March 3, 2025 • 30 mins
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Join us for a thought-provoking exploration of the links between corporate learning, employee development, and the critical need for mindset over mere skills. As the corporate landscape evolves, organisations are faced with the daunting task of bridging skills gaps while nurturing a transformative mindset in their workforce. With investment in corporate learning reaching $361.5 billion in 2023 and projected to soar even higher, it is imperative that organisations rethink their strategies.
This episode tackles pressing questions regarding leadership development allocation and highlights a staggering disconnect found in many organisations: while there is widespread recognition of the importance of upskilling, less than 16% feel adequately prepared to meet impending skills gaps. Tune in as we delve into why mindset is paramount and explore actionable ways organisations can shift their focus from skill training to fostering self-awareness, a thirst for learning, and adaptability among their teams.
Engage with our insights to uncover how nurturing the right mindset can revolutionise not only employee performance but also enhance organisational success. If you're determined to unlock the full potential of your workforce, don’t miss the opportunity to connect with us through our strategy session. Subscribe, share, and leave a review to join the conversation and lead the charge for dynamic change in the world of corporate learning.
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I am a Confidence and Success Coach for leaders, Organisational Development Consultant and independent Leadership Circle Profile® Certified Practitioner. Information shared about this tool is courtesy of Leadership Circle®, all rights reserved. www.leadershipcircle.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
$361.5 billion that's the amount that Allied
Marketing Research has estimatedin 2023 was the spend for
corporate learning anddevelopment.
So the way we upskill ourpeople in our organizations, and
(00:20):
that's projected to reach $805billion over the next 10 years.
So that's a lot of investmentand, while that's really amazing
that we are investing in ourpeople this way, because there's
so much change andtransformation coming at us over
the next decade, for manyreasons it is critical that we
(00:41):
are uplifting our people, notjust for the skills they need to
do their jobs well now, butjust for the skills they need to
do their jobs well now, butalso the skills that they need
and the mindsets they need to dotheir jobs well in the future
as well.
It does take so much resourcingto recruit someone into an
organization that has the rightskill, and it's becoming more
and more critical that we needto actually retain the people
(01:04):
that have this wonderfulcorporate and organizational
knowledge and keep them up todate and fresh with what we need
their jobs to evolve into overthe coming years and as
individuals.
It's critical that youunderstand that the skills that
you got three, five, 10 yearsago, 15, 20 years ago sometimes
(01:26):
are becoming not redundant butoutdated, and there's
opportunity to learn and shiftand add to your toolkit so that
you can stay as relevant as youcan as our world changes and the
way we do our work changes.
So what's a little bit scaryabout this $361 billion figure
(01:47):
is that McKinsey did someresearch and they found that 90%
of organizations feel that theyhave a real kind of critical
skills gap approaching them veryshortly, over the next few
years.
Yet only 16% of them feelprepared to meet those gaps.
That's a massive hole that asleaders, as individuals, as HR
(02:14):
practitioners, we need to befilling, because that is what's
going to keep us ahead of thegame.
That is what's going to keepour people actually reaching
their full potential and makingthe wonderful difference that
we're all here to make.
Now the problem is, as I've seenit across many organizations,
(02:36):
is that we have someorganizations, depending on your
size, will have a HR team.
Some don't even have that.
But where we do, we might havea budget for learning and
development, and often it'slimited and often in hard times,
it's the first thing to get cut, and that is a very
short-sighted thing to do,because the moment you cut
someone's ability to keepinvesting and growing in
(03:00):
themselves, you're going tostagnate their skills and
capabilities.
So a bit like if we look atfinance and inflation, right, If
we just hold on to cash likewads of cash and hide it in our
mattress, we know that theprices of things inflate around
us so that $500 we've got hiddenin the mattress that might buy
(03:22):
us, I don't know, let's say, aApple, iwatch.
I don't know, I actually don'tknow how much they cost these
days, but let's say it buys thatus today.
In five, 10 years time it's notgoing to get us that.
The price of that would havemaybe doubled.
So the principle is the samefor skills.
If we stagnate the skills of aworkforce because we feel that
(03:43):
there's other priorities in thebusiness and often they are
there's the hard decisions weneed to make as a leader, right
what we can do by accident isactually stagnate the skills of
that workforce, and that's whyinvestment in learning and
development is critical.
But it needs to be a smartinvestment and that's
(04:05):
increasingly becoming more andmore difficult because of this
environment that we're workingin, because there's so much
change and growth To keep paceof all the capabilities and
skills that you need now andalso into the future.
It's like a multiple person,full-time job to keep across
that and really make it relevantto the organization where it's
(04:28):
heading.
And in 2023,.
A training industry reportaveraged that the spend of each
employee for learning anddevelopment is $1,200.
So if every employee had $1,200to get the skills they need now
and get them ready for what'scoming over the next two years,
it's not much.
(04:49):
And it's not much when we spreadthat over things like our
compliance training, which isimportant, but it's also one
part of training in a bucket ofthings.
When we spread it over thetechnical training to do the
skill, the skills needed,specific for that job, and when
we spread it over some moregeneralized core skills like
conflict resolution,communication and then, more
(05:12):
broadly, the leadership bucket.
We have teams out there tryingto do the best, absolute best
they can with the limited budgetthey have, but there's too many
, the buffet is too big.
Can with the limited budgetthey have, but there's too many,
the buffet is too big.
So what I'm here to propose isthat mindset matters more than
skill, because you can go outthere and allocate all of this
(05:34):
money and support and resourcingand time that it takes to put
these programs on inorganizations, to select them,
to curate them, then to getpeople to attend and then to get
them using that.
That is so much effort andresourcing that goes into that,
and I just think we've got themix wrong.
(05:54):
So, if mindset matters more thanskill, what's happening
currently is that only 12% ofour budgets across the globe are
allocated to leadership.
