Who leads the leaders? The Business Learning Institute, for starters. Renowned instructors from the BLI and its affiliate, the Maryland Association of CPAs, offer their best advice for building organizational and executive leadership skills.
Editor's note: This post was written by Andrew Rose, a BLI thought leader in social media. Andrew makes the phone ring for Naden/Lean, CPAs, a Maryland-based firm that specializes in dental accounting.
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In a world where social media platforms pop up like new quantum particles in a high-energy collider, here is another one that has been around for a few years still seeking its stability and relevance.
In 2011, at the Association of Accounting Marketing (AAM) annual conference, Jessica Levin (the social media maven) told me about Empire Avenue, a stock exchange where you could earn returns (in the form of Eaves) from the social activity of people you do (or don’t personally) know.
It lost its charm after awhile since I wasn’t seeing much search engine lift from it, so I stopped using it.
Fast forward to last week.
One of our firm’s Facebook pages was stuck at 298 likes. I had asked as many of my friends as possible to like it and it seemed we had plateaued.
I thought back to Empire Avenue and remembered I could create a "mission." For a certain number of Eaves, I could pay other Empire Avenue users to like my page.
And it worked.
I got over the hurdle and am now in the low 300s of likes.
I am experimenting with how many Eaves to offer per mission to make it successful, but it appears that $10,000 is that magic number.
We haven’t spent a dime of real money on this, but I have all kinds of ideas on how to use it to drive traffic to our YouTube channel, follow our blogs, etc.
The Top 5 Learning Trends identified in a global learning & talent management survey by Masie in May, 2012:
1. Leadership Development 2. On the job Training/Learning 3. eLearning Trends 4. Social & Collaborative Learning 5. Video Learning Segments (using our blog and video interviews with thought leaders in the CPA Profession)
Here is how we are working with our learning leaders to address these major trends. It starts with our philosophy about L > C, that in a period of rapid change and increasing complexity, the winners will be those individual and organizations whose rate of learning can be greater than the rate of change (and that of their competition).
So what does this mean for CPAs and the people charged with keeping their L>C?
At BLI we are the Trusted Advisers to the Trusted Adviser of the Trusted Advisers. That is our team advises the top learning leaders in the CPA Profession who in turn advise the CPAs and CPA Firms (Trusted Advisers to the Truusted Advisers of the Trusted Advisers).
We have achieved this role through our work in the Profession and in the learning and association communities. We are scanning the rapidly changing environments of the CPA Profession, leadership, strategy, technology and learning to enhance your ability to turn these insights into action. We collaborate with our clients, our thought leaders, and our strategic partners to bring you up to the minute trends and techniques to keep your L>C.
We do this through our leadership at the highest levels of the CPA Profession like our role in creating a future for the Profession in 2025 with the CPA Horizons project, our strategic planning experience with the Top 100 CPA firms and many AICPA committees, our experience as the largest provider of customized on-site training in the CPA Profession (to both firms and Fortune 500 finance teams), our success with the AICPA Leadership Academy, and our development of a curriculum based on competencies identified in research for the future skill sets needed by CPAs at our Business Learning Institute.
We find that the key to keeping your L > C is the five C's:
Competency – Building a competency approach that goes beyond technical skills and is linked to firm strategy – see our approach we call The Bounce here.
Career Paths – Connecting your people to how they will advance in your organization and matching skills to these levels - see the Guide to the Bounce here
Continuous Learning – JIT or Just In Time learning capabilities that allow learners to take responsibility for their own learning at the direction of the firm - we have an entire curriculum of on-demand courses focused on the "success skills" and leadership proficiences here
Collaboration (including social learning) - The experience curve is being replaced by the collaboration curve. We use the "wisdom of the crowd" to help your team connect and collaborate better in their learning experiences with new tools to make learning that matters stick. At BLI we are leading the CPA Profession with the use of collaboration tools and techniques (for an example see this post and this preso on social learning)
Culture - The latest word is that culture (winning cultures) trumps strategy. New concepts from the latest research on work/life integration, engagement, and employee happiness are opportunities for learning leaders to take a lead role in driving corporate culture through learning programs (See The Top Two Questions Top Talent Wants to Know Now).
