books or articles relevant to one’s profession, writing and publishing thought leadership pieces, or attending or presenting at a conference can all be considered formal learning.
For many people who have spent years advancing their education and keeping relevant certifications current, it may be tempting to pursue only formal learning options for development. After all, formal learning is comfortable and familiar, and when it’s passive, as in reading or consuming webinars or conference speeches, it doesn’t require a lot of interaction or measurement.
Professionals who want to develop their leadership skills fully should limit formal learning to only about 10% of development. This doesn’t mean limiting one’s reading or postponing continuing education. Instead, when designing an Individual Action Plan, ensure that the overall goals are weighted heavily in favor of experiential learning, with only 10% of the formal plan focused on formal education. Learning of this type should be designed to support your long-term goals.
Formal learning includes:
Learning to develop oneself and others is key to thriving in a leadership role. By taking control of your personal development with an Individual Action Plan that includes the three key types of learning, you will be able to deliver excellence in your current role and prepare yourself for the next one—and thrive through the process.
Stewart Leadership offers a variety of assessments and coaching options to help you reach your leadership goals. To learn more, contact us.
1) Do you currently have an Individual Action Plan? If not, what would it take to develop one?
2) What is one kind of experiential learning that you have not pursued? Can you identify an opportunity to pursue that in your current role?
3) What is one assessment that you would like to add to your IAP?
Contact Usadmin@sewi-atd.orgPhone: 608-204-9815Association ManagersSeth TrickelHeather L. Dyer, CAE