Yeah, the rest of it getsallocated to all those other
things like the compliance, thetechnical core skills, right, 12
percent gets allocated toleadership, of which some of
(06:15):
that leadership development isabout mindset.
So if you kind of do the mentalmath on that, that means only
this tiny proportion of people,because not everyone gets access
to that leadership trainingbecause they're not in a formal
leadership role or are notidentified as a high potential
person.
There's this whole majority ofour workforce that don't have
(06:38):
access to critical training anddevelopment around mindset, and
mindset matters more than skillbecause it's the very thing that
enables us to learn.
It's the very thing that helpsus through those tough times.
It's the very thing that helpsus to grow when the world around
us is changing and gives ussome certainty and control over
(07:01):
where we will end up when wefocus on our mindset.
And the other challenge is thatmindset only more recently is
getting taught in our schools.
Right, it's always been verymuch skills first, and then
maybe mindset as a secondarything, and only now is it really
getting integrated into thelearning of our children.
(07:22):
So the next upcoming workforceyeah, they might be okay with
this, but our current existingworkforce we have to acknowledge
that mindset has never reallybeen something that you've had
access to developing unlessyou're privileged enough to go
and do that development yourself, or you've had access to
developing unless you'reprivileged enough to go and do
that development yourself, oryou've had that own personal
(07:42):
drive to go and do thatdevelopment yourself.
And there's only certain peoplein that world which would A
have the right environment andthe right thinking and support
to even think that's apossibility, or even to realize
that that's a benefit for them,and then to have the resources
to go and do that.
So mindset matters more thanskill and for learning and
(08:02):
development and people andcapability, teams and leaders.
Even when we try and offer thisbuffet of topics, I hope you're
agreeing with me that we'respreading ourselves thin.
It means that the content thatwe can offer to people has less
impact.
It's probably less appealingbecause we have to be realistic
(08:22):
about the budgets that we have,and I get it.
I've worked in organizationswhere we've developed capability
frameworks and I think they'regreat, they're really important,
but I think they're one steptoo soon if we haven't got the
core mindset in place, becauseteams, people and capability
teams are out there doing thesecapability frameworks, trying to
(08:45):
work on the culture, trying towork on their people strategy
and trying to move all theseneedles at once with all these
different initiatives, and whatcan happen is, when we put the
pressure on spreading ourselvesthin across this, we can lack
integration, the teams canbecome overworked.
We can then fall into the trapof ticking the box like, oh,
(09:06):
we've got to get thisperformance development program
up and running over, let's getit as meaningful as possible and
pare back on maybe thenice-to-haves that aren't going
to shift the needle as much asour culture work and building a
trust in our organizations.
So what's missing is this timeand capability to look at the
(09:28):
root cause, what's sittingunderneath the need to develop
all of these differentcapabilities?
Yeah, because this capabilityframework is usually a list of
capabilities or skills thatpeople need in the current job
and in future and that there's agap often that the teams are
trying to fill.
(09:48):
So if there's a gap, there's apiece that comes before that as
to why are there so many gaps.
Because I've often theseframeworks are really big
documents.
Usually there's, you know, I'veseen six is a good amount, but
I've seen, like way, ones thatgo up to 30, 40, 50 capabilities
that we're needing to identifyand develop across a workforce.
(10:09):
So what's missing is thatclarity and coming back to root
cause, because, at the end ofthe day, organizations are made
up of individuals and if we'regoing to develop our workforce,
we have to start at theindividual, and that's where
mindset matters more than skill.
So, if mindset matters morethan skill, what we've been
(10:31):
doing is spending on the skill.
It's like a toddler, right, wecan show up at dinner time and
try and force feed them thevegetables, because we know the
science behind vegetables andit's great for our bodies, right
, and those that love it willeat it.
And those that are obedient andhave been trained to be
obedient will eat it, but otherswon't.
(10:51):
And so then we worry about thisgap in nutrition for our kids,
but instead, instead of going,you need to eat this because
it's good for you what we needto focus on, and doing that
every, every meal and doing thatevery time.
We deliver learning into theworkforce when we instead
activate the individual bydeveloping their mindset, by
(11:14):
developing the way that theythink, the way that they think,
the way that their beliefs,their motivational drive, when
we create this fertile groundfor transformational learning.
Where they want it, they seethe value of it, they're hungry
for it.
That is where you can unlockthe potential and the
performance of your workforce.
So mindset matters more thanskill, because it's the inner
(11:36):
game.
It brings all of someone ratherthan just their knowledge.
And when we fall into the trapof just delivering knowledge in
our learning programs, we areactivating just the mind, the
logical brain, and we're losingout on all the wisdom that comes
from the rest of our instincts,our bodies, and it doesn't
(11:59):
necessarily translate intoaction without the skill and the
drive to put it into practice,the ability to experiment and
the confidence to do that, tosee what works for each
individual, to adapt and toexpand and then to go on and
broaden your own toolkit.
That's the thing that we needto be developing.
(12:21):
Many years ago I was lookingafter an emerging leaders
program and it's honestly one ofthe most amazing things that
I've been able to be a part ofduring my career, because we had
some, let's say, skilldevelopment in there for our
emerging leaders.
We taught the common things,that principles of leadership
(12:44):
and tools that you can use.
So that part of the program wasmaybe nothing fancy, but what
made this program something thateven to this day, a decade on,
I still have people when wecatch up talking to me about oh
I remember this moment when youdid this, or I remember this
activity that we did, or Iremember the way that we felt in
(13:06):
this moment and that has shapedthe way that I lead my teams
from here on in.
It's fundamentally shifted theway I think about leadership.
It's actually changed my life.
Like these are comments that Istill get and I truly believe
it's because of our focus.
We put on development over thelearning, so developing that
(13:27):
mindset, that thought, thebeliefs, the drivers over the
learning of the content, becauseanyone can teach you content.
But the difference is how areyou developing the people
alongside that?