Taken together, these five C's work to amplify the speed and agility of the firm turning the flywheel of strategy and results.
Resources here:
Listen to our "top gun" instructors tell you "Why BLI"
There are two types of futurist predictions, uncertain trends and certain trends (data-driven trends). Demographics is one of those "certain trends" as it is easily tracked, although often over-looked.
The latest workforce trends are pointing to a looming crisis as the number of Baby Boomers leaving the workforce in the next five years will be staggering.
Here's the rub. Did you know that there will be only one Gen Xer for every two Baby Boomers who retire in the next five years? That's two leaders out and only one potential to replace them. That leaves us with some big questions:
How will you replace the critical leadership positions in your organization?
How will you keep and develop your critical manager levels in your organization?
How will you win the war for top talent?
The good news is that there is a way to tip the odds in your favor so you have a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining top talent.
The bad news is that you have to start now and it takes some work.
Here are the top two things top talent wants now and will give you the advantage:
They want to "see" the career path in your organization; and
They want to know how you will help them acquire new skills to advance in their careers.
These two things are the "what" and "how" for all levels of top talent and will help you win the jobs war and support your leadership succession. Turns out this is also the key for attracting the newest generation to your workplace, the millennials.
Here is what our research over the past decade, working with hundreds of leading organizations, has shown us:
Start with "what". We have created a "model" career path for CPAs in finance and accounting we call the Bounce. It follows the career of an entry level accountant as they acquire the Technical Proficiencies required by the Profession. It coincides nicely with the 10,000 hour "mastery" concepts of Malcolm Gladwell (from his book "Outliers"). Then the career trajectory needs to change direction as the Professional needs to add Leadership Proficiencies as they manage people and projects and take on a role that is more external (customer/client) facing.
We call this change in direction or turning point, the Bounce. It is the critical pivot point where the career trajectory changes course as they learn to master the new skills needed for success.
Take a look at this short video that describes the Bounce.
Start with the Bounce as a career ladder that you can customize for your job roles and levels. This gives you a tool to communicate the career path in your organization. We find many accounting HR and learning professionals love the emphasis on technical proficiency on the left side of the bounce as a prerequisite for moving to the leadership side as many new professionals would like to skip that and go right to partner or CFO role.
Next work on the "how". Create a curriculum based on the critical competencies for the job levels that support the strategic plan and goals of your organization. These can then be mapped to each level in the bounce and then used to communicate to your talent that you have the learning plans that support their career development and most importantly the strategic initiatives of your organization. We have researched the top five competencies needed for leadership proficiency in the CPA Profession and have a complete blended curriculum to support these. There is more information here Download Guide-to-Bounce-Final.
Our research has shown that leading organizations are also using a blended approach to offering training to their teams and using technology to track their learning.
The Bounce can become a powerful recruitment and retention tool as a recent PWC report, Managing Tomorrow's People, found that "training and development is the most highly-valued employee benefit, three times as desirable as cash bonuses"
Our learning team has worked with some of the largest CPA firms and Fortune 500 teams to create and manage learning that supports the development of these critical Leadership proficiencies for their top talent.
Check out our on-demand e-learning portfolio of leadership programs (click on "GO" button for browse catalog) and our full library of Leadership Proficiencies available in multiple formats (keynote, on-site, webcasts, on-demand).
Contact us if you want to bring the Bounce to your organization!
Note: The following was written by Pam Devine, customized learning solutions manager for the Business Learning Institute:
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We have a saying here at the Business Learning Institute: L > C. That is, your L (learning) must be greater than or equal to your C (the rate of change).
In keeping with that philosophy, I had the privilege recently of attending the Bersin Impact 2012 Conference. The conference was attended by CLOs and high-level corporate learning professionals from the world’s largest global companies. The theme of this year’s conference was "Building Agility Through People," and the opening keynote given by Josh Bersin, president and CEO of Bersin and Associates, was inspiring.
