My Newest Journey

This weekend I started getting dozens of congratulations on my work anniversary, and I thought, "What anniversary?" It turns out I forgot to put an end date on my LinkedIn profile for SAP, even though I had noted starting at Visa as the new Chief Learning Officer. So thanks to all of you who care enough to stay in touch, especially my SAP colleagues, but there's a new anniversary to celebrate next June!

Making a career change at what will likely be my capstone role has had me thinking a lot about what we can achieve, both personally and professionally, when inspired. What can we transform? Perhaps it's not only our lives, but the lives of those around us -- at work, at home and in our communities.

What Inspires You to Greatness?

When you think back to what has motivated you to get to where you are today, what or who inspired you? Maybe it was a parent, a teacher, extraordinary colleagues or a good boss. For some of you, maybe it was a great company culture that inspired you to be at your personal best.

With my experience across a number of great companies as a leader, researcher or consultant, I’ve come to believe it’s time for the Learning function to stretch to the next level of accountability in an organization -- to inspire our employees to greatness. And what better way to do that than to step back into a role as a Chief Learning Officer for one of the best brands in the world? I’m thrilled to bring that experience to Visa as the company’s first CLO, reporting in to the head of strategy.

At Visa, I’ll be overseeing all Visa learning programs and build on their success to identify other opportunities to deepen our engagement with partners and enable and inspire our employees and leaders to achieve their personal best. 

Two months in to my new job, I’d like to share why a commitment to learning is so important, how learning comes to life at Visa, and two ways we can all integrate learning into our careers, no matter what we do or where we are.

Why Learning Matters

A company with a great learning culture and a robust learning function enables rapid innovation, business success and employee engagement and retention. Employees can quickly build skills and knowledge needed for a rapidly changing business environment. When you work at a company with a great learning culture, you feel like the company has your back to help you futureproof yourself. Yes, you’re accountable for your own development, but everything you need is readily available, easy to access, and the culture nudges you to be better.

Learning is about how we learn in both formal and informal ways. There’s a maxim in the learning industry that most learning happens on the job, with 70% on the job, 20% from your manager or mentors, and 10% in the classroom. With the incredible pace of technology and work changes, we no longer have time to rely on classroom training alone for learning. Transformational programs will always be necessary, but we must focus as well on how people can learn rapidly while working. Whether it’s guided in-app tips, instant connection to experts and forums, or helping leaders incorporate learning tools in their day-to-day managerial practices, learning must be pervasively available. I believe the role of a Chief Learning Officer is to take accountability for 100% of learning in an organization, not just the 10% in the classroom.

Learning at Visa

There were a number of reasons I was drawn to this new role at Visa. Importantly to me, our CEO, Al Kelly, has put talent at the center of our company’s strategic pillars, which showcases our commitment to investing in growth and development. Leaders and executives model the importance of learning across Visa by serving as teachers and creating learning paths for use on our digital campus.

Visa is largely a technology company, with nearly half of our employees in technical roles. (And you thought we issued credit cards!) And, we’re growing, so over half of our employees have been at Visa less than three years. Here, learning is a business imperative to maintain our leadership position in digital commerce.

Also, I am impressed on the base from which we can launch to the next generation of learning at Visa. Our learning culture is reinforced through Visa University, which features modern, state-of-the-art learning centers in Foster City and Singapore and a digital campus with more than 25,000 learning assets accessible globally. Employees can build their payments industry expertise, refine their technical knowledge, develop leadership skills and solve real-world problems.

With Visa’s extensive support and deep investment in learning resources, this is the perfect place to take learning to the next level and define the future of learning in the modern digital business.

Learning Everywhere

As the company’s very first Chief Learning Officer, I’m excited to take this opportunity to think differently, take risks, and try new things when it comes to learning – and know I will be supported along the way. Since I’m on a new learning path personally to get to know Visa and its people, I’d like to provide just a couple of tips for what you can do today to learn on the job:

1. Be curious. One of the best ways to learn is while you are working. If you focus only on rushing to get tasks done, you set aside the opportunity to find out new things simply by asking why, according to a study done at Harvard. A little bit of curiosity every day is one of the best ways to ensure you keep up with the latest tools and practices.
2. Find the time. I know time pressure is real, but it is possible to wake up one day, a year or two from now, and realize that the new people around you have skills that you haven’t acquired – or maybe even heard about. So, once you’ve found something you’re curious about, take a few minutes to access digital content or prioritize your calendar to allow for the occasional in-person class.

I’ll be sharing more updates on my Visa journey, so check back here in the months ahead. I intend to make a difference.

Learn more about Life at Visa, and see what our employees are up to on Instagram.