And I think along the way we'velost that balance.
It's in the name, right,learning and development, but
we've put so much effort ontolearning content that we've
(13:48):
forgotten the impact and thepower and the importance of the
development piece, and I get whywe've forgotten it, or maybe we
haven't forgotten.
I get why it's maybe notprioritized is because it's seen
as this hard thing to do, likehow do you change people's
mindsets, their thoughts andtheir beliefs and their drivers?
Isn't that an incrediblypersonal thing?
Yeah, it is incredibly personal, but there are ways that you
(14:12):
can.
I just hit the table because Iwas so passionately talking
right.
There are ways that you can Ijust hit the table because I was
so passionately talking, right.
There are ways that you canshift multiple individuals at
once in a room together, andthat doesn't have to be
face-to-face, it can be virtual.
There are ways that you canshift the individual on mass
scale, and that's something thatI love doing in my programs.
(14:34):
In 2013, there was an article inAdvances in Developing Human
Resources called Mindset, notSkillset Evaluating a New
Paradigm of LeadershipDevelopment, and these group of
researchers were exploring howleadership is evolving and the
development of our leaders isevolving merely from giving them
(14:57):
discrete skills and tools thatthey need to manage their teams
to addressing the underlyingmindsets that they have that
then impact on the results thattheir teams get and how.
We should be focusing onmindset more than ever in the
way that we measure and developour leaders.
And I'm saying that we need tobe doing this beyond our leaders
(15:19):
, because that's what's causingthe problems.
Right, if we invest in mindsetin our leaders, it's really hard
for someone without thetraining and how to shift this
human behavior so I'm talkingyour average everyday leader to
do that deep work where you cantransition someone's mental
drivers and their behaviors andtheir motivation.
(15:40):
It's really hard for someone todo that with their own team.
It takes a lot of training andskill to be able to do that.
So why are we?
We're getting our leaders readywith the right mindsets but
we're forgetting about the mainpopulation of our workforce.
If we resolved this in ourworkforces, you wouldn't have to
(16:01):
put on things likeanti-bullying training or
conflict resolution, becausepeople would naturally be able
to do that or be owning theskill and the ability and the
desire to create an environmentwhere those things don't even
occur.
I'll let that sink in for amoment.
Like there are so many trainingtopics that we deliver that are
(16:25):
the band-aid solution, becausewe're not addressing the root
cause.
We're not investing in thedevelopment of mindset over
skill for the general workforce.
So you're probably wondering ifmindset matters more than skill,
then what is it that we shouldbe focusing on?
What should we be developing?
So I'd love to share threethings that I think if every
(16:48):
organization just pared back onthe spend that they're putting
into all of these topics andfocused on developing these
mindsets and their ultimatelyvalues personal values when you
can develop that in yourworkforce, you're not just
relying on recruiting the peoplethat already have this.
(17:08):
You're actually creating thiswonderful ripple effect and
shift in our society of peoplethat are desperate for these
skills but don't realize thatthat's what they need.
Like these are skills that canhelp you beyond the workforce.
Like not only can they unlockyour potential in your job, it
(17:30):
can actually impact yourwell-being and your outlook on
life and your ability to copeand thrive in all aspects of
your life.
So what a wonderful gift it isif we can do that, and it's
simply by reprioritizing.
Instead of focusing on so muchon the anti-bullying because
that's a risk, a risk spendright.
(17:50):
We're trying to manage our riskand mitigate our risk.
Yeah, I'm saying, spend there,but don't spend as much there.
Spend more on the things thatare going to unlock the
potential, which is the mindset.
So what's the first one?
The first one is self-awareness.
If you've heard of theDunning-Kruger effect, you may
and you've probably experiencedright.
(18:11):
It's where you can see inpeople that they think they're
really good at something butthey're actually not, because we
have this bias in our brains tooverestimate our own abilities.
And when that happens in aplace where let's say, oh, I
actually think I'm fantastic atself-awareness, and then the
(18:32):
people around that person aresaying, no, they have no idea,
that gap is the gap that we wantto close.
So the moment and a beautifulleader who I admire greatly once
said this to me which is themoment that you think you have
got it all in terms ofself-awareness, you're doing
(18:55):
yourself and your team adisservice, because it's
actually not possible I had aconversation with someone about
this the other day that if weassume that we are fully
self-aware, we are ignoring thefact that people perceive us
(19:15):
through their own lens.
People perceive us throughtheir own lens, so they bring
their own filters of beliefsabout what your intent might be
when you do something.
They bring their ownexperiences and knowledge and
evidence-based, and they attacha meaning to what you do.
I'll give you an example.
I laugh a lot, right?
(19:36):
I'm a very joyful person.
I laugh a lot, and sometimes Ilaugh inappropriately and I'm
aware of that, and it'ssomething that I'm working on.
Often, I'm either laughingbecause I find things amusing
Sometimes it's a copingmechanism I'm like I could just
crumble into a heap and give upor I can just laugh it off and
go.
Well, you know that's how it is.
And sometimes it's because I'mnervous.
(19:57):
I might laugh, but someone else, through their own lens, might
see my laughing in a differentway.
They might think that I amhaving a go at them.
They might have been picked onas a child and think I'm
laughing at them.
They might think I'm incrediblyunprofessional laughing and
giggling because they've comefrom a place where that you're
(20:17):
not allowed to laugh in theworkplace.
So we perceive others throughour own lens.
So what that means is we cannever, ever fully understand
everyone's lenses.
We can get pretty good atmanaging to see some of it, and
I'm saying that it takes a lotof freaking work and training to
(20:38):
get to that point right, butfor most of us.
We can imagine what someone'slens might be.
We can see maybe their glassesare rose-colored or yellow or
orange or green, but we cannever know for sure all of the
different multifaceted layersthat they see us through, which
(21:00):
means we can never be fullyself-aware.