Bersin & Associates is the premier global provider of world-class research, tools, and advisory services in talent management, corporate learning, leadership development, talent acquisition, and human resources.
In his opening remarks, Josh Bersin spoke about the "agile enterprise" and how the old way of doing things and old models will no longer work.
Wikipedia defines business agility as "the ability of a business to adapt rapidly and cost efficiently in response to changes in the business environment. Business agility can be maintained by maintaining and adapting goods and services to meet customer demands, adjusting to the changes in a business environment and taking advantage of human resources."
People need to be considered an appreciating asset.
Customers are now in charge.
In today’s fast-moving environment, all businesses must focus on speed, agility and customer focus. There will be a new model of management. The agile enterprise will consist of:
Highly connected, virtual teams.
Collaboration to meet customer needs rapidly.
Using data to make rapid customer focused decisions.
According to Pat Crull, CLO of Time Warner Cable and former CLO of MacDonalds, "In prior economic recoveries we have always rebuilt our organizations the way that we did before. This time is different. We are not going back. We are going to be leaner, quicker, and have to do more with less forever onward."
According to The Economist, CEOs define an agile organization as having these four components:
Rapid decision making.
A high performance culture.
Flexible management of teams.
Transparent availability of information.
We at The Business Learning Institute fit within these parameters. Does your organization? Are you training and treating people as an appreciating asset? Is your L > C? Are you customer focused? If not, how can you make changes to get there?
As the Great Recession of 2008 begins to recede, organizations are beginning to ask, “What’s next? How do we succeed in this ’new normal?’”
A tsunami of changes has swept over us, changing the business environment, workforce, and workplace in what many are saying are permanent and fundamental ways. Smart organizations are planning how they will survive and thrive in this “new normal.”
Questions like these are on the top of every executive’s mind:
• Is our organization prepared for the pending recovery?
• Is our organization positioned to thrive in the “new normal?”
• How do we prepare our organization to survive in constantly changing conditions?
• Do we have the bench strength to navigate the increasingly competitive environment?
Answer:
The two Ls -- learning and leadership -- will be the keys to future success in an increasingly complex world. Leading organizations have adopted new strategies for dealing with this rapidly changing world. They are strategically and systematically focusing on learning and leadership development to get and keep their competitive advantage.
The starting point is always your business strategy, then it is about prioritizing the competencies you need to execute that strategy.
BLI can help you with both, strategic planning and curriculum design. We have developed full competency models for CPA Firms and global finance teams. These competency models are structured into a career ladder and can be tracked in a customized LMS (Learning Management System) or imported into an existing one.
In an era of rapid change and increasing complexity, the winners will be those people and organizations who can learn faster than the rate of change and faster than their competition.
How is training and learning changing in this "new normal"?
What are the new skills needed to keep up with this rapidly changing world?
How will you equip your people to do more with less? To make decisions amid ambiguity?
At BLI, we work on these questions with you to design and develop curriculum and programs that truly make a difference for your people and your organization.
Listen to interviews with some of our "top gun" instructors from a recent thought leader symposium we held.
We worked with the Top 100 CPAs firms and the AICPA to facilitate a strategic plan for the Major Firms Group and work with many corporations and firms on strategic planning.
For more examples of our "top gun" instructors, check out our clips here.
We are the largest provider of custom on-site training to CPA firms and corporations in the CPA / Finance market. Our clients include the Top CPA Firms across the US and many of the Finance teams of the Fortune 1000. We work with government agencies and non-profits to bring high impact "success skills" to their organizations.
We can design a full curriculum and offer training customized to your organization. Our training can be delivered on-site, webcast, on-demand e-learning, and full blended learning options for maximum impact.
Let us help you keep your L > C.
If you want training and learning that makes a difference, check out our catalog and contact us at pam@bizlearning.net (Pam Devine)
In the face of the chaotic world we find ourselves in, how do we bend without breaking? How do we face all of the challenges of work and life and thrive?
The answer is to take back control of our life. or as Gretchen says, fill your bucket up with plinks.
