Building a Bridge to Influence: Reflections on President Obama’s ATD Keynote

B. Kim Barnes

One of the keynote speakers at the ATD Conference in San Diego recently was former President Barack Obama. His session was an informal interview with the President and CEO of ATD, Tony Bingham. President Obama discussed many topics related to leadership and learning, but three of his points stood out for me and caused me to reflect.

On leadership: “Get others to tap into their best selves.”

We all share the desire to be thought well of by others whom we respect and/or love. Our expectations of others can shape the way they see themselves and lead them to identify with a better version of who they are in the world. The French playwright, Jean Giraudoux, wrote a one-act comedy entitled “The Apollo of Bellac.” In the play, a homeless man tells a young woman the secret of success. All men, he suggests, secretly think they are handsome. He advises her to confirm that belief. She follows his advice and, voila, she becomes very successful. By analogy, if we share with others our belief that they are competent, ethical, strong, or resilient, we allow them to choose to be the self about whom that is true.

On change: “Break it up into its component parts.”

It’s daunting to face significant change. When we see it as a whole, as a do-or-die enterprise, we may retreat into our comfort zone. But change is often better understood as a journey, as something incremental, even as something that requires some wandering in the wilderness before arriving at a destination. If we can see ourselves moving closer to that destination, even by a circuitous route, we are encouraged to keep moving forward.

On influence: “You’ve got to build a bridge from where people are to where you want them to be.”

Opposition is often satisfying and even necessary, but it is seldom the first step in influencing those with whom we disagree. Listening actively, checking your understanding, and accepting (without agreeing) that something is currently true for another person can open that person up to moving to a new place. Opposition generally fixes people more firmly in their positions. You build a bridge by acknowledging and respecting the other and then inviting them to consider other possibilities – ones that fit within their framework, yet align more closely with where you would like them to land.

I came away from the session inspired by these simple, yet powerful ideas.

ATD 2018... It’s a Wrap

It was great to see everyone at ATD…our annual participation can be summed up with a traditional song, “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old!” We saw so many of our clients and partners and relished catching up. We also met many new friends from around the world. Many people stopped at the booth to discuss their leadership challenges and to try out our Exercising Influence short behavioral questionnaire, explore their personal approach to Risk-Taking and discover their Innovation Avatar. Feel free to use this link to check them out for yourself!

It was a special ATD Conference, the 75th anniversary of the organization. President Barack Obama was a keynote speaker and was truly inspiring for those of us in the leadership field, regardless of politics. See reflections above from B. Kim Barnes, above, and from Lauren Powers, below, on some key points from his open interview with Tony Bingham, President and CEO of ATD.

Nelson Soken, Chief Innovation Strategist at Barnes & Conti, and Carole Bilson, President of DMI, spoke at ATD on Design Thinking and how talent professionals can incorporate some key principles borrowed from the design field such as human-centered empathy to create real customer value and innovation. This well-attended talk was timely, as HR organizations continue to grapple with how to innovate and demonstrate strategic value with the customer in mind. Use this link for the session handout, in case you missed it. See Nelson’s article below summarizing how design thinking can be helpful in your role.

Get in touch with me (Lauren Powers) at lpowers at barnesconti.com if you are interested in discussing how we can work with you in this area or any of our other areas of capability.

Next year, we hope to see you at ATD in Washington, DC!

In this newsletter:

• “Building a Bridge to Influence: Reflections on President Obama’s ATD Keynote,” by B. Kim Barnes (above)
• “ATD 2018... It's a Wrap” (above)
• “Applying Design Thinking to Leadership and Organizational Development,” by Nelson Soken, Ph.D. (excerpt)
• “Reflections on ATD and the Learning Profession after Almost 40 Years,” by Lauren Powers
• What’s New at Barnes & Conti:
  • Public Programs: Summer and Fall 2018
  • State of Learning and Development 2018: The Report
  • Our Updated Privacy Policy
• Recipe: Chimichurri for Your Summer Grill, contributed by Lauren Powers
• Featured Art, above, “The Seine with the Pont de la Grande Jatte,” by Vincent Van Gogh

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Applying Design Thinking to Leadership and Organizational Development (excerpt)

Nelson Soken, Ph.D., Chief Innovation Strategist at Barnes & Conti

As a follow-up to my recent presentation at ATD 2018 entitled Design Thinking: Educating Corporate Leaders in Innovation and Strategic Problem-Solving with Carole Bilson, President of the Design Management Institute, I wanted to discuss further how a design thinking mindset can have a significant impact on the fast-changing Learning and Development (L&D) environment. 

Based on what’s reported in various journals and studies, some of the challenges facing L&D professionals include:

• Ambiguous objectives
• Aligning to the company’s overall strategy
• Lack of learner engagement and motivation
• Appealing to a multi-generational audience
• Creating memorable and meaningful online training content
• Getting employees to prioritize and make time for learning and development
• Insufficient time, money, and support of key stakeholders to move initiatives forward effectively (MIMEO and Barnes and Conti, State of Learning and Development 2018 Report, see story, below)

According to Treion Muller in his article entitled “13 Learning And Development Reality Checks for 2018,” one of the reality checks for L&D professionals this year is, “Being Customer-Centric Equals Success.” He states: “Because as we’ve learned, the consumer of information, AKA the modern learner, is king and will determine the future of the L&D industry, so the more we are in tune with them and their ever-changing preferences, the greater chance we have of success.”