Which means it's something thatwe should be continuously
working on, because when we havethat self-awareness, there's
this ripple impact of how weshow up.
We are no longer subject topeople getting frustrated with
getting blamed for somethingwhen we're not taking our part
(21:22):
in that situation.
I see this so much.
It's's one of the biggestcauses of things like
performance issues, ofrelationship issues, where
teammates aren't getting alongor where a direct report might
think they're being bullied by amanager and then the manager
thinking that direct report justhas absolutely no respect for
(21:44):
them.
It comes down to self-awarenesson everyone's part.
So if we can continually growthis, and in every piece of
learning and development we do,we build in self-awareness.
That is critical to unleashingthe power of mindset, mattering
more than skill.
(22:06):
So the second thing we should befocusing on is this thirst for
learning.
I know there are an incrediblenumber of very talented people
working in the people andcapability space in the learning
and development space, sick andtired of pushing out learning
that doesn't get used.
We know there's the seriallearners that will take
(22:28):
everything and that's great, andthey learn it all and they
implement it, and that's exactlywhat we want.
But it means that the moneythat we're spending that $1,200
per person ends up beingthousands of dollars for a few
people and nothing for others,because they're not engaging in
the learning, they don't havetime to do it, they're not
supported to do it, they don'twant to do it, they feel like
(22:49):
they already have what they need.
So there's so many differentreasons why this thirst for
learning can be absent.
But when we can generate thatthirst for learning both in the
individual, so they start tovalue it and they start to see
what's in it for them.
They start to see that it'scritical for them doing the job
the best they can.
They see that it's critical forthem to have a reputation where
(23:14):
they're great at what they doand they're continuing to grow,
that it's critical for them tostay relevant, regardless of the
changes that get thrown over tothem over the next decade or so
.
When someone sees it ascritical and vital and important
, they will want to learn andyou need that for the learning
to happen.
(23:35):
And it's one thing that I'mincredibly blessed that I got
from my very early childhoodschooling I went to a Montessori
school and that is all aboutmindset over skill.
It's about developing thethirst for learning.
Yeah, everyone in that schoolthat I can think of wanted to
learn.
And the kids that came to ourschool because they got expelled
(23:57):
for all sorts of behavioralreasons from their prior school
would completely shift in ourMontessori school because we
developed the thirst forlearning for them.
And I say we because it verymuch was a joint learning
environment with the studentsand the educators.
It wasn't this hierarchicalteacher to student.
So generating the thirst forlearning is something I'm
(24:18):
incredibly passionate about andhave done my whole life, and
it's something that is possibleto generate.
You just have to know how tolink it for the individual.
And then the third piece isadaptability.
How many times have youexperienced that maybe you come
in as a leader and you want tomake these shifts and you can
see what's wrong and you can seewhat needs to change, but
(24:38):
people dig their heels in anddon't want to come along with
you.
They want to hang on to the waythey've done it and they want
to.
Yeah, they don't understand whythe way you're pitching is not
the best way forward.
I've seen this scenario happentime and time again with clients
(24:59):
or organizations that I've beenworking with, where the
strategy, in a lot of cases, issound the change that needs to
happen.
The change that needs to happenis a change that needs to
happen.
But what isn't acknowledged iswhere people are at, where
they've come from, what theirexperience has been to date and
(25:20):
what needs to shift for thoseindividuals to be free and able
to come along with you willingly, because you can force them to
change.
But anytime you're forcingsomeone, it becomes a
contractual relationship.
It basically is the opposite ofengagement.
If someone is there by force orobligation, then they're not
(25:41):
engaged wholeheartedly in whatit is you're trying to achieve.
So this resistance to comealong with you on a journey or a
shift, I love because it showsthat people do care.
It shows that they do wantthings to be a certain way,
whether that's because theythink it works better, or
(26:01):
whether that's because it's safefor them and that's all that
they know, or whether it's thatthey just have experienced so
much change before that they'llwait and see.
So they want to wait and seewhat happens before they invest
their time and energy, theirpassion and their soul into
something that may run out ofsteam.
(26:22):
So, if mindset matters more thanskill, the third thing that we
can be focusing on is buildingadaptability and, specifically,
the ability to let go.
So there's a skill, whetheryou're a leader or whether
you're working with an entireorganization in helping people
to let go.
You need to recognize wherethey're at and give them the
(26:47):
tools and the permission and thespace to even recognize where
they are and that they areresisting, and give them the
option to come along.
Give them the choice and makingthat choice so incredibly
wonderful that they do want tocome along with you.
(27:07):
So when we have these threethings self-awareness, a thirst
for learning and adaptability Ihope that you can see that if
everyone in your team, in yourorganization, had these three
things, so many problems, somany things that we train for
and give development on, wouldfall away.
(27:28):
So you wouldn't need to get inthere and be dealing with spot
fires and interpersonalrelationship issues and needing
to really dig in and drivepeople's learning and
performance, because they wouldbe doing it themselves.
They would be wanting torealize what's the best thing
(27:50):
for them to be working on.
They will be wanting to realizeokay, now that I know that I
have this gap, these are thecool things that I reckon would
be great for me to try to fillthat gap, and I'm open to
hearing from you what you thinkas well.
That gap and I'm open tohearing from you what you think
(28:10):
as well and that ability to letgo of what's been and feel
acknowledged and valued andincluded on the journey forward
is just a key part of any changemanagement as well, no matter
how big or small that might be.
Whether it's something assimple as oh, we're going to
change the way we use our emailsversus Microsoft Teams chat to
(28:32):
something really big, like we're, we're restructuring our whole
organization and the way teamsreport into each other and the
way we work.
So if you have self-awareness, athirst for learning and
adaptability, everything becomesso much easier.
(28:53):
So if you are a leader lookingto build this in yourself, or
maybe your team, or maybe youare a HR leader looking to
really amplify this and connectthis across the organization, I
would love to connect with youso you can book in a 30-minute
strategy session where we diveinto what are the challenges
you're facing right now, what isthe one thing that you want to
achieve, and then what's thefirst step that you can take to
(29:14):
move things forward.
