The L&D Vocation: All about Learners

NOTE: The Eagle2Eagle community is all about supporting Christians who are learning and development professionals. If you'd like so join this community, please visit www.eagle2eagle.com. Membership is free.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Our highest callings as Christians, as we saw in the last two posts, are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Making these essential to who we are as human beings will change everything.

What about our more specific calling as people committed to the learning and development of other people? The path to the L&D profession often includes expertise in human resources and time spent in classrooms. While not scientific, I think most of the instructional designers I know at one point or another were teachers.?

L&D people tend to be those who are highly motivated to see other people grow. We want to see that those we serve have the opportunity to become all that they have within them to become. We are people who willingly invest in the development of others. I suppose that it could be said that if seeing others grow in knowledge, skills, and their role is not a primary driver for you, it might be worth reconsidering your occupation.?

This, of course, should be true of everyone in L&D but it is something we tend to forget in time. Or last least deemphasize. Our roles are often a series of repetitive tasks. We take orders for learning and we crank out modules and other learning experiences. In the corporate world, where efficiency and productivity reign supreme, it's easy to overlook the profound impact that learning and development can have on individuals and organizations.?

For Christians, our vocation offers a unique opportunity to serve God and our learners by equipping and empowering others. God doesn’t usually give completed things. We are given gifts that we are called to make complete. We grow into the initial gifts we have received. ?Patient is not typically something we simply have. We work to become patient people. Or gracious people. Or gentle people. Even the creation of the heavens and the earth in the opening chapters of Genesis is more about what is possible than what fully is. Adam and Eve are given a mandate to complete it by filling it and subduing it (Genesis 1:28). Another way to say this is that we are called to make the earth complete beginning with the gift God has given us.

Think about your learners. Some of us work in large corporations with thousands of people located around the globe. Others lead learning teams in smaller organizations in a single location. But all of us are called to make complete the people entrusted to our learning. We truly are in the business and the calling of people development. We work to accomplish this development through the skills and knowledge we have built that is dedicated to seeing other people grow to their full potential.

Stop for a moment and think about all the lives in which you have influence. Not just the people who work in your company but think about their spouses, children, extended families, friends and communities. L&D, done well, can have a ripple effect through all these relationships. My friend, Bob Chapman, is the CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, a global manufacturing company with 12,000 employees. He tells the story of an older man who went through some training on how to be an active listener. The idea was that better listeners would result in better outcomes for the company. Bob asked this man how the course impacted his work and the man, without hesitation, replied that it made him a better husband because he learned to listen more deeply to his wife. The effect of the learning we create can reach far beyond the walls of our offices and plants.

Our job is to equip others with the knowledge, skills and pathways to more successful lives. Our work, though, goes beyond the content that we create. We also are integral to creating the culture of our workplaces. A holistic approach to learning and development recognizes that individuals are not merely cognitive beings. We are not just things that hold information or have skills that are applied to certain tasks. We are complex beings with emotional, social, and spiritual needs. As Christian L&D professionals, we can integrate these dimensions into our work by:

• Fostering a Positive Work Environment:?Creating a workplace culture that promotes respect, empathy, and understanding. Seeing the image of God in others matters.
• Encouraging Ethical Behavior:?Emphasizing the importance of integrity, honesty, and fairness in all aspects of work. Speaking and living the truth matters.
• Promoting Work-Life Balance:?Helping employees to balance their professional and personal lives. Sabbath matters.
• Developing Leadership Skills:?Equipping leaders to inspire and motivate their teams. Servant leadership matters.
• Encouraging Lifelong Learning:?Fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth. Living up to our potential matters.

As Christian professionals in learning and development, we have a unique opportunity to make a difference in the world. By integrating our faith into our work, we can help to create a more just, equitable, and compassionate workplace. Let us embrace this high calling and strive to be faithful stewards of the talents and abilities that God has given us.

May God bless you in the high calling you have received.?