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the L&D and HR community to incorporate the design thinking mindset and practices into organizational challenges...

Read the rest of the article on our website

Reflections on ATD and the Learning Profession after Almost 40 Years

Lauren Powers, SVP of Business Development for Barnes & Conti

I am showing my age—but since I celebrated a milestone in my own life during the ATD Conference week, I feel justified. Not only was it a birthday milestone for which I become more and more grateful with each passing year, it was the 75th anniversary of ATD and I am proud that I have participated in this amazing gathering of learning professionals for almost half of them.

The anniversary conference was special…it featured a conversation between former President Barack Obama and Tony Bingham, head of ATD—and, it seemed, even with all 11,000 of us, that it was an intimate gathering. We heard thoughtful and humorous commentary on leadership from one with an interesting perspective. 

President Obama offered some personal reflections on what really matters in any leadership role. Here are a few things that stood out for me from his one-hour conversation with us:

• Lead a Life of Purpose: The thing about our field that never grows old is that we are always helping people gain insight and skills so they can perform and grow. It’s magical to watch that happen.

• Most Things Worth Doing are Hard and Teamwork Makes It Doable: Using the example of how his team operated during the lead-up to the Bin Laden operation, Obama shared what helps teams succeed: set high expectations, learn from one another, be transparent, gather input and feedback from many different voices, including those who sit outside the inner circle, use rigor to research and test assumptions. It was very validating to hear how a leader operationalized the concepts we teach.

• Leadership is about Old-Fashioned Values: be honest, work hard, be kind, be useful, stick to it, carry your weight and be responsible.  Obama suggested that the “habits that you develop over time transcend any particular issues or situations and as a consequence become the foundation and baseline. These will get you through hard as well as good times and give meaning and purpose to what you do, so people will go above and beyond…They are things that sustain your soul and strengthen you as a person.” He pointed out that our role as learning leaders is to “help people achieve their best. It is not about training people to do a particular task, but to get them to tap into their best selves…to overcome their insecurities and to be open to new ideas.”

• Change is a Process: Obama shared his personal struggle with quitting smoking to illustrate the point that people don’t change until there is something dissatisfying about their current situation. And even after that, you need to do it incrementally as you are always building on a “legacy or existing system” that likely is not 100% bad. Get started, build off of your preliminary successes and don’t expect perfection. “Create a bridge from where people are to where you want them to be. It is more important to create movement in the right direction.”

President Obama wrapped up with something he shares with his children and I think it resonates for all of us. “If you are kind and useful, you will have a good life.” I am so honored to work in a learning community that embraces these wonderful old-fashioned values. I am having a good life.

Public Programs: Summer and Fall 2018

We're offering three of our public programs this summer and fall, Exercising Influence, Consulting on the Inside, and Intelligent Risk-Taking. Internal consultants may be interested in our July offerings of Exercising Influence and Consulting on the Inside, which work together to make you a more influential internal consultant.

The schedule:

Exercising Influence

July 12, 2018
October 3, 2018

Consulting on the Inside

July 13, 2018

Intelligent Risk-Taking

October 4, 2018

All the above programs are being offered in Berkeley, California. Cost is $795.

Visit our website for the full schedule

State of Learning and Development: Report

Earlier this year, Barnes & Conti partnered with Mimeo, the on-demand printing organization, in order to produce a “State of Learning and Development Report for 2018.” Kim Barnes collaborated on a survey, and several of you responded to it. The report itself is very optimistic about the future of learning and development. In fact, 73% of respondents predict that no training roles will disappear in the next 5 years. Our thanks to those who took part in the survey!

Read the report summary and download the report

State of Learning and Development Webinar: Thursday, June 7 at 2:00 pm EDT

Kim is also joining Ann McDonald from Mimeo for a webinar to discuss the report and its implications, Below is the link for the State of L&D webinar, which is this Thursday at 2 pm, EDT. Use the link to register, join it live, or if too late, catch the recording of it.

Join the Webinar 

Barnes & Conti’s Updated Privacy Policy

At Barnes & Conti, we take your privacy very seriously. We have never traded, bought, or sold emailing lists. Our website cookies are almost all anonymized. Still, we had to update the policy to put in words so much that we have been doing to protect your privacy.

Read our privacy policy on our website.

Recipe: Chimichurri for Your Summer Grilling

Lauren Powers writes: “Our trip to Argentina a few years back further validated our love for chimichurri. I always loved it in restaurants but was intimidated when I thought of making it at home. And, I never seemed to have the ingredients on hand. That changed one summer at the beach when our garden had all we needed. It has become a mainstay for our mixed grill of meats, shrimp and chicken. It keeps for a week so it can be added as a sandwich spread, topping for eggs and anything else that you might have around. Also, feel free to innovate on the ingredients!”

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh Italian parsley
• ½ cup fresh basil
• ½ cup fresh cilantro
• ¼ cup fresh oregano
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ lime, juiced
• ½–¾ tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• 1–2 garlic cloves (optional)
• 1 shallot or 2 tbsp chopped Vidalia onion or 4–5 tbsp minced scallions

Method:

1. Puree all ingredients in food processor or blender. Cover and store in refrigerator for up to a week. Serve at room temperature.

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