Gretchen Pisano, BLI Thought leader offers some hope and inspiration in her BLI Live talk, the P.link - Positivity and Resilience in the face of Chaos.
She shows how you can use the PERMA equation (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship with others, Meaning & Purpose, and Achievement -slide 23) to increase your well-being and flourish. Drawing on the latest evidence-based research out of Positive Psychology from UPENN, Harvard and others, Gretchen shows us how to take back our life and well-being.
Check out this short video and view her presentation here
What would happen if we could spread access to this type of thinking? What if your entire team was able to become more resilient and positive, able to thrive personally and professionally? What would that mean to your organization's performance.
If you want rocket fuel for your organization, you need to fill your team up with plinks. We can help.
This is a key component in our Leadership Academy or as a stand alone program in blended learning formats - live, public seminars, on-site, webcast, and on-demand. Look for our entire bundle of P.link programs coming soon.
I know you heard about all of the excitement from our first annual BLI Thought Leader Summit. We are excited to bring you the "best of" clips from some of the best instructors in the business.
BLI "Top Gun" Greg Conderacci has taught hundreds of people about leadership, energy management, high performance management and yet he says that the conversation invariably comes back to vampires. That's right vampires, energy vampires, the kind that can "suck the life out of you".
Check out Greg's tips on slaying your energy vampires in this short but powerful BLI Live clip.
View Greg in a 2 hour upcoming webcast on February 23, 2012 at 2:00pm (EST) register here
and his popular Ethic program will be webcast on March 22, 2012 at 11:00 am (EST) register here
Here are more of Greg's courses available for your firm or company on-site:
We asked this of our strategic partner, friend, and author, Emmanuel Gobillot after a major keynote at a national conference.
His answer?
"Anything, as long as it's you at your best,” said Gobillot, a BLI provider and author ofLeadershift: Reinventing Leadership for the Age of Mass Collaboration. “Rob Goffee (a professor of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School) described it best when he said the aim of any leadership development is for you to be yourself – just better, with skill. (Pictured is Tom Hood - CEO of BLI with Emmanuel Gobillot in Pasadena, CA).
"I don't want to preclude it by saying, 'This is the type of leader we need.' As long as you are being the best you can be, just being yourself, with self awareness, self control, the ability to understand, then I think any style of leadership will do in terms of how it is expressed, as long as it is expressed naturally and authentically. It falls apart when you try to be someone you have never been."
In other words, as long as you stick to your values and inspire greatness and loyalty in others, Gobillot says any leadership style will do.
Which leads us to the really important stuff:
According to Gobillot, today’s leaders have roughly 14,600 days left on this planet – give or take a few hundred days here and there.
Let that sink in, then consider a recent survey that asked older Americans what they would do differently with their lives, given a second chance. Their responses: Ask bigger questions, take more risks and live life with purpose.
Gobillot's question to us is, "Why wait?" The only difference between today and tomorrow is that tomorrow's number will be 14,599. The countdown begins from there.
What will you have to show when that number reaches zero?
If your training or CPE is not life changing, maybe you should be thinking about BLI?
That was just one of the tweets from our "top gun" session last Friday.
Fifteen of the "best of the best" instructors came together with the MACPABLI team. These are our "top gun" instructors who have together made us one of the largest providers of customized training in the CPA Profession and the business community.
Several unique attributes differentiate training from BLI from the others - passionate instructors and staff, practical experience, and true professionalism. These were evident as each instructor led a six minute BLI Live Talk at our symposium this past Friday at the CPA Center in Towson, Maryland.
The second major differentiator is our customers. They say you can tell a lot about a company (or person) by the company they keep. BLI has been around since 1999 and has worked with Fortune 500 finance teams to the largest CPA firms in the world. We have worked with small to regional CPA Firms and individual CPAs in over 21 states. These customers keep us sharp.
Last year we taught over 600 programs on "success skills" all across the US at CPA firms, companies, and other organizations. Customized, on-site training by the industry's best instructors and facilitators.