THE MANY FACES OF LEARNING THE MANY FACES OF LEARNING AGILITYAGILITYAn excerpt from the 2010 Mid Winter Conference ofAn excerpt from the 2010 Mid Winter Conference of
Consulting Psychology in Scottsdale, AZ
Kenneth P De MeuseKenneth P. De MeuseGuangrong Dai
George S. Hallenbeck
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Situational Leadership
HistoricallyFiedler (1967)Vroom & Yetton (1973)Vroom & Yetton (1973)Graen et al. (1982)
Recently» McCall, Lombardo & Morrison (1988)
B t l ( 6)» Brousseau et al. (2006)» Goldsmith & Reiter (2007)
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Learning Agility
DefinitionAbility and willingness to learn from experience, and then apply that learning to perform successfully under new situations.
Focus – Vertical LeadershipFocus Vertical Leadership
Identification and development of Hi‐Po’s
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The Leadership Pipeline
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Adapted from Adapted from The Leadership Pipeline The Leadership Pipeline (Charan, Drotter, & Noel (2001)(Charan, Drotter, & Noel (2001)
Historical Roots
People develop on the job
D l t d d Development depends on raw talent, the experiences one has, and what one does with them
Some experiences are more developmental than others
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Glaring difference between successful people Glaring difference between successful people and those whose careers falter…is their ability to wrest meaning from experience (i.e., learning agility).
The Lessons of ExperienceThe Lessons of ExperienceMcCall, Lombardo, & Morrison (1988)
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Half the leaders I have Half the leaders I have met don’t need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stoplearn what to stop.
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Learning gAgilityLeaders create meaning out of events and relationships that devastate non‐leaders they look at the same events that leaders…they look at the same events that unstring those less capable…and see something useful …The signature skill gof leaders is the ability to process new experiences… and to integrate Geeks and Geezers:
Bennis & Thomas (2002)
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pthem into their life.
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Learning Agile People Do Four Things WellLearning Agile People Do Four Things Well
1. They are critical thinkerswho examine problems carefully and make fresh connections
2. They know themselves and are able to handle tough situations
3. They like to experiment and can deal with the discomfort of change
4. They deliver results in first‐time situations through team building and personal drive
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Learning Agility:Learning Agility:A MultiA Multi--Dimensional ConceptDimensional Conceptpp
People AgilityPeople Agility
MentalAgilityMentalAgility
LearningAgility
ChangeAgilityChangeAgilityg ty
ResultsAgilityResultsAgility
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Description of Mental AgilityDescription of Mental Agility
C iC i▪▪ CuriousCurious▪▪ Reads broadly and has wide interestsReads broadly and has wide interests▪▪ Gets to root causesGets to root causes▪▪ Gets to root causesGets to root causes▪▪ Comfortable with ambiguity and complexityComfortable with ambiguity and complexity▪▪ Finds parallels and contrasts easilyFinds parallels and contrasts easilyp yp y▪▪ Questions conventional wisdomQuestions conventional wisdom▪▪ Finds solutions to tough problemsFinds solutions to tough problems
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Ways to find out more about learning agility
ADD IN GRAPHIC OF LEARNINGLEARNING AGILITY PROFILES—
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Distribution of Learning AgilityDistribution of Learning Agility
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Are All Learning Agile Created Equal?Are All Learning Agile Created Equal?
▪▪MultiMulti‐‐dimensional constructdimensional construct
▪▪ High on one dimension High on one dimension –– Low on anotherLow on anothergg
▪▪ Profiles of high learning agile peopleProfiles of high learning agile peopleProfiles of high learning agile peopleProfiles of high learning agile people
▪▪ ImplicationsImplications▪▪ ImplicationsImplications▫▫ Selection by profileSelection by profile▫▫ Develop by profileDevelop by profile
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▫▫ Develop by profileDevelop by profile
The Problem SolverThe Problem Solver is one of seven distinct types of learning agility…
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The Thought LeaderThe Thought LeaderThe Thought Leader is one of seven distinct types of learning agility…
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How do you identify high potential talent??g p
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Beware of the Beware of the Self ReportSelf Report . . .. . .
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4.1
4.2
3.7
3.8
3.9
4
3 3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
Low Middle High
Self Others
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