Work – and Dated Ideas About Work – Could Kill You #diversityofthought #gender #work

I spent most of the week in Miami at the Spring CLO Symposium, a biannual event my company throws for learning leaders.Work kills

One of our keynote speakers was Brigid Schulte, author of “Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time.” A seasoned journalist for the Washington Post, Schulte spoke with refreshing candor about an issue most everyone can relate to – not having enough time.

Schulte presented the issue in a heart wrenching way, however. For her, not having enough time meant more than exposing herself to physically toxic levels of stress. It meant more than struggling to meet an unreasonable and dated perception of the ideal worker – more on that later – for her, not having enough time meant missing out on once in a life time moments with her children.

She described one particular stressed out day – in a loop of stressed out days – where her children wanted her to join them in the yard jumping on their trampoline. She said something like, I’ll be right there – she was working on her very long to do list – and when she looked up again, her children were gone, and it was dark. The moment was also gone, never to return again. Continue reading “Work – and Dated Ideas About Work – Could Kill You #diversityofthought #gender #work”

Learning, leadership and thought-provocation – three days in Miami. #learning #CLOsym

Brigid SchulteThere’s nothing like being a winner.

The thrill of victory, intimate knowledge of a job well done, and then there’s the recognition. Our 2015 LearningElite winners understand the feeling well, as Chief Learning Officer’s spring symposium is also when the LearningElite Gala takes place and all of this years’ 71 bronze, silver and gold winners were recognized over wine and laughs from Second City.

It was the perfect kick off to our bi-annual event – or as I think of it in my mind, our bi-annual, in-person learning extravaganza. I usually do a few video interviews with learning leaders at the event – watch for my talk with ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen; what a nice guy, and what a wonderful, lesson filled story he has to tell – and it’s always tough to wrestle my interviewees away from the networking opportunities that alternate workshops and keynotes.

I had to physically pull CHK Baptist Health CLO Justin Lombardo away from the crowd of people who wanted to pick his brain after he delivered a short, but strong Voice of the CLO presentation on what to do with yourself after you transition out of the CLO role. Hint, he found another CLO role – one with a finite end date. Continue reading “Learning, leadership and thought-provocation – three days in Miami. #learning #CLOsym”

The learning was fierce, the weather was fabulous, but all good things must come to an end – day 3 recap #CLOsym #learning

The last day of the Spring 2015 CLO Symposium was sunny and hot. Sadly, I couldn’t bring much sun back to the Windy City, but the lessons learned around the value of time and the need to maximize it via work life balance and short bursts of learning will stick with me and hopefully all … Continue reading The learning was fierce, the weather was fabulous, but all good things must come to an end – day 3 recap #CLOsym #learning

Wal-Mart Puts Up Cash to Close Skills Gap #learning #development #skillsgap #Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced late last week it will donate $16 million in grants to seven nonprofit groups in an effort to close the skills gap for more than 12,000 American, entry-level workers in retail and related industries such as transportation and distribution.walmart

The grants are one piece of a five-year $100 million commitment to facilitate the education-to-employment system in this country, which Walmart Foundation President Kathleen McLaughlin said is broken, in a Fortune article.

The seven non-profits — Achieving the Dream, The ACT Foundation, Dress for Success, Goodwill Industries, Jobs for the Future, McKinsey Social Initiative and the National Able Network — will partner with government agencies and employers to develop programs and tools to help entry-level employees build skills and find employment. Continue reading “Wal-Mart Puts Up Cash to Close Skills Gap #learning #development #skillsgap #Walmart”

President Obama Wants to Make Community College Free #learning

Are you willing to work for your two-year degree? If you can maintain a 2.5 GPA and make steady progress toward completion of your program, President Barack Obama wants to help you get an education. He unveiled plans Thursday for America’s College Promise, a program that likely will be welcomed by college students who would … Continue reading President Obama Wants to Make Community College Free #learning

Succession Planning and Learning in the State of Tennessee #government #learning

Everything you ever wanted to know about succession planning and learning strategy for the State of Tennessee. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but Chief Learning Officer Trish Holliday took time to talk in detail with me about the impact her work has had on the state and on the workforce. Continue reading Succession Planning and Learning in the State of Tennessee #government #learning