Continuous Learning and Human Centric Skills
A monthly email for People-Centered Leaders with three leadership development trends from last month + actionable strategies and practical tips to apply at your organization. Last month was defined by continuous learning and human-centric skills.
Flexibility and adaptability are trends driven by where people work which has been circulating since 2020. Even with some companies moving to in-office work we still see dispersed teams fueling topics such as virtual communication, trust-building, and asynchronous collaboration.
Apply it:
Define flexibility and adaptability as leadership competencies within your organization. Consider leaders who exude flexibility and adaptability- what are their strengths, what skills do they have, and what do they do?
Review engagement surveys, performance reviews, and other employee or 360 feedback- what can you learn about the adaptability and flexibility of your leaders?
Talk with leaders and company leadership, what is important about adaptability and flexibility within your organization? How can it fuel goals for 2025 and into the future? Support leaders to develop tangible commitments to move in this direction.
Human skills and continuous learning, human skills or more traditionally known as soft skills need to evolve based on new challenges and technologies just as tech skills do, but the extra element of people changes makes the need for continuous learning even more valuable.
Apply it:
Resocialize “soft skills” as required leadership competencies. If you have not yet, identify necessary human skills and talk with leaders and people managers about the importance and value of these skills. Note champions already bought in and opportunities where managers or leaders still use the soft skills terminology and de-emphasize the importance.
Review existing systems, career maps, recognition structures, performance management scales, and skill development terminology. Observe where language and systems support fixed learning. Work to redefine what it means to be an expert. Experts do not acquire knowledge within a fixed system and then sit at the top, experts recognize the system is always changing and sit in the middle developing feedback loops to consistently learn and iterate their approach based on the changing environment.
Begin recognizing and highlighting leaders and teams that support continuous learning at an individual and team level reinforcing productive behaviors.
Coaching and emotional intelligence are emphasized to support the trends above. Coaching evokes awareness and is a leading tool for continuous improvement especially when targeted. Emotional intelligence is required for adaptability, flexibility, and the awareness needed for a commitment to continuous improvement.
Apply it:
If you are not already using one, consider a 1:1 or group coaching program.
For emotional intelligence, start by defining it. It is awareness of your emotions, management of your actions, self-motivation, empathy, and relationship management.
Supporting emotional intelligence development could be an investment in benefits that support therapy, an EQ survey, or circulating free resources. Review where your organization already supports emotional intelligence development and if needed commit to some new initiatives next year.
Bonus Trend: AI has been circulating since ChaptGPT was released. The evolving AI trend is around the power of AI with human intelligence. As an example, we use AI to aggregate top monthly trends and resources and add application strategies from our Praxis Playbook: AI + human intelligence. AI is just a buzzword without tangible examples. How are you and your team utilizing AI? Read more examples here.
Read more:
What Else…
Monthly Best Praxis: Training for Development
Read our latest Monthly Best Praxis for leaders here.
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About Talent Praxis
Praxis is bridging the gap between theory and action.
We help companies and leaders practice proven academic management theories in the workplace to build results-driven teams.
Management and leadership are not skills you learn once but rather ongoing practices to achieve results.
Talent Praxis offers custom leadership development programs including leadership coaching, training in people management, and consulting in performance management to help leaders and companies develop their own strategic praxis.
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