So I do that to understand whatit is that you're wanting to
achieve and also to show you theway that I would approach that,
and from there you can decidewhether you've got what you need
.
You can take that and run withit, or you might want to work
further, and then we can gothrough some options there.
So there'll be no selling onthat section.
(29:35):
It's literally a strategy callfor you to go away with clarity
on your next step if you'relooking to build self-awareness,
a thirst for learning andadaptability.
So, once again, I trust thatyou found that useful.
Remember, you were born for areason it's time to thrive.
$361.5 billion that's the amount that Allied
Marketing Research has estimatedin 2023 was the spend for
corporate learning anddevelopment.
So the way we upskill ourpeople in our organizations, and
(00:20):
that's projected to reach $805billion over the next 10 years.
So that's a lot of investmentand, while that's really amazing
that we are investing in ourpeople this way, because there's
so much change andtransformation coming at us over
the next decade, for manyreasons it is critical that we
(00:41):
are uplifting our people, notjust for the skills they need to
do their jobs well now, butjust for the skills they need to
do their jobs well now, butalso the skills that they need
and the mindsets they need to dotheir jobs well in the future
as well.
It does take so much resourcingto recruit someone into an
organization that has the rightskill, and it's becoming more
and more critical that we needto actually retain the people
(01:04):
that have this wonderfulcorporate and organizational
knowledge and keep them up todate and fresh with what we need
their jobs to evolve into overthe coming years and as
individuals.
It's critical that youunderstand that the skills that
you got three, five, 10 yearsago, 15, 20 years ago sometimes
(01:26):
are becoming not redundant butoutdated, and there's
opportunity to learn and shiftand add to your toolkit so that
you can stay as relevant as youcan as our world changes and the
way we do our work changes.
So what's a little bit scaryabout this $361 billion figure
(01:47):
is that McKinsey did someresearch and they found that 90%
of organizations feel that theyhave a real kind of critical
skills gap approaching them veryshortly, over the next few
years.
Yet only 16% of them feelprepared to meet those gaps.
That's a massive hole that asleaders, as individuals, as HR
(02:14):
practitioners, we need to befilling, because that is what's
going to keep us ahead of thegame.
That is what's going to keepour people actually reaching
their full potential and makingthe wonderful difference that
we're all here to make.
Now the problem is, as I've seenit across many organizations,
(02:36):
is that we have someorganizations, depending on your
size, will have a HR team.
Some don't even have that.
But where we do, we might havea budget for learning and
development, and often it'slimited and often in hard times,
it's the first thing to get cut, and that is a very
short-sighted thing to do,because the moment you cut
someone's ability to keepinvesting and growing in
(03:00):
themselves, you're going tostagnate their skills and
capabilities.
So a bit like if we look atfinance and inflation, right, If
we just hold on to cash likewads of cash and hide it in our
mattress, we know that theprices of things inflate around
us so that $500 we've got hiddenin the mattress that might buy
(03:22):
us, I don't know, let's say, aApple, iwatch.
I don't know, I actually don'tknow how much they cost these
days, but let's say it buys thatus today.
In five, 10 years time it's notgoing to get us that.
The price of that would havemaybe doubled.
So the principle is the samefor skills.
If we stagnate the skills of aworkforce because we feel that
(03:43):
there's other priorities in thebusiness and often they are
there's the hard decisions weneed to make as a leader, right
what we can do by accident isactually stagnate the skills of
that workforce, and that's whyinvestment in learning and
development is critical.
But it needs to be a smartinvestment and that's
(04:05):
increasingly becoming more andmore difficult because of this
environment that we're workingin, because there's so much
change and growth To keep paceof all the capabilities and
skills that you need now andalso into the future.
It's like a multiple person,full-time job to keep across
that and really make it relevantto the organization where it's
(04:28):
heading.
And in 2023,.
A training industry reportaveraged that the spend of each
employee for learning anddevelopment is $1,200.
So if every employee had $1,200to get the skills they need now
and get them ready for what'scoming over the next two years,
it's not much.
(04:49):
And it's not much when we spreadthat over things like our
compliance training, which isimportant, but it's also one
part of training in a bucket ofthings.
When we spread it over thetechnical training to do the
skill, the skills needed,specific for that job, and when
we spread it over some moregeneralized core skills like
conflict resolution,communication and then, more
(05:12):
broadly, the leadership bucket.
We have teams out there tryingto do the best, absolute best
they can with the limited budgetthey have, but there's too many
, the buffet is too big.
Can with the limited budgetthey have, but there's too many,
the buffet is too big.
So what I'm here to propose isthat mindset matters more than
skill, because you can go outthere and allocate all of this
(05:34):
money and support and resourcingand time that it takes to put
these programs on inorganizations, to select them,
to curate them, then to getpeople to attend and then to get
them using that.
That is so much effort andresourcing that goes into that,
and I just think we've got themix wrong.
(05:54):
So, if mindset matters more thanskill, what's happening
currently is that only 12% ofour budgets across the globe are
allocated to leadership.
Yeah, the rest of it getsallocated to all those other
things like the compliance, thetechnical core skills, right, 12
percent gets allocated toleadership, of which some of
(06:15):
that leadership development isabout mindset.
So if you kind of do the mentalmath on that, that means only
this tiny proportion of people,because not everyone gets access
to that leadership trainingbecause they're not in a formal
leadership role or are notidentified as a high potential
person.
There's this whole majority ofour workforce that don't have
(06:38):
access to critical training anddevelopment around mindset, and
mindset matters more than skillbecause it's the very thing that
enables us to learn.
It's the very thing that helpsus through those tough times.
It's the very thing that helpsus to grow when the world around
us is changing and gives ussome certainty and control over
(07:01):
where we will end up when wefocus on our mindset.
