What CEOs are Reading 2017; #1 Coursera Course; How to Learn; Webinar Aug 29

"... insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

If you don't invest in Learning & Development, your only tool for improving performance is to replace people.
	Didier Elzinga, CEO Culture Amp, Melbourne

What CEOs are Reading in 2017 -- link below, but first...

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Key Driver of Growth -- Melbourne, Australia-based Culture Amp helps Warby Parker and hundreds of other firms keep a finger on the pulse of employee engagement. And what their research finds is that the key driver of engagement, retention and productivity is learning and development (L&D). Notes co-founder and CEO Didier Elzinga:

Ultimately no company can grow or change at a rate faster than its people. This is the guiding principle for any successful approach to L&D. It is not about training for the sake of training. It is about growing people to ensure that you can compete and win.

Pays 50% to 90% -- notes this LinkedIn article written by Didier, any employee can put themselves through training without approval. And the company will pay 90% of the cost if work related; 50% if personal learning. Why the co-pay? Notes Didier:

The reason for the co-contribution is it changes how people think. Whilst for work-related learning this is only a small amount, you still have to invest your own money. This personal contribution reinforces the idea that training is inherently valuable - and not just a free perk of working at Culture Amp.

Please take 2 minutes to read Didier's LinkedIn piece. Then start your own learning culture/internal corporate university. Thanks to Sebastian Ross for pointing me to this scaleup company CEO's article.

Learning How to Learn -- the most popular Coursera course (free online), is a course taught by Dr. Barbara Oakley. Watched by over 1.8 million people from 200 countries, this course helps students and adults "learn how to learn." Highlighted in this NY Times article, scroll down in the article to a sample 4-minute clip that describes beautifully the two modes of learning - focused and diffuse - and how to put these to work for you. Most of the article is background on Dr. Oakley and her husband. Skip that and after watching the video go to the end of the article for three tips. I plan to watch this Coursera course with the family as the school year is getting started. Thank you to David Rich for sharing this important article.

How to Establish a Corporate U -- so how do you get started. The easiest and most immediate way to establish a corporate university to drive growth and engagement is to join the Scaling Up Club - it gives all your employees access to over 100 accredited online one-hour courses taught by some of the top biz thought leaders - think a cross between Netflix and TED talks. It's plug and play and just dollars per employee per month. If most of your employees simply choose to spend one hour/month learning from these gurus, it will put you ahead of most of your competition who is doing nothing to grow their people and stimulate minds within the organization.

What CEOs are Reading in 2017 -- this McKinsey article surveys the wide range of books CEOs are reading in 2017. I loved how Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, is reading a couple books that have yet to be released - Walter Isaacson's new biography on Leonardo da Vinci and Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality by Jaron Lanier (I just pre-ordered both) - always good to get advance copies! Scan down through the list and find a book for August and beyond.

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TECHNOLOGY:

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COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great ? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

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