How can you stay ahead of emerging trends in management education and training?

One thing I've found helpful in the online learning process is the amount of 'thinking independence' I have developed. A self discovery for me is that in contact environments I am more pressurized and less inclined to share candid views and thoughts

One thing I found beneficial about online education is its accessibility. Online education is accessible to anyone with an internet connection, allowing individuals to access education from anywhere in the world. It can be particularly beneficial for those in remote areas or individuals with physical limitations that may hinder traditional in-person attendance.

No doubt most new people need comprehensive training through the whole organization. They also need to see main thrust of the company. On the job. If they are to be an accountant for a delivery company. Put them on the road for a while to see all. Work the dock load trucks. Anything to get them integrated thru the whole company.

Roleplaying scenarios with your team is a great way of preparing strategies and tactics that can be captured in playbooks to deal with potential issues. Thinking about and then walking through how hypothetical risks can be eliminated or mitigated, without the pressure of resolving in realtime, prepares you for the worst and can tease out even more opportunities to learn.

"Experience is the best teacher." This is a quote I've lived by since my time working with students in a classroom. Taking management training and education to the next level can be as simple as taking someone out of their comfort-zone. Don't get me wrong, the idea of this is simple, but actually implementing this in a way that promotes growth takes planning and intention. There are endless "tactics", "strategies", or "theories" that could work, but placing a manager into a position where they have ownership and genuine authority to make change--with support from a leadership team or advisor--provides an opportunity to be exposed to situations and challenges that they may never meet in a text, a presentation, or role-playing scenarios.

Social and peer learning is often overlooked when in a business or corporate setting. Because the idea is to get the most value from a training session for the cost is top of mind when planning, unique learning processes can be overlooked. The biggest benefit to having social learning environments--online and in-person--is the individuality of each participant, their past experiences that've shaped them, and a unique POV that only they can provide. Having a situation in manager education where they have conversations with their like-minded learners can produce incalculable growth due to learning about situations they've never imagined but have been handled by others, or learning about their own actions and how they may be interpreted.

The fact that the world is ever changing is one of the few guarantees in life. Continuous, life-long, learning enables us to meet the demands and predict changes in our environment and teams. "Leaders risk failure when they try something new. Leaders risk irrelevance when they dont." Ryan Leak We must continue to learn to challenge the status quo, adapting the business and ourselves to meet the needs of the market and employees. John C. Maxwell says, "If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. It may mean giving up familiar but limiting patterns, safe but unrewarding work, beliefs no longer believed, and relationships that have lost their meaning..."

Leadership is a lifestyle as opposed to a position. You can't call yourself a leader if you don't strive to live it every day. A leader is someone that takes the reins and works with their team or company to bring value and success to all of those around them. And what is the best way to provide value as a leader? I believe that the answer to that question is intentionally and continuously building and supporting growing leaders. To accomplish this, a leader must be ever-curious, maintain a growth-mindset, and be willing to step aside when new leaders need the chance to stand out. A question for thought: How can someone be a leader if they aren't continuously developing and building themselves, and others, in some tangible way?

I would also like to emphasize the importance of "going back to the basics"; for to be a good leader, one must first prove to be a good follower. Never underestimate the power of a leader who is humble enough to train side-by-side with their employees who are learning something new, or one who takes the time to go back and actually work in their positions for a time before making any major policy changes. In doing so, one not only stands to make a major impact on the entire organization by reducing potential conflicts. They may also inadvertently increase commaraderie, raise respect for one another, and learn to think more thoroughly before taking major action - an overall gain in patience, humility, and wisdom.