And the other challenge is thatmindset only more recently is
getting taught in our schools.
Right, it's always been verymuch skills first, and then
maybe mindset as a secondarything, and only now is it really
getting integrated into thelearning of our children.
(07:22):
So the next upcoming workforceyeah, they might be okay with
this, but our current existingworkforce we have to acknowledge
that mindset has never reallybeen something that you've had
access to developing unlessyou're privileged enough to go
and do that development yourself, or you've had access to
developing unless you'reprivileged enough to go and do
that development yourself, oryou've had that own personal
(07:42):
drive to go and do thatdevelopment yourself.
And there's only certain peoplein that world which would A
have the right environment andthe right thinking and support
to even think that's apossibility, or even to realize
that that's a benefit for them,and then to have the resources
to go and do that.
So mindset matters more thanskill and for learning and
(08:02):
development and people andcapability, teams and leaders.
Even when we try and offer thisbuffet of topics, I hope you're
agreeing with me that we'respreading ourselves thin.
It means that the content thatwe can offer to people has less
impact.
It's probably less appealingbecause we have to be realistic
(08:22):
about the budgets that we have,and I get it.
I've worked in organizationswhere we've developed capability
frameworks and I think they'regreat, they're really important,
but I think they're one steptoo soon if we haven't got the
core mindset in place, becauseteams, people and capability
teams are out there doing thesecapability frameworks, trying to
(08:45):
work on the culture, trying towork on their people strategy
and trying to move all theseneedles at once with all these
different initiatives, and whatcan happen is, when we put the
pressure on spreading ourselvesthin across this, we can lack
integration, the teams canbecome overworked.
We can then fall into the trapof ticking the box like, oh,
(09:06):
we've got to get thisperformance development program
up and running over, let's getit as meaningful as possible and
pare back on maybe thenice-to-haves that aren't going
to shift the needle as much asour culture work and building a
trust in our organizations.
So what's missing is this timeand capability to look at the
(09:28):
root cause, what's sittingunderneath the need to develop
all of these differentcapabilities?
Yeah, because this capabilityframework is usually a list of
capabilities or skills thatpeople need in the current job
and in future and that there's agap often that the teams are
trying to fill.
(09:48):
So if there's a gap, there's apiece that comes before that as
to why are there so many gaps.
Because I've often theseframeworks are really big
documents.
Usually there's, you know, I'veseen six is a good amount, but
I've seen, like way, ones thatgo up to 30, 40, 50 capabilities
that we're needing to identifyand develop across a workforce.
(10:09):
So what's missing is thatclarity and coming back to root
cause, because, at the end ofthe day, organizations are made
up of individuals and if we'regoing to develop our workforce,
we have to start at theindividual, and that's where
mindset matters more than skill.
So, if mindset matters morethan skill, what we've been
(10:31):
doing is spending on the skill.
It's like a toddler, right, wecan show up at dinner time and
try and force feed them thevegetables, because we know the
science behind vegetables andit's great for our bodies, right
, and those that love it willeat it.
And those that are obedient andhave been trained to be
obedient will eat it, but otherswon't.
(10:51):
And so then we worry about thisgap in nutrition for our kids,
but instead, instead of going,you need to eat this because
it's good for you what we needto focus on, and doing that
every, every meal and doing thatevery time.
We deliver learning into theworkforce when we instead
activate the individual bydeveloping their mindset, by
(11:14):
developing the way that theythink, the way that they think,
the way that their beliefs,their motivational drive, when
we create this fertile groundfor transformational learning.
Where they want it, they seethe value of it, they're hungry
for it.
That is where you can unlockthe potential and the
performance of your workforce.
So mindset matters more thanskill, because it's the inner
(11:36):
game.
It brings all of someone ratherthan just their knowledge.
And when we fall into the trapof just delivering knowledge in
our learning programs, we areactivating just the mind, the
logical brain, and we're losingout on all the wisdom that comes
from the rest of our instincts,our bodies, and it doesn't
(11:59):
necessarily translate intoaction without the skill and the
drive to put it into practice,the ability to experiment and
the confidence to do that, tosee what works for each
individual, to adapt and toexpand and then to go on and
broaden your own toolkit.
That's the thing that we needto be developing.
(12:21):
Many years ago I was lookingafter an emerging leaders
program and it's honestly one ofthe most amazing things that
I've been able to be a part ofduring my career, because we had
some, let's say, skilldevelopment in there for our
emerging leaders.
We taught the common things,that principles of leadership
(12:44):
and tools that you can use.
So that part of the program wasmaybe nothing fancy, but what
made this program something thateven to this day, a decade on,
I still have people when wecatch up talking to me about oh
I remember this moment when youdid this, or I remember this
activity that we did, or Iremember the way that we felt in
(13:06):
this moment and that has shapedthe way that I lead my teams
from here on in.
It's fundamentally shifted theway I think about leadership.
It's actually changed my life.
Like these are comments that Istill get and I truly believe
it's because of our focus.
We put on development over thelearning, so developing that
(13:27):
mindset, that thought, thebeliefs, the drivers over the
learning of the content, becauseanyone can teach you content.
But the difference is how areyou developing the people
alongside that?
And I think along the way we'velost that balance.
It's in the name, right,learning and development, but
we've put so much effort ontolearning content that we've
(13:48):
forgotten the impact and thepower and the importance of the
development piece, and I get whywe've forgotten it, or maybe we
haven't forgotten.
I get why it's maybe notprioritized is because it's seen
as this hard thing to do, likehow do you change people's
mindsets, their thoughts andtheir beliefs and their drivers?
Isn't that an incrediblypersonal thing?
Yeah, it is incredibly personal, but there are ways that you
(14:12):
can.
I just hit the table because Iwas so passionately talking
right.
There are ways that you can Ijust hit the table because I was
so passionately talking, right.
