Learning Agility: A Key Ingredient to Growth & Development

Many new and young leaders believe that performance is the main basis for career growth, thinking that an exemplary scorecard is a ticket to automatic promotion. Experienced leaders and HR professionals, however, understand that while current performance is essential for promotability, the ability to perform in a new role is far more critical. This is known as potential, which considers various components, including learning agility.

According to ATD Insights (Association for Talent Development), executives with high levels of learning agility are 18 times more likely to be identified as having high potential, demonstrating a strong correlation between learning agility and the recognition of leadership potential. Furthermore, various sources indicate that up to 80% of companies consider learning agility a critical attribute for leadership success.

If you feel stagnant in your current role despite performing well, it might be beneficial to assess and gain insights into your learning agility.

What is Learning Agility?

Learning agility is the ability to quickly learn, adapt, and apply new skills and knowledge in rapidly changing environments. It is critical in today's fast-paced and ever-changing environment, where technologies, processes, and business models are constantly evolving.

One of the most widely used and accepted learning agility models is the Korn Ferry's Learning Agility Model. The model defines several components: People Agility, Result Agility, Mental Agility, Change Agility, and Critical Thinking to be the main components of learning agility. Let's define each of the components:

Korn Ferry's Learning Agility Model

• People Agility: Skill in building diverse relationships, leveraging various perspectives, and adjusting interpersonal styles for effective collaboration. Emphasizes self-awareness, open-mindedness, effective communication, and conflict reduction.
• Results Agility: Ability to achieve outcomes under varied conditions through resourcefulness and adaptability, excelling in challenging situations and motivating others beyond their expectations.
• Mental Agility: Quick, creative, and flexible thinking to navigate complex situations, solve problems innovatively, and maintain curiosity.
• Change Agility: Readiness to initiate and adapt to change, continuously seeking new solutions and leading transformation efforts with an open mind.
• Critical Thinking: Objective analysis and evaluation of issues to form reasoned judgments through logical reasoning and questioning assumptions.

I first encountered this concept while managing HSBC's Management Trainee program, where the selection process included assessing cognitive abilities and potential. It was then that I understood the importance of learning agility in determining potential and identifying future leaders.

I have always known I am a fast learner, adaptive to changes, cognitively above average, results-oriented, and good with people. I believe these traits were recognized by my managers when considering me for promotions. While personally, I didn't need to extensively develop these areas, I focused on enhancing my skill in determining candidates' potential which includes learning agility, incorporating behavioral questions into my interviews.

Test Your Learning Agility!

Let's now test if you have high learning agility. The evaluation below is a psychometric test based on Korn Ferry's Model of Learning Agility, available from TCY Online.

Please note that you will be required to enter your email address, and that you can only take this assessment once.

Take the test now!

How Do You Develop Learning Agility?

There are so many ways for you to develop your learning agility. Here are a few to start with:

1. Take on a New Project: Volunteer for projects outside of your comfort zone to expose yourself to new challenges and learning opportunities.
2. Learn from Different Departments: Spend time learning about functions outside your own area of expertise, either through job shadowing, cross-training, or participating in interdepartmental meetings.
3. Reflective Journaling: Regularly write about your learning experiences, challenges faced, and how you overcame them. This can enhance self-awareness and insight into your learning processes.
4. Seek Feedback Actively: Ask for constructive feedback from peers, supervisors, and subordinates on your performance and use this as a basis for personal development.
5. Set Learning Goals: Identify specific skills or knowledge areas you want to develop. Break these down into actionable steps and commit to a timeline for achieving them.

Determining Someone's Learning Agility

The best way to determine a candidate's learning agility is to assess them using psychometric aptitude assessments. However, this may be costly for some so a good alternative would be through behavioral competency interviews. A good conversation starter that I use is "What was the last skill you had to develop? What was your goal in developing that skill, what steps did you take, and how long did it take you to become fairly competent?"

• Can you tell me about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very different from yours? How did you manage the relationship to achieve a successful outcome?
• Describe a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem. How did you approach the problem, and what creative solutions did you come up with?
• Share an experience where you had to adapt to a significant change at work. How did you handle the transition, and what role did you play in facilitating the change within your team or organization?
• Tell me about a time when you were under a lot of pressure to meet a deadline or achieve a goal. What strategies did you employ to ensure success despite the challenges?
• Give an example of a complex issue you faced and explain how you analyzed the situation to make a decision. What was the outcome, and what would you do differently in hindsight?

The questions above encompass the various learning agility components. Make sure that you do follow-up questions and probe to determine actual demonstration of skills, knowledge, and behavior.

To sum it all up, learning agility is not only a metric for potential growth, but also servers as an indicator or sustainable success. The ability to continuously learn, unlearn, and relearn in response to new challenges and environments is what distinguishes leaders who have high learning agility from the merely competent ones.

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