There are ways that you canshift multiple individuals at
once in a room together, andthat doesn't have to be
face-to-face, it can be virtual.
There are ways that you canshift the individual on mass
scale, and that's something thatI love doing in my programs.
(14:34):
In 2013, there was an article inAdvances in Developing Human
Resources called Mindset, notSkillset Evaluating a New
Paradigm of LeadershipDevelopment, and these group of
researchers were exploring howleadership is evolving and the
development of our leaders isevolving merely from giving them
(14:57):
discrete skills and tools thatthey need to manage their teams
to addressing the underlyingmindsets that they have that
then impact on the results thattheir teams get and how.
We should be focusing onmindset more than ever in the
way that we measure and developour leaders.
And I'm saying that we need tobe doing this beyond our leaders
(15:19):
, because that's what's causingthe problems.
Right, if we invest in mindsetin our leaders, it's really hard
for someone without thetraining and how to shift this
human behavior so I'm talkingyour average everyday leader to
do that deep work where you cantransition someone's mental
drivers and their behaviors andtheir motivation.
(15:40):
It's really hard for someone todo that with their own team.
It takes a lot of training andskill to be able to do that.
So why are we?
We're getting our leaders readywith the right mindsets but
we're forgetting about the mainpopulation of our workforce.
If we resolved this in ourworkforces, you wouldn't have to
(16:01):
put on things likeanti-bullying training or
conflict resolution, becausepeople would naturally be able
to do that or be owning theskill and the ability and the
desire to create an environmentwhere those things don't even
occur.
I'll let that sink in for amoment.
Like there are so many trainingtopics that we deliver that are
(16:25):
the band-aid solution, becausewe're not addressing the root
cause.
We're not investing in thedevelopment of mindset over
skill for the general workforce.
So you're probably wondering ifmindset matters more than skill,
then what is it that we shouldbe focusing on?
What should we be developing?
So I'd love to share threethings that I think if every
(16:48):
organization just pared back onthe spend that they're putting
into all of these topics andfocused on developing these
mindsets and their ultimatelyvalues personal values when you
can develop that in yourworkforce, you're not just
relying on recruiting the peoplethat already have this.
(17:08):
You're actually creating thiswonderful ripple effect and
shift in our society of peoplethat are desperate for these
skills but don't realize thatthat's what they need.
Like these are skills that canhelp you beyond the workforce.
Like not only can they unlockyour potential in your job, it
(17:30):
can actually impact yourwell-being and your outlook on
life and your ability to copeand thrive in all aspects of
your life.
So what a wonderful gift it isif we can do that, and it's
simply by reprioritizing.
Instead of focusing on so muchon the anti-bullying because
that's a risk, a risk spendright.
(17:50):
We're trying to manage our riskand mitigate our risk.
Yeah, I'm saying, spend there,but don't spend as much there.
Spend more on the things thatare going to unlock the
potential, which is the mindset.
So what's the first one?
The first one is self-awareness.
If you've heard of theDunning-Kruger effect, you may
and you've probably experiencedright.
(18:11):
It's where you can see inpeople that they think they're
really good at something butthey're actually not, because we
have this bias in our brains tooverestimate our own abilities.
And when that happens in aplace where let's say, oh, I
actually think I'm fantastic atself-awareness, and then the
(18:32):
people around that person aresaying, no, they have no idea,
that gap is the gap that we wantto close.
So the moment and a beautifulleader who I admire greatly once
said this to me which is themoment that you think you have
got it all in terms ofself-awareness, you're doing
(18:55):
yourself and your team adisservice, because it's
actually not possible I had aconversation with someone about
this the other day that if weassume that we are fully
self-aware, we are ignoring thefact that people perceive us
(19:15):
through their own lens.
People perceive us throughtheir own lens, so they bring
their own filters of beliefsabout what your intent might be
when you do something.
They bring their ownexperiences and knowledge and
evidence-based, and they attacha meaning to what you do.
I'll give you an example.
I laugh a lot, right?
(19:36):
I'm a very joyful person.
I laugh a lot, and sometimes Ilaugh inappropriately and I'm
aware of that, and it'ssomething that I'm working on.
Often, I'm either laughingbecause I find things amusing
Sometimes it's a copingmechanism I'm like I could just
crumble into a heap and give upor I can just laugh it off and
go.
Well, you know that's how it is.
And sometimes it's because I'mnervous.
(19:57):
I might laugh, but someone else, through their own lens, might
see my laughing in a differentway.
They might think that I amhaving a go at them.
They might have been picked onas a child and think I'm
laughing at them.
They might think I'm incrediblyunprofessional laughing and
giggling because they've comefrom a place where that you're
(20:17):
not allowed to laugh in theworkplace.
So we perceive others throughour own lens.
So what that means is we cannever, ever fully understand
everyone's lenses.
We can get pretty good atmanaging to see some of it, and
I'm saying that it takes a lotof freaking work and training to
(20:38):
get to that point right, butfor most of us.
We can imagine what someone'slens might be.
We can see maybe their glassesare rose-colored or yellow or
orange or green, but we cannever know for sure all of the
different multifaceted layersthat they see us through, which
(21:00):
means we can never be fullyself-aware.
Which means it's something thatwe should be continuously
working on, because when we havethat self-awareness, there's
this ripple impact of how weshow up.
We are no longer subject topeople getting frustrated with
getting blamed for somethingwhen we're not taking our part
(21:22):
in that situation.
I see this so much.
It's's one of the biggestcauses of things like
performance issues, ofrelationship issues, where
teammates aren't getting alongor where a direct report might
think they're being bullied by amanager and then the manager
thinking that direct report justhas absolutely no respect for
(21:44):
them.
It comes down to self-awarenesson everyone's part.
So if we can continually growthis, and in every piece of
learning and development we do,we build in self-awareness.
That is critical to unleashingthe power of mindset, mattering
more than skill.
(22:06):
So the second thing we should befocusing on is this thirst for
learning.
I know there are an incrediblenumber of very talented people
working in the people andcapability space in the learning
and development space, sick andtired of pushing out learning
that doesn't get used.
We know there's the seriallearners that will take
(22:28):
everything and that's great, andthey learn it all and they
implement it, and that's exactlywhat we want.
But it means that the moneythat we're spending that $1,200
per person ends up beingthousands of dollars for a few
people and nothing for others,because they're not engaging in
the learning, they don't havetime to do it, they're not
supported to do it, they don'twant to do it, they feel like
(22:49):
they already have what they need.
So there's so many differentreasons why this thirst for
learning can be absent.
But when we can generate thatthirst for learning both in the
individual, so they start tovalue it and they start to see
what's in it for them.
They start to see that it'scritical for them doing the job
the best they can.
They see that it's critical forthem to have a reputation where
(23:14):
they're great at what they doand they're continuing to grow,
that it's critical for them tostay relevant, regardless of the
changes that get thrown over tothem over the next decade or so
.
When someone sees it ascritical and vital and important
, they will want to learn andyou need that for the learning
to happen.
(23:35):
And it's one thing that I'mincredibly blessed that I got
from my very early childhoodschooling I went to a Montessori
school and that is all aboutmindset over skill.
It's about developing thethirst for learning.
Yeah, everyone in that schoolthat I can think of wanted to
learn.
And the kids that came to ourschool because they got expelled
(23:57):
for all sorts of behavioralreasons from their prior school
would completely shift in ourMontessori school because we
developed the thirst forlearning for them.
And I say we because it verymuch was a joint learning
environment with the studentsand the educators.
It wasn't this hierarchicalteacher to student.
So generating the thirst forlearning is something I'm
(24:18):
incredibly passionate about andhave done my whole life, and
it's something that is possibleto generate.
You just have to know how tolink it for the individual.
And then the third piece isadaptability.
How many times have youexperienced that maybe you come
in as a leader and you want tomake these shifts and you can
see what's wrong and you can seewhat needs to change, but
(24:38):
people dig their heels in anddon't want to come along with
you.
They want to hang on to the waythey've done it and they want
to.
Yeah, they don't understand whythe way you're pitching is not
the best way forward.
I've seen this scenario happentime and time again with clients
(24:59):
or organizations that I've beenworking with, where the
strategy, in a lot of cases, issound the change that needs to
happen.
The change that needs to happenis a change that needs to
happen.
But what isn't acknowledged iswhere people are at, where
they've come from, what theirexperience has been to date and
(25:20):
what needs to shift for thoseindividuals to be free and able
to come along with you willingly, because you can force them to
change.
But anytime you're forcingsomeone, it becomes a
contractual relationship.
It basically is the opposite ofengagement.
If someone is there by force orobligation, then they're not
(25:41):
engaged wholeheartedly in whatit is you're trying to achieve.
So this resistance to comealong with you on a journey or a
shift, I love because it showsthat people do care.
It shows that they do wantthings to be a certain way,
whether that's because theythink it works better, or
(26:01):
whether that's because it's safefor them and that's all that
they know, or whether it's thatthey just have experienced so
much change before that they'llwait and see.
So they want to wait and seewhat happens before they invest
their time and energy, theirpassion and their soul into
something that may run out ofsteam.
(26:22):
So, if mindset matters more thanskill, the third thing that we
can be focusing on is buildingadaptability and, specifically,
the ability to let go.
So there's a skill, whetheryou're a leader or whether
you're working with an entireorganization in helping people
to let go.
You need to recognize wherethey're at and give them the
(26:47):
tools and the permission and thespace to even recognize where
they are and that they areresisting, and give them the
option to come along.
Give them the choice and makingthat choice so incredibly
wonderful that they do want tocome along with you.
(27:07):
So when we have these threethings self-awareness, a thirst
for learning and adaptability Ihope that you can see that if
everyone in your team, in yourorganization, had these three
things, so many problems, somany things that we train for
and give development on, wouldfall away.
(27:28):
So you wouldn't need to get inthere and be dealing with spot
fires and interpersonalrelationship issues and needing
to really dig in and drivepeople's learning and
performance, because they wouldbe doing it themselves.
They would be wanting torealize what's the best thing
(27:50):
for them to be working on.
They will be wanting to realizeokay, now that I know that I
have this gap, these are thecool things that I reckon would
be great for me to try to fillthat gap, and I'm open to
hearing from you what you thinkas well.
That gap and I'm open tohearing from you what you think
(28:10):
as well and that ability to letgo of what's been and feel
acknowledged and valued andincluded on the journey forward
is just a key part of any changemanagement as well, no matter
how big or small that might be.
Whether it's something assimple as oh, we're going to
change the way we use our emailsversus Microsoft Teams chat to
(28:32):
something really big, like we're, we're restructuring our whole
organization and the way teamsreport into each other and the
way we work.
So if you have self-awareness, athirst for learning and
adaptability, everything becomesso much easier.
(28:53):
So if you are a leader lookingto build this in yourself, or
maybe your team, or maybe youare a HR leader looking to
really amplify this and connectthis across the organization, I
would love to connect with youso you can book in a 30-minute
strategy session where we diveinto what are the challenges
you're facing right now, what isthe one thing that you want to
achieve, and then what's thefirst step that you can take to
(29:14):
move things forward.
So I do that to understand whatit is that you're wanting to
achieve and also to show you theway that I would approach that,
and from there you can decidewhether you've got what you need
.
You can take that and run withit, or you might want to work
further, and then we can gothrough some options there.
So there'll be no selling onthat section.
(29:35):
It's literally a strategy callfor you to go away with clarity
on your next step if you'relooking to build self-awareness,
a thirst for learning andadaptability.
So, once again, I trust thatyou found that useful.
Remember, you were born for areason it's time to